In terms of overall franchise ineptitude in NBA history, there may not be a single team that has the Sacramento Kings beat. Yes, the franchise won a championship back in 1951, but since then, Kings fans have had to endure putridity for a greater part of their team's 75-year history. But given how old the franchise is, there's bound to be a breakthrough here and there for even the most moribund team in the league — and the Kings certainly showed during the 2022-23 season that nothing lasts forever, not even their playoff drought.
Now, the Kings are on an upward trajectory, and there's no reason to believe that the Domantas Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox-led team couldn't replicate their success last season in the years to come. But until then, it'll be interesting to see where the 2023 team stacks up among 75 iterations of the Kings franchise from its days as the Royals in Rochester and Cincinnati and its 13-year stay in Kansas City (and Omaha).
Without further ado, here are the 10 greatest Kings teams in history.
10. 2004-05
No one knew it for sure at the time, but this was the last year of the Kings as a serious playoff team with its Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic-led core. But even then, the Kings simply did not have the juice left to squeeze one last deep postseason run with their aging roster. Coming up against the third-seeded Seattle Supersonics led by Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, the Kings were unable to rise to the challenge, losing in the first round of the playoffs in just five games. They found it difficult to keep up as they lost Webber to injury earlier in the season.
There are a few names up and down the roster that could have helped had the Kings stayed the course (Kevin Martin would become a fringe All-Star talent, Matt Barnes would become a solid 3-and-D option at the wing). But Webber's ultimate inability to stay healthy, not to mention the injury problems Martin and Doug Christie encountered, proved to be the beginning of the end of this era of Kings basketball.
9. 2022-23
It's tempting to rank the 2023 Kings team higher on this list due to recency bias. After all, this Kings team immediately become one of the most iconic in its team's history, thanks to their instant classic “Light The Beam” mantra. Moreover, this squad helped turn things around for a Kings team that endured plenty of tribulations during their 16-year playoff drought.
To add even further to the “greatness” of the 2023 Kings, they played at an entertaining, breakneck pace, tiring out the opposition with constant movement while running the offense around Domantas Sabonis' mastery of the dribble handoff. They spaced the floor among the best of them last season as well, earning them the third-seed in one of the most congested Western Conference playoff races in recent memory.
Alas, this Kings team cannot rank any higher on this list due to one main reason: they did not make it out of the first round. That is something that cannot be said for the rest of the teams on this list. Make no mistake about it, however. This certainly is just the start for a Kings team looking to cement itself as a contending team for the rest of the 2020s, wiping away the stench of their putrid past.
8. 1980-81
In terms of regular season performance, this Kings team is far from the most convincing. They won just 40 games that year, and a finish below .500 rarely foreshadows playoff success. But in the case of the 1981 Kings, they made one of the most impressive playoff runs for a team with a losing record in NBA history, making it all the way to the Conference Finals in the process.
It wasn't like the Kings beat terrible teams on their way to the Final Four. The team that they beat in the first round, the Portland Trail Blazers, may not have been that impressive, but overcoming the 57-win Phoenix Suns in Round 2 is nothing to scoff at.
In the end, the 1981 Kings' kryptonite ended up being another team with a losing record. The 1981 Rockets won just 40 games as well, but they had the best player during the series (Moses Malone), which counts for a lot when the margins between the two teams are this thin.
7. 1962-63
The first of two Oscar Robertson-led teams on this list, this was the historic year in which the Big O averaged a triple-double — a feat most people thought no one could ever do again until Russell Westbrook achieved the unthinkable in 2017. Robertson, one of the greatest point guards of all time, was arguably at his best during this season, and in turn, he led the Cincinnati Royals to within one series win away of making it to the NBA Finals.
However, Robertson and company ran into the dynastic Boston Celtics. In the 1960s, facing the Celtics in the playoffs was almost certainly a death knell, and that ended up being the case in 1963. The Royals fell short against the Celtics in seven games, with Robertson's 43 Game 7 points unable to overcome Sam Jones' 47-piece.
6. 1963-64
He may not have replicated his triple-double season in 1963, but Oscar Robertson was arguably better during this season than he was when he made history. And the Royals' output on the court certainly reflects that. They won 13 games more than last year, and the addition of Jerry Lucas helped the team reach a higher level than their impressive 1963 campaign.
However, similar to the previous entry on this list, the Royals simply could not overcome the Celtics, this time losing in five games to Bill Russell and company.
5. 2003-04
It's not an exaggeration to say that the early-2000s was the golden era of Kings hoops. The Vlade Divac-Chris Webber-Peja Stojakovic-Doug Christie-Mike Bibby core just worked so well together, and Sacramento always finished near the top of the Western Conference during the heyday of this core.
However, it seemed like their shortcomings in 2002 (as well as 2003) have taken their toll at this point. Despite facing a Minnesota Timberwolves team in Round 2 that didn't really have that much deep playoff experience outside of Sam Cassell and Latrell Sprewell, the Kings were unable to make a return trip to the WCF to avenge their loss to the Los Angeles Lakers two years ago.
In a hard-fought Game 7, the Kings just fell short by three points as they were unable to contain a Kevin Garnett who was at the height of his powers at this point in time. Garnett dropped 32 points (an incredible number for a team that finished with just 83 points on the night) and 21 rebounds, ending the Kings' season (and effectively the franchise's title hopes during this era of basketball) in heartbreaking fashion.
4. 2000-01
Signing Bobby Jackson and trading Corliss Williamson to the Toronto Raptors for Doug Christie were two strokes of genius from the Kings front office. In acquiring Jackson and Christie, the Kings got two pieces who fit seamlessly alongside Chris Webber, Peja Stojakovic, and Vlade Divac.
Christie, in particular, ended