sacramento kings history
sacramento kings history
Sometimes “The Good Old Days” aren’t that good. For people buying Sacramento Kings tickets, the past has less to do with nostalgia, and more to do with nausea. But that all changed in the 1990s, when Mike Bibby, Peja Stojokovic and Chris Webber turned the Kings into a contender. The team made several runs at the title, but never made it to the top.
This is a year that will define what happens next. Will the Sacramento Kings keep up their winning ways, or will they begin to look like the Kings of old? Bibby and Stojokovic are still with the club, but Webber has been dealt to the 76ers. Bonzi Wells and Shareef Abdur-Rahim have been added to the mix, but this team is a real mystery. Sacramento King tickets have been the hottest in the league over the past 10 years. 2005 will decide whether they will stay that way.
The Kings do have a history to be proud of; it just did not take place in Sacramento. In the 1940s and 1950s, the franchise was known as the Rochester Royals, and they were the class of their era. The Royals won a championship in the now-defunct National Basketball League, and another on the early days of the NBA. Stars Bob Davies, Bobby Wanzer, and Arnie Risen made Rochester a winner in those early years.
The Royals moved to Cincinnati in 1957, and were regular contenders behind the all-around play of Oscar Robertson. “The Big O,” as he was nicknamed, averaged a triple-double in his career, and became a Hall of Famer in his time with the Royals, leading Cincinnati to the conference finals from 1963-1964.
A move to Kansas City changed the team name to Kings and began the Nate “Tiny” Archibald years. Archibald became the first player to lead the league in points and assists per game, and went on to a Hall-of-Fame career of his own.
After Archibald left, the Kings became the Kings that everyone joked about in the 80’s. A move to Sacramento did not help matters, as Sacramento became the butt of jokes around the league. With no stars to speak of, Sacramento King tickets became a chance to watch nightly futility.
Finally, Webber and company came to town, and restored respectability for the Kings, leading them to playoff appearances from 1999-2004.
The team returned to the payoffs in 2005, but lost key players like Webber, Doug Christie, and Bobby Jackson in the process. This is a different Kings team, and the jury is still out on whether they have what it takes. Buy Sacramento Kings tickets in 2005-2006, and see if they can keep “The Bad Old Days” from coming back.
