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The Sacramento Kings are
a National
Basketball Association team based in Sacramento,
California.
Home arenas
- Edgerton
Park Arena (1948-1955)
- Blue
Cross Arena (1955-1958)
- Cincinnati
Gardens (1958-1972)
- Municipal
Auditorium (1972-1974)
- Omaha
Civic Auditorium (1972-1978)
- Kemper
Arena (1974-1985)
- ARCO
Arena (1985-1988)
- ARCO
Arena (1988-present)
Franchise history
The franchise started in 1945
as a member of the National
Basketball League as the Rochester
Royals. After winning the 1946
NBL
title, the Royals shifted to the Basketball
Association of America in 1948.
They would win an NBA title in 1951,
which would be the only one to date in the team's
history. In 1956,
the team moved to Cincinnati.
In the 1960-1961
season, Oscar
Robertson joined the team, and though he played
brilliantly, he along with another future hall of
famer Jerry
Lucas could not lead the Royals to the NBA Championship
and by the 1970-1971
season he left the Royals to join the Milwaukee
Bucks, and in 1972,
the team moved to Kansas
City and renamed themselves the Kings (because
of the Royals baseball franchise in the same community).
For several years, the team divided its home games
between Kansas City and Omaha.
However, not even the talents of Nate
"Tiny" Archibald could not change the fortunes
of the team in a new town. In the 1980-1981
season, the Kings made a surprise run in the NBA
Playoffs, they beat the Phoenix
Suns in the divisional playoffs before they
were eliminated by the Houston
Rockets in the Western Conference Finals.
The Kings moved west to their current
home of Sacramento
in 1985.
Much of their early tenure in Sacramento was spent
as the NBA's bottom dwellers, making playoffs only
one time between 1985 and 1995. Some of their early
lack of success was attributed to poor luck, such
as the virtually career-ending car crash suffered
by promising point guard Bobby
Hurley, and some was attributed to poor management
such as the too-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. The Kings finally broke through mediocrity
with the draft selection of Jason
Williams, the signing of Vlade
Divac, and the trade of Mitch
Richmond for Chris
Webber prior to the lockout-shortened 1998-99
season. These acquisitions coincided with the arrival
of Peja
Stojakovic, who had been drafted in 1996. Each
of these moves was attributed to general manager
Geoff
Petrie who has won NBA Executive of the Year
several times.
Following these acquisitions, the
Kings rose in the NBA ranks, becoming a perennial
playoff contender, as well as one of the most exciting
teams in the NBA. Led by new head coach Rick
Adelman, and aided by former Princeton head
coach and Kings assistant Pete
Carril, their so-called "Princeton offense"
turned heads around the league for its run-and-gun
style, superb ball movement, and the team's seeming
ability to score at will. The Kings led the league
in average points per game year in and year out,
and quickly became the NBA poster child for playing
the "right" way: both successful and extremely fun
to watch. Critics still found fault with the Kings,
citing their poor team defense, Williams' "flash
over substance" style of play leading to too many
turnovers, and the lack of a big-game player, as
Webber was knocked for often failing to step up
his game in important matchups. Still, they quickly
became NBA darlings, garnering many fans outside
of California, and even around the world, many of
which enjoyed Williams's amazing passing abilities
and Webber's sharp all-around game. Despite their
tremendous successes, they were still a young team,
and were ultimately defeated by more experienced
teams in the playoffs, losing to the Utah Jazz in
1999 (in a thrilling five-game matchup), and the
Los Angeles Lakers in 2000.
Kings' flashy play attracted plenty of attention
Following the 2000 season, the Kings
traded starting small forward Corliss
Williamson to the Toronto Raptors for defensive
shooting guard Doug
Christie, opening a starting spot for sharpshooter
Stojakovic. In 2001, they won their first playoff
series in the Webber era, defeating the Phoenix
Suns 3-1, before being swept in four games by the
Lakers, who went on to win the NBA championship.
In July of 2001, Petrie traded starting
point guard Jason Williams to the Vancouver/Memphis
Grizzlies for point guard Mike
Bibby. The trade solved needs on both sides:
the Grizzlies, which were in the process of moving
to Memphis, wanted an exciting, popular player to
sell tickets in their new home, while the Kings,
an up-and-coming team, seeked more stability and
control at the point guard position. Although questioned
by some Kings fans at the time, NBA officials and
experts proclaimed Bibby as the better (if less
exciting) player in the deal, as well as a better
leader, having led the Arizona
Wildcats to an NCAA championship in 1998. This
move was complemented by the crucial re-signing
of Webber to a maximum-salary contract, securing
the star power forward for years to come.
With the solid and steady Bibby
as their new floor leader, rising star Stojakovic
at the wing, Webber providing all-star numbers nightly,
and a talented bench led by the energetic Bobby
Jackson, the Kings continued their dramatic
rise in the NBA ranks, both in the standings, finishing
the 2002 season with the league's best record (61-21),
and with the fans, gracing the cover of Sports
Illustrated in 2001, with the title "The Greatest
Show On Court", at the height of their popularity.
In fact, the only team that could compete with the
success and popularity of the Kings was their in-state
rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, who were thriving
with their superstar tandem, Kobe
Bryant and Shaquille
O'Neal.
