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How it all went wrong when Larry Lavin mixed minor-league basketball and cocaine in West Philadelphia

What made the Philadelphia Kings’ short-lived saga so compelling wasn’t any single player or statistic. It was their owner and the role his team and its arena played in the crimes that sent him to prison.

Larry Lavin, shown here incarcerated in a Minnesota medical facility in 2002, tried to make minor-league basketball viable in Philadelphia. He failed as the Philadelphia Kings lasted just one season.
Larry Lavin, shown here incarcerated in a Minnesota medical facility in 2002, tried to make minor-league basketball viable in Philadelphia. He failed as the Philadelphia Kings lasted just one season.Read moreCHRIS POLYDOROFF / ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS.