About the Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team and one of seven teams in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Kings play in ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California, and wear purple and white jerseys. The Sacramento Kings were formed in Rochester, New York, as the Rochester Royals, and before moving to Sacramento it existed as the Cincinnati Royals, the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, and the Kansas City Kings.

The Sacramento Kings (Rochester Royals) were formed in 1945 as a member of the National Basketball League (NBL). The team won the NBL championship during just its second year in the league. Before the 1948-49 season, Rochester and three other leading NBL teams migrated over to the Basketball Association of America (BAA), a rival league. The NBA was formed the next year when the NBL and BAA leagues merged. The Royals amassed a 51-17 win-loss record in the NBAs first 1949-50 season, but the Fort Wayne Pistons beat them in the playoffs. The next season, the Royals finished second in the Western Division and defeated the Pistons, the Minneapolis Lakers, and the New York Knicks in the playoffs to win the NBA Finals championship.

The NBA introduced the 24-second clock during the 1955-56 season. This sped up play by forcing teams to take a shot within 24 seconds of gaining possession of the ball. The innovation hurt the Sacramento Kings, whose strategy centered on a slower style of play. The team dropped from prominence, and before the 1957-58 season it relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio. Losses outnumbered wins in the late 1950s for the Royals, who were guided by Jack Twyman, one of the leagues top scorers. In 1960 the team drafted Oscar Robertson and in the 1960-61 season Robertson won NBA rookie of the year honors after leading the league in assists (9.7 per game), finishing third in the league in scoring  with 30  points per game, and averaging 10 rebounds per game.

In 1963 the Sacramento Kings made it to the Eastern Division Finals, losing in seven games to the eventual NBA champions, the Boston Celtics. The next season Jerry Lucas joined the team, and the Sacramento Kings notched a team-record 55 wins. In the playoffs, however, the Sacramento Kings again lost to the Celtics in the Eastern Division Finals. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Sacramento Kings played under former Celtics star Bob Cousy. As head coach, Cousy implemented a fast-paced, high scoring strategy and drafted star guard Nate Tiny Archibald, but the Royals failed to make a playoff run from 1967 through 1971.

Before the 1972-73 season the Royals were dealt to a group of investors from Kansas City, Missouri. The group moved the team and renamed it the Kansas City-Omaha Kings. In the 1972-73 season, Archibald had an great yearhe became the first player to lead the NBA in scoring (34.0) and assists (11.4) in a single seasonbut the club finished dead last in its division. Four seasons later the team started playing home games solely in Kansas City, becoming the Kansas City Kings. Led by the awesome play of guard Phil Ford, who was named rookie of the year, the team got back to the playoffs during the 1978-79 season under head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons.

In 1983 the Sacramento Kings were sold to a group of investors from California, and the franchise moved to Sacramento in 1985. After a 1986 playoff appearance, the Sacramento Kings missed the playoffs during the late 1980s and early 1990s. During the mid-1990s the Sacramento Kings outstanding players included guard Mitch Richmond and forwards Brian Grant and Michael Smith. In 1996 the trio led the Sacramento Kings to their first trip to the playoffs in ten years, but they lost to the Seattle SuperSonics in the first round.