The Sacramento
Kings' Mike Bibby drives around Los Angeles
Lakers' Derek Fisher
The recurring playoff encounters
between the Kings and Lakers, coupled with the elite
status of both teams, their contrasting styles of
play (team play vs. individual superstars) and personality
(small-town underdogs vs. Hollywood ego), their
geography (Northern California vs. Southern California),
their respective cities' roles to the state (state
capital vs. largest city), as well as some undeniable
bad blood between the teams, led to a full fledged
rivalry
between the two teams. This rivalry reached its
apex in the 2002 Western Conference Finals, in which
the Kings and Lakers endured a grueling seven-game
series considered to be one of the greatest series
in NBA history. The Kings were the division champions
and held the best record in the league, while the
Lakers were the two-time defending champions. While
the Kings put up an incredible effort, winning three
games, cementing their status as NBA elite, and
giving rise to a new playoff hero in Bibby, it was
the Lakers who ultimately won the series by way
of an incredible game-winning three-pointer by Robert
Horry in Game 4, and arguably the most questionable
officiating in NBA history in Game 6, which included
giving the Lakers an unprecedented 27 (compared
to the Kings' 9) free throw attempts in the fourth
quarter alone, as well as a critical late-game foul
on Bibby on a play in which Bibby was elbowed in
the face by Bryant and knocked to the floor with
a bloody nose. The officiating left a black mark
in an otherwise supremely entertaining series, leaving
many Kings and NBA fans in shock and outrage, including
consumer advocate Ralph
Nader, who wrote a letter to the NBA demanding
a review of the game, and Washington
Post sports writer Michael
Wilbon, who wrote simply, "I have never seen
officiating in a game of consequence as bad as that
in Game 6." The Lakers carried their momentum into
Game 7, defeating a visibly shaken Kings team in
overtime, as the Kings missed nearly half (14) of
their free throw attempts (30) during the game.
After winning another division championship
in 2003, the Kings lost Webber to a knee injury
in the playoffs, ultimately losing to the Dallas
Mavericks in a seven game series. Webber's knee
required major surgery, and his questionable mid-season
return in 2004, in which he visibly lost much of
his explosiveness and agility, led to a playoff
defeat at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves
in seven games.
The 2004-05 season marked another
season of dramatic change for the Kings, who lost
three of their starters from the 2002 team. In the
offseason of 2004, Divac opted to sign with the
rival Lakers, giving Miller a starting spot at center.
Early into the season, Christie was traded to the
Orlando
Magic for shooting guard Cuttino Mobley. But
the greatest change came in February, when Webber
was traded to the Philadelphia
76ers for three relatively unheralded forwards:
Corliss Williamson, Kenny Thomas, and Brian Skinner.
The Kings ultimately lost in the first round of
the playoffs to the Seattle
Supersonics. The 2005 offseason continued the
team transformation, with the Kings trading fan
favorite backup point guard Bobby Jackson to the
Grizzlies for oft-troubled shooting guard Bonzi
Wells, and signing all-star power forward Shareef
Abdur-Rahim, and the 2005 mid-season was marked
by the trading of Peja
Stojakovic to the Indiana
Pacers for controversial all-star Ron
Artest. With only one player (Bibby) remaining
from the 2002 team, this effectively ended an era
consisting of the most prolific seasons in Kings
history, from 1998-2004. Brad Miller and Kevin Martin,
meanwhile, are the only other current players besides
Bibby to have been on the team for at least a year.
[citation
needed]
Facts
- The Kings' uniform colors are similar to those
of the National
Hockey League's Los
Angeles Kings, who ripped off the black/purple/silver/white
color scheme after Sacramento had already switched
from their inaugural blue/red/white scheme.
- They are the brother team to the Sacramento
Monarchs.
- The current ARCO
Arena is the second building by that name
to be the home of the Kings. The first ARCO Arena
was used for only a few seasons from 1985 until
the end of the 1987-88 season and seated more
than 10,000 people,and has since been converted
into a warehouse.
- The status of Arco Arena, however, is uncertain.
Sacramento city leaders and the Maloof Brothers
have been discussing about building a new arena
elsewhere in the city for the team to play in.
Nonetheless, discussions have been deadlocked,
partially over funding of the new arena. [citation
needed]
Players of note
Not to be forgotten:
Retired numbers:
- 1 Nate
Archibald, G, 1970-76 (1970-72 Cincinnati,
1972-76 Kansas City)
- 2 Mitch
Richmond, G, 1991-98 (only Sacramento player
as yet honored)
- 6 (Sixth Man) - The Fans of Sacramento, 1985-present
- 11 Bob
Davies, G, 1948-55 (all in Rochester)
- 12 Maurice
Stokes, F, 1955-58 (career-ending injury in
team's first season in Cincinnati)
- 14 Oscar
Robertson, G, 1960-70 (all in Cincinnati)
- 27 Jack
Twyman, F, 1955-66 (1955-57 in Rochester,
1957-66 in Cincinnati)
- 44 Sam
Lacey, C, 1970-81 (1970-72 in Cincinnati,
1972-81 in Kansas City)
Current Roster
Current 2005-2006 Record
As of March
4, 2006,
the Sacramento Kings have a 28-30
record, placing them 4th in the Pacific
Division.
See also
External links
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