Sacramento Kings: Can Jimmer Fredette and Company Revitalize a Depressed Region?

The Sacramento Kings have been a popular punchline around the NBA for more than a few years now. 

On an even larger scale, Sacramento itself has been a popular punchline around California for non-Sacramento types and even Sacramento types (hand raised) for—well, forever.

There are about 1,000 clichés revolving around life, sports and how they intertwine, so there's no point in reciting them here.

That said, morale was never higher in California's capital than it was during the late 90s-early 2000s, when the Kings were a relevant franchise.

Just look at post-Katrina New Orleans for proof of what a successful sports franchise can have on an embattled city. 

Sure, the Kings never won anything of note, but fans flocked to Arco Arena to a ridiculous extent, the small-market franchise flourished and conspiracy theorists still cling to the notion that they would have been crowned NBA champions if not for some dubious officiating in Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals or Chris Webber's bum knee in 2003.

While attendance has dwindled along with wins, a fiercely loyal fanbase remains in Sacramento. 

Take Monday night's surprising 100-91 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, for example. It was like old times at That Company That Just Went Bankrupt Pavilion: chants of "Beat L.A." rang down from the seats, Joe and Gavin Maloof were going bonkers from their courtside seats and the Kings were shockingly victorious against a championship-contending team. 

This is a big deal for a city like Sacramento. 

I mean, let's be honest here—in spite of the Lakers' 0-2 start and how impressive the Kings actually did look, not even the most drunk, delusional Sacramentan expects that the Kings will finish the season in front of the Lakers. And that's fine. 

Sacramento isn't exactly the most desirable landing spot of the "major" California cities—it lacks the glitz and glamour of Los Angeles, the beaches and beauty of San Diego or the eccentricity and big-city feel of San Francisco.

On a larger, more important scale, it's a region that's been completely ravaged by the economic downturn. California's budget crisis has been well documented.  

Unlike other major California cities that are powered heavily by the private sectors, Sacramento is a government city where so many of its inhabitants draw their checks from the broke-ass state. Most of them also have become familiar with terms like "furloughs" and "salary freezes" as a result of it. 

In short, any good news is great news around those parts. 

The fact that the Kings are even playing in Sacramento this year is a victory in itself. But if they could even compete, or even be exciting this season, it would do wonders to help revitalize the region and would ignite interest in helping the team get both a new arena built and, as a result, keep the city's only major sports franchise in town. 

So far, the results look good. The opening-night win was one thing, but there seems to be a bit of enthusiasm behind the continued development of potential future stars Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins coupled with a late-season surge to end last season. 

Jimmer Fredette's addition, while an unpopular basketball move to some, will surely fill the seats and create some fervor around Sacramento.

A sports team can't save a city.

A Fredette three-pointer isn't going to cure the foreclosure rate, and an ankle-breaking Evans crossover won't shorten the lines at the unemployment office.  

But an exciting distraction for a night, or 66, is a welcome one.

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