Vlade Divac is attempting to gather his teammates in the locker room of the Kings' practice facility after a December workout, and he's getting agitated. Too many guys are wandering around speaking to reporters or shooting free throws or working on their jumpers. Divac wants them in the room, and now.

"You can get back to that," he tells Peja Stojakovic, who's in the middle of 250 post-practice jumpers.

Stojakovic wants to keep shooting, partly because his routine has already been disrupted by the Divac-led half-court shooting competition that took place immediately after practice. (Won, incidentally, by Scot Pollard, who drilled his first shot.)

Mike Bibby tells me he needs to cut off our discussion in order to obey Divac. He says it shouldn't take long.

The meeting seems important, maybe even crucial. When Bibby returns, he says, "We had to draw names for a Christmas gift exchange. Vlade's been wanting to do that for a few days now."

So that was the crisis. It was nearly December 20th, and they hadn't drawn names for their Kris Kringle. Spend any time around the Sacramento Kings and you'll realize they're serious about only one thing:

Winning.

If they're not the loosest group in the NBA, they're at least the loosest group with the best record. The trade of Jason Williams for Mike Bibby might have reduced the antics on the court, but the attitude in the locker room remains somewhere between sixth and seventh grade. Their fun-to-win ratio, if such things were computable, might double the Lakers.

Complaints? There don't seem to be any. These guys are the anti-Blazers. Even those at the end of the bench seem to appreciate the life they lead. Instead of griping about PT, they've dubbed themselves "The Chalupas," signifying their usual position of playing only when 100 points -- and the accompanying free fast food -- is on the line.

"You can't be a bad guy on this team," Divac says. "You would not survive. You come here as a bad guy we either change you or you go somewhere else. We have no room for that."

Tim Keown is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at tim.keown@espnmag.com.