Sacramento Kings

Lore & Background

The franchise began with the Rochester Seagrams (a semi-professional team) from Rochester, New York, that formed in 1923. They joined the National Basketball League in 1945 as the renamed Rochester Royals, winning that league's championship in their first season, 1945–46. In 1948 they jumped with three other NBL teams to the Basketball Association of America, which later merged with the NBL to form the NBA. As the Royals, the team won the NBA championship in 1951.

The team relocated to Cincinnati, becoming the Cincinnati Royals. Before the 1972–73 season, the team relocated again to Kansas City, Missouri, and was renamed the Kansas City–Omaha Kings, later truncated to Kansas City Kings. The franchise moved after the 1984–85 season to Sacramento. Their best seasons in the city were in the early 2000s, including a 2001–02 season when they had the best record in the NBA at 61–21.

Between 2006 and 2022, the Kings had 16 consecutive losing seasons, the most in NBA history. The Kings also had the longest active postseason drought in the four major North American sports, which started in 2006 and lasted until 2023.

Reader's Guide

The Kings are the first team in the major professional North American sports leagues located in Sacramento. The franchise has the most losses in NBA history.