SPORTS TEAM HISTORY

Sports Team HistorySports Logo History
  • Home
  • Sports History
    • Baseball History
    • Basketball History
    • College History
    • Football History
    • Hockey History
    • Soccer History
  • Greatest Player Polls
  • More…
    • STH News
    • Team History Forum
    • Sports Team History Products
STH #3 Home Header 1440x650

Sacramento Kings Team History

STH Products Sale Banner
STH Clash of Logos NBA - Banner
Sports News History Banner
Sports Market History Banner #4
Sacramento Kings




  • 1985
  • 1991
  • 1998
  • 2013
  • 2016
  • Long Live the Kings

    Move to Sacramento

    The Kings moved to their current home of Sacramento, California in the 1985 – 1986 NBA season, with their first Sacramento season ending in the first round of the Western Conference 1986 NBA Playoffs. However, they saw little success in subsequent years, and the team did not make the playoffs again until the 1996 NBA Playoffs in the 1995 – ...
    Read More
    See Full Story
  • Mitch Richmond - Sacramento Kings

    The Mitch Richmond Era

    The early 1990s were difficult for the Kings. Sacramento was known for having strong fan support, and while they won over 60% of their home games, the team struggled on the road, going 1–40 on the road in a single season. But prayers were answered when they acquired Mitch Richmond, who previously played for the Golden State Warriors. The former ...
    Read More
    See Full Story
  • Maloofs Family - Sacramento Kings Owners

    Maloofs Family Owners

    The Maloofs were the owners of the Sacramento Kings of the NBA from 1998 until 2013. The family consists of George J. Maloof, Sr., his wife Colleen, and their children: Adrienne Maloof, Joe Maloof, Gavin Maloof, George J. Maloof, Jr., and Phil Maloof. The Maloofs had acquired a minority interest in the Kings in 1998 and took majority control the ...
    Read More
    See Full Story
  • Vivek Ranadivé - Sacramento Kings Owner

    Vivek Ranadivé New Ownership

    On March 21, 2013, it was announced that Ranadive had joined Ron Burkle and Mark Mastrov to be a major investor in the attempt to purchase the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association. In order for Ranadive to purchase the Kings, he had to sell his share of the Golden State Warriors. On May 16, 2013, it was announced ...
    Read More
    See Full Story
  • Golden 1 Center - Sacramento Kings

    Golden 1 Center Opens

    Golden 1 Center is a multi-purpose indoor arena, located in Downtown Sacramento, California. It sits partially on the site of the former Downtown Plaza shopping center. The publicly-owned arena is part of a business and entertainment district called Downtown Commons, otherwise known as DoCo, which includes a $250 million 16-story mixed-use tower. The arena, which replaced Sleep Train Arena as ...
    Read More
    See Full Story

Kings Primary Logo
Kings Alternate Logo
Kings Wordmark Logo

History of the Kings

The Sacramento Kings is a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The franchise began as the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball League (NBL) before joining the NBA in 1948. Since then, they have won two conference titles and one division title while making 21 playoff appearances over their history. They have also had some of the most iconic players to ever play for them such as Oscar Robertson, Chris Webber, and Vlade Divac.

The team has been through many changes since its inception including moving from Rochester to Cincinnati in 1957 where it was known as the Cincinnati Royals until 1972 when it moved again this time to Kansas City-Omaha where it became known simply as The Kings after being unable to acquire an arena lease agreement with either city individually. In 1985 they finally made their way back west and settled into Arco Arena (now Golden 1 Center) which would be home for 30 years until 2016 when they moved downtown into what is now called Golden 1 Center becoming only one of three teams at that time who shared ownership between a municipality or state government entity along with Staples Center housing both Lakers & Clippers plus Barclays center hosting both Nets & Knicks.

During this period there were several highs but mostly lows including never having more than 50 wins during any season except once under Rick Adelman’s tenure when his squad went 55-27 good enough for a first-place finish out West but ultimately lost 4–2 against eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers on Western Conference Finals 2002/03 season. It wasn't until 2013 that things started turning around under a new ownership group led by Vivek Ranadive hiring Mike Malone who led them all way up till playoffs 2015/16 season before he was fired midseason due to lackluster performance despite having solid roster pieces like Cousins, and Gay, Collison, etc..and replaced by George Karl whose stint lasted less than year leading us current era Dave Joerger's reign who managed to take young core featuring guys like Cauley Stein, Buddy Hield, etc. up few notches higher winning 39 games last year followed closely 38 victories so far during 2018/2019 campaign missing out post-season yet again due tough competition within Pacific Division standings.

Overall, although not always successful on the court throughout its long history dating back 70+ years ago; the kings still remain an important part NBA landscape providing entertainment to fans across the world whilst giving platforms for many great players to showcase talents and helping shape the game we know today!





Established
1923

City
Rochester – Cincinnati – Kansas City – Sacramento

League History
1949 – Present / National Basketball Association
1948 – 1949 / Basketball Association of America
1945 – 1948 / National Basketball League
1923 – 1945 / Various Unknown Leagues

Team History
1985 – Present / Sacramento Kings
1975 – 1985 / Kansas City Kings
1972 – 1975 / Kansas City-Omaha Kings
1957 – 1972 / Cincinnati Royals
1923 – 1957 / Rochester Royals

Nickname
Kings – The Kings' royal lineage stretches all the way back to the founding of the National Basketball League's Rochester Royals in 1945. The Royals retained their nickname after a move to Cincinnati in 1957 and became the Kansas City-Omaha Kings (soon dropping the Omaha) through a name-the-team contest in 1972. The name remained unchanged when the franchise relocated to California in 1985.

Championship
NBA Championships 0
1951

Arena
2016 – Present / Golden 1 Center
2012 – 2016 / Sleep Train Arena
2011 – 2012 / Power Balance Pavilion
1888 – 2010 / ARCO Arena II
1985 – 1988 / ARCO Arena I

*Kansas City*
1974 – 1985 / Kemper Arena
1972 – 1978 / Omaha Civic Auditorium
1972 – 1974 / Kansas City Municipal Auditorium

*Cincinnati*
1957 – 1972 / Cincinnati Gardens

*Rochester*
1955 – 1957 / Rochester War Memorial
1949 – 1954 / Edgerton Park Arena
1923 – 1948 / Unknown Arena

Owner
2013 – Present / Vivek Ranadive
1999 – 2013 / George, Joe and Gavin Maloof
1992 – 1999 / Jim Thomas
1985 – 1992 / Gregg Lukenbill and Joe Benvenuti
1959 – 1985 / Thomas Woods
1923 – 1959 / Les and Jack Harrison

Who is the greatest Sacramento Kings?
  • Add your greatest player

To qualify as the greatest player for this team, the player must have played one season for this team. If not, we will remove the player.
* verifies that player has played for this team as an added player by a fan.

Retired Number
1 / Nate Archibald
2 / Mitch Richmond
4 / Chris Webber
6 / Sacramento Fans “The Sixth Man”
11 / Bob Davies
12 / Maurice Stokes
14 / Oscar Robertson
16 / Peja Stojakovic
21 / Vlade Divac
27 / Jack Twyman
44 / Sam Lacey

*Blue is this team’s history

Sports News History

Sports News Worth Knowing

RSS NBA Headline News

  • NBA MVP Straw Poll: Just when you thought this race couldn’t get any closer …
  • Adam Silver says NBA intends to opt out of CBA if Friday deadline not met; NBPA calls decision ‘disappointing’
  • The architect of the Kings’ historic NBA offense
  • Jokic has praise for Embiid despite fizzled duel
  • TIMBERWOLVES at SUNS | FULL GAME HIGHLIGHTS | March 29, 2023

Sports Market History

Sports Team Marketplace of Champions!

NBA Logo Battle

NBA Greatest Player

STH Product Sale

NBA Teams
Menu
  • Atlanta Hawks
    • St. Louis Hawks
    • Milwaukee Hawks
    • Tri-City Blackhawks
  • Boston Celtics
  • Brooklyn Nets
    • New Jersey Nets
    • New York Nets
    • New Jersey Americans
  • Charlotte Hornets
    • Charlotte Bobcats
  • Chicago Bulls
  • Cleveland Cavaliers
  • Dallas Mavericks
  • Denver Nuggets
    • Denver Rockets
  • Detroit Pistons
    • Fort Wayne Pistons
    • Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons
  • Golden State Warriors
    • San Francisco Warriors
    • Philadelphia Warriors
  • Houston Rockets
    • San Diego Rockets
  • Indiana Pacers
  • Los Angeles Clippers
    • San Diego Clippers
    • Buffalo Braves
  • Los Angeles Lakers
    • Minneapolis Lakers
  • Memphis Grizzlies
    • Vancouver Grizzlies
  • Miami Heat
  • Milwaukee Bucks
  • Minnesota Timberwolves
  • New Orleans Pelicans
    • New Orleans Hornets
    • Charlotte Hornets
  • New York Knickerbockers
  • Oklahoma City Thunder
    • Seattle Supersonics
  • Orlando Magic
  • Philadelphia 76ers
    • Syracuse Nationals
  • Phoenix Suns
  • Portland Trailblazers
  • Sacramento Kings
    • Kansas City Kings
    • Cincinnati Royals
    • Rochester Royals
  • San Antonio Spurs
    • Texas Chaparrals
    • Dallas Chaparrals
  • Toronto Raptors
  • Utah Jazz
    • New Orleans Jazz
  • Washington Wizards
    • Washington Bullets
    • Capital Bullets
    • Baltimore Bullets
    • Chicago Zephyrs
    • Chicago Packers
  • Past Teams
    • Baltimore Bullets 1949
    • Chicago Stags
    • Cleveland Rebels
    • Denver Nuggets 1948
    • Detroit Falcons
    • Pittsburgh Ironmen
    • Providence Steamrollers
    • St. Louis Bombers
    • Toronto Huskies
    • Washington Capitols

STH News

Latest Sports Team History News

History Of the Oldest NBA Team: Sacramento Kings

March 21, 2023

The Historic Success of Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski

March 21, 2023

The Sponsorship History of New York Red Bulls

March 16, 2023

It’s Now Clear: Ronaldo’s Exit Was Best for Both Manchester United and Cristiano

March 14, 2023

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Search in posts
Search in pages
Sports Logo History
Sports News History
Sports Market History
  • About
  • Contact
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy

Sports Team History
© 2013 - 2023 Sports History Group LLC - All Rights Reserved
  • Arizona Hotshots
  • Atlanta Legends
  • Birmingham Iron
  • Memphis Express
  • Orlando Apollos
  • Salt Lake Stallions
  • San Antonio Commanders
  • San Diego Fleet