the funny part is that
King fans wishes badly that Oda separates King from Queen
They think Oda made King like Katakuri
The only thing in the manga which has King above Queen is bounty!
They both are Kaido's most trusted fighters.
All 3 all stars are! King isn't VC or the pillar of the crew .
Both are always grouped and hyped together
Is he the second strongest? Yeah but the gap is slim between him and Queen unlike the gap between Katakuri and Smoothie
Katakuri and Ray are clearly above their crewmates because they have : CoC and advanced haki + skills + legendary status & hype
Which Marco and King lack, that's why Oda has them only 5-15% over Queen and Jozu