So why would the city want any part of the Sacramento Kings?
The franchise was in complete disarray after coach Paul Westphal temporarily dismissed promising-but-erratic center DeMarcus Cousins last week, only to be fired four days later.
The Kings responded by making a Smart hire ? not Shaka, mind you, but Keith, he of the NCAA tournament heroics while making a last-minute shot for Indiana against Syracuse in the 1987 national championship game.
With his team in last place in the Pacific Division, Keith needs to "Get Smart," and soon. The former Warriors coach has a promising point guard in Tyreke Evans and a young but unproven roster.
There was also the not-so-minor issue of the Kings' future home. The NBA and owners Joe and Gavin Maloof have given Sacramento until March 1 to approve a plan to help finance a new arena.
Given the way things are going, these paupers may soon be on the move again.
Schedulegate: When the Mavericks visit the White House on Monday, they will be in the presence of a fearless pioneer willing to rile influential figures.
Barack Obama will be there as well.
The president could easily be upstaged by the tell-it-like-it-is Mark Cuban, the Mavericks owner who blasted the NBA while claiming his team had to set up its own visit to the White House after winning the title.
The brouhaha arose after Dallas was not among the teams listed on Washington's lockout-shortened home schedule, complicating the Mavericks' efforts to meet the president and prompting Cuban to call the NBA "stupid."
League spokesman Tim Frank disputed the Mavericks' claim that they did all the work in setting up the visit, saying there was no guarantee Obama would be available even if the Mavericks had been scheduled to play at the Verizon Center.
The Mavericks are squeezing in their White House visit before a two-game trip to Boston and Detroit that starts Tuesday. While Brian Cardinal mused about going one-on-one with a president known as a hoops junkie, Lamar Odom adopted a more serious tone, saying he would wear his best suit.
What would Cuban wear?
"I'll still be wearing my Skechers," he said.
Border patrol: None of the usual excuses applied when the Cavaliers' Samardo Samuels sat out Wednesday's game in Toronto.
The backup center was not injured, suspended, sick, being disciplined or attending to a family emergency.
Samuels, it turns out, did not have a passport.
Huh?
He tweeted that he had lost the document that would have allowed him to enter Canada. There was probably plenty of eye-rolling among Cleveland fans after the Cavaliers lost 92-77 to the Raptors.
Samuels presumably will get his new passport by the time the Cavs return to Toronto for a game April 6.
Looking ahead: Chris Paul has quickly become a fixture in the Los Angeles skyline, appearing on a giant facade outside the Figueroa Hotel and on a massive billboard along Interstate 405 near the Clippers' training facility. The point guard really might seem larger than life if he can lead the Clippers to prominence in a Lakers town, and a victory against the visiting Heat on Wednesday would be a good place to start.
The Heat have persevered through injuries to LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, avoiding the slow start they endured last season when they lost four of their first nine games while waiting for the Big Three to mesh. Now it's the Clippers who are trying to find a winning formula after a roster makeover.
bbolch@tribune.com
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