Since becoming a professional team in 1948, the Sacramento Kings franchise has compiled a regular-season record of 2,590-3,089. The organization was initially called the Rochester Royals. They have since changed to the Cincinnati Royals, Kansas City-Omaha Kings, Kansas City Kings, and finally the Sacramento Kings.
The franchise has one NBA championship. It came back in 1951 when the Rochester Royals defeated the New York Knicks behind Arnie Risen. Since that magical Royals team, no squad in franchise history has gotten back to the Finals.
However, the Kings have had some great coaches over the years despite the franchise's lack of success in the playoffs. For this piece, we'll be ranking the top four coaches in franchise history.
4. Cotton Fitzsimmons
Fitzsimmons coached the Kansas City Kings for six years. He won 248 games in the regular season and nine in the playoffs.
Cotton ranks third in franchise history in regular-season wins and postseason victories. He's got the fourth-best winning percentage in the regular season.
Fitzsimmons won the 1978-79 Coach of the Year Award with the Kings. He guided Kansas City to 48 wins that season.
3. Jack McMahon
With 187 wins in the regular season, McMahon is fifth on the Kings' all-time wins list. He went 8-15 in the playoffs. His regular-season record of 187-134 gave him a winning percentage of .583. That's good for third in franchise history.
The Kings made the playoffs all four years under Jack. His eight postseason wins put him at fourth place on the playoff wins list.
2. Rick Adelman
Adelman coached the Kings for eight years. He's tied with Phil Johnson for the longest-tenured coach in franchise history.
The Kings had plenty of success under Adelman. Sacramento won 395 games with Adelman, giving Rick the most wins in franchise history. Adelman went 395-229 during the regular season with the Kings. He's got the best winning percentage at .633.
Sacramento made the playoffs every single season under Adelman. He finished his Kings coaching career with a postseason record of 34-35. Adelman's 34 playoff wins are also a franchise record.
The Lakers prevented Adelman's Kings from having more success in the playoffs. That 2002 Western Conference Finals series is still talked about in Sacramento and Los Angeles. It was an epic series that the Lakers wound up winning in seven games.
1. Les Harrison
Harrison was the coach of the 1951 Royals team which won it all. Les has the second-most wins in franchise history with 295. His 19 playoff wins are good for second place as well.
Harrison guided the Royals to the second-best record in the Western Division, which was made up of the Minneapolis Lakers, Fort Wayne Pistons, Indianapolis Olympians and Tri-Cities Blackhawks. In the '51 playoffs, the Royals defeated the Pistons, Lakers and Knicks to capture Harrison's only NBA championship.
Since then, the Kings have gotten close to getting back to the Finals, but as we mentioned, the Lakers always stopped Adelman's Kings from doing so. The current state of the organization is promising despite the franchise's playoff drought. Sacramento hasn't made the playoffs since 2006.
However, youngsters De'Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Marvin Bagley III and Bogdan Bogdanovic are eager to lead the Kings back to the playoffs under the guidance of head coach Luke Walton. Before the 2019-20 season was suspended due to COVID-19, Walton and the team were in 11th place in the Western Conference standings with a record of 28-36.
Sacramento is hoping the 2019-20 season resumes so it can snap the postseason drought.
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