Sacramento Kings
The Kings are members of the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Franchise history
Rochester
The logo of the Rochester Royals.
The franchise that would become the Sacramento Kings initially started in the city of Rochester, New York, as the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball League.
At the conclusion of World War II, the United States lacked a major professional basketball league. The National Basketball League decided to fill that void by stepping up from a regional semi-pro league into the nation's premier professional basketball loop.
One of the top professional teams in the country was the Rochester Pros, an independent barnstorming team run by Lester Harrison. The team, which had long been known as the Seagrams before briefly adopting the nickname "Pros", held a name-the-team contest and selected the nickname "Royals".
Success for the Royals was almost immediate.
Founded in 1945 by owner/coach/general manager Les Harrison (Hall of Famer) and his brother and co-owner/business manager Jack Harrison, the team won the NBL championship in 1945–46. The team was led by Bob Davies, Al Cervi, George Glamack, and Otto Graham, a future NFL Hall of Famer, who, in his only season in professional basketball, won a league championship before moving on to football and leading the Cleveland Browns to ten straight championship games, winning seven.
The following season, NBL Governors voted that the regular season "Pennant Winner" would be declared as the official NBL Champion, and the post-season would consist of a separate, non-championship tournament.
The Royals again finished with the league's best overall record at 44–16, but lost to George Mikan's Minneapolis Lakers 3 games to 1 in the NBL Finals.
In 1948, the Royals moved to the Basketball Association of America along with the Fort Wayne Pistons, Minneapolis Lakers, and Indianapolis (Kautskys) Jets. A year later, the BAA merged with the NBL to become the National Basketball Association.
The Royals won the NBA title in 1951 by defeating the New York Knickerbockers 4 games to 3.
It is the only NBA championship in the franchise's history to date.
The Royals' twelve-year stay in Rochester featured the services of nine future members of the Basketball Hall of Fame, one member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and a Hollywood Walk of Famer: Al Cervi, Bob Davies, Alex Hannum, Les Harrison, Red Holzman, Arnie Risen, Maurice Stokes, Jack Twyman, Bobby Wanzer, Otto Graham, and Chuck Connors.
Cincinnati
Logo used in Cincinnati
In 1957, the Royals were moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, by the Harrison brothers. Cincinnati, which had a strong college basketball fan base and no NFL franchise to compete with, was deemed the best choice.
The fact that local college stars Jack Twyman, Dave Piontek and Tom Marshall were on the roster helped make fans quickly.
During the team's first NBA draft in Cincinnati, the team netted future Hall Of Famer Clyde Lovellette and former star guard George King. They teammed with the 1-2 punch of Maurice Stokes and Twyman to produce a budding contender in the team's very first season in the Queen City.
Injury to Marshall and the loss of star guard Si Green to military service dropped the team into a tie for second place in the NBA Western Division during the 1957–58 season's second half.
In the season's finale, All-Pro star Maurice Stokes struck his head when he fell after pursuing a rebound. He shook off the effects of the fall, even as he had briefly been unconscious.
After Game One in the playoffs three days later, Stokes head injury was greatly aggravated by airplane cabin pressure during the flight back to Cincinnati for Game Two. He suffered a seizure and was permanently hospitalized, a tragedy that greatly shook the team.
Stokes, a tremendous talent who could play center, forward and guard, was 2nd in the NBA in rebounds and 3rd in assists, a double-feat only Wilt Chamberlain has matched for a full season. The 1958–59 Cincinnati team featured five rookies, with Lovellette, King and other key players having left the team in the wake of Stokes' tragic injury.
The Harrisons, under pressure to sell to a local group, sold to a local ownership headed by Thomas Woods. The fact that Stokes was simply dumped by the team and the new ownership infuriated many.
Jack Twyman came to aid of his teammate and even legally adopted Stokes.
The 1973 feature film Maurie, which co-starred actors Bernie Casey and Bo Svenson, later dramatized their story.
Shooting often for the beleaguered team, Twyman was the second NBA player ever to average 30 points per game for a full NBA season. Both Twyman and Stokes were later named Hall of Famers.
In 1960, the team was able to land local superstar Oscar Robertson.
Robertson led a team that included Twyman, Wayne Embry, Bob Boozer, Bucky Bockhorn, Tom Hawkins and Adrian Smith over the next three seasons. The Royals reversed their fortunes with Robertson and rose to title contender.
An ownership dispute in early 1963 scuttled the team's playoff chances when new owner Louis Jacobs booked a circus for Cincinnati Gardens for the week of the playoff series versus the champion Boston Celtics. Jacobs, an aloof owner, would prove no ally to the team's title hopes.
In late 1963, another local superstar, Jerry Lucas, joined the team.
From 1963–66, the Royals contended strongly against Boston and the Philadelphia 76ers, but fell short of their title hopes. The team failed to keep promising players and played in the tough NBA East division, dominated by the Boston Celtics, even as a Baltimore team played in the West Division for three years, denying the team likely visits to the NBA Finals.
In 1966, the team was sold to a pair of brothers named Max and Jeremy Jacobs.
That same season, the Royals began playing some of their home games in neutral sites such as Cleveland (until the Cavaliers began play in 1970), Dayton & Columbus, which was the norm for the rest of the Royals tenure in the Queen City.
New coach Bob Cousy, a loyal Boston Celtic, traded Lucas in 1969. Robertson was traded to Milwaukee in 1970, where he would immediately win an NBA title.
The declining franchise left Cincinnati shortly thereafter, moving to Kansas City in 1972.
Kansas City/Omaha
The Royals were renamed the Kings because Kansas City already had the Royals baseball team. The basketball team agreed to change its nickname, even though it had used the name for 25 years before the baseball team was established.
The team initially divided its home games between Kansas City and Omaha until 1975, when it abandoned the Omaha market. During that time the team was officially called the "Kansas City-Omaha Kings".
The team netted a new superstar in Nate Archibald, who led the league in scoring and assists.
While still in Cincinnati, the Kings introduced a most unusual uniform design, which placed the player's surname below his number. The design remained intact through the first several seasons of the team's run in Sacramento, even when the shade of blue on the road uniforms was changed from royal blue to powder blue, and the script "Kansas City" which adorned the road jerseys was scrubbed after the move in favor of a repeat of the "Kings" script on the home shirts.
The Kings had some decent players throughout.
Tom Van Arsdale, the shooting forward, "Jumpin" Johnny Green, and Matt Guokas helped Archibald in the first year in Kansas City. Sam Lacey, an effective passing center, became one of the most dependable players in the league.
Bob Cousy gave way to Phil Johnson, who was fired midyear in 1977 and replaced by Larry Staverman, a player on the team on two separate occasions when it was in Cincinnati and who later became the Cleveland Indians groundskeeper.
The Kings finally achieved some success in their new home when they hired Cotton Fitzsimmons as coach. Kansas City was led by shooting guard Otis Birdsong, strong on both offense and defense, all around shooting forward Scott Wedman, and passing center Sam Lacey, who had a trademark 25 foot bank shot.
The Kings made a surprise run in the NBA Playoffs, reaching the Western Conference Finals. Big Ernie Grunfeld played the point in this run, as KC used a slow half court game to win the first two rounds.
Power forward Reggie King had a remarkable series, dominating the opposition.
However, a series of bad luck incidents prevented the team from building on its success. Ted Stepien, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers lured Wedman and Birdsong away with big contract offers, the roof literally fell in at Kemper Arena because of a winter storm, forcing the team to play most of the 1979–80 season at Municipal Auditorium, and the ownership group sold the team to Sacramento interests for just eleven million dollars.
Axelson would stay on after the Kings left Kansas City where, in their last game ever, fans wore Joe Axelson masks. Axelson later would say he hoped his plane would never touch down in Kansas City.
Axelson later would be the first general manager in the history of sports to fail with the same franchise in four different cities: Cincinnati, Kansas City, Omaha and Sacramento.
The most notable moment of this season lives in infamy, when New York Knicks standout Bernard King suffered a devastating knee injury on March 23. The writing was on the wall for Kansas City.
Move to Sacramento
The Kings moved to their current home of Sacramento, California in the 1985–86 NBA season, with their first Sacramento season ending in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
Some of their failure was attributable to misfortunes such as the career-altering car crash suffered by promising point guard Bobby Hurley and the suicide of Ricky Berry; some was attributed to poor management such as the long tenure of head coach Garry St. Jean and the selection of "Never Nervous" Pervis Ellison with the first overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft.
Current Kings television broadcaster Jerry Reynolds and NBA legend Bill Russell were among the early coaching staff.
1991–1996
Alternate logo.
The early 1990s were difficult for the Kings. The team was eventually sold to the Maloof Family, who finally changed the direction of the team.
Each of these moves was attributed to general manager Geoff Petrie, who has won NBA Executive of the Year twice.
Inside the Arco Arena II.
Following these acquisitions, the Kings improved and became perennial playoff contenders. Still, they quickly garnered many fans outside of California, and even around the world, many of which were drawn to Williams' and Webber's talent.
The team finished with a league-best record of 61–21, winning 36 of 41 games at home. The 2005 offseason continued with more changes, with the Kings trading fan-favorite Bobby Jackson for Bonzi Wells and acquiring free agent forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
2005–2008
Special logo marking the Kings' 20th anniversary in Sacramento
The 2005–06 season started off poorly, as the Kings had a hard time finding chemistry in the team.
The Spurs beat the Kings in the first round 4–2.
The 2006 offseason was started with the announcement that head coach Rick Adelman's contract would not be renewed. Kings coach Eric Musselman was replaced by former Kings player, Reggie Theus for head coach.
On [June 28, 2007, the Kings selected center Spencer Hawes as the 10th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft.
In addition to these changes, the Sacramento Kings acquired center-forward Mikki Moore from the New Jersey Nets. The move was done mostly to clear cap space for the future.
Bibby was the last remaining original player that got the Kings to the Western Conference Finals back in 2002.
The Kings improved by 5 games and finished the 07–08 season with a 38–44 missing the playoffs by a much bigger margin (12 games) than the previous season (8 games). Many home games struggled to put 15,000 in with empty seats common.
Following a quiet 2008 offseason, it was confirmed on July 29, 2008 that the Kings would trade forward Ron Artest and the rights to Patrick Ewing, Jr.
With the youthful faces of Kevin Martin, who averages over 20 points and is known for his consistent shooting, and the likes of Francisco Garcia and Beno Udrih, the Kings are optimistic for their future.
On February 19, 2009, the Kings traded forward Shelden Williams and guard Bobby Brown to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Rashad McCants and center Calvin Booth .
A main concern at the moment is their head coaching position. Due to the Houston Rockets finishing with a playoff spot, the Kings also own the rights to Houston's pick as part of the Ron Artest trade.
When the 2009 NBA Draft Lottery occurred on May 19, 2009, the Kings failed to make it into the top three picks and ended up selecting fourth in the 2009 NBA Draft .
On June 9th, 2009 former Phoenix Suns coach and player Paul Westphal was named the new head coach for the Kings.
New arena
In light of declining attendance at ARCO Arena, and also in light of the increasing obsolescence of the building compared to newer NBA venues, there was a campaign to build a new $600 million facility in downtown Sacramento, which was to be funded by a quarter cent sales tax increase over 15 years.
In 2006, voters overwhelmingly rejected ballot measures Q and R, leading to the NBA publicly calling for a new arena to be built at another well-known Sacramento facility, Cal Expo, the site of California's state fair. Negotiations between the Cal Expo governing board and the NBA (serving on behalf of the Maloof family) are ongoing; the Cal Expo board is looking for improvements to the entire facility (including $40 million in deferred maintenance) as well as a new arena. The NBA promises that no public money will be used for the project; the Cal Expo board has long sought state legislation that would allow Cal Expo to form a joint-powers authority to issue bonds and lease land to developers, it is thought that negotiations for an NBA arena will more quickly bring this to fruition.
Kings Mascot
Since the fall of 1998 , the official Kings mascot is Slamson the Lion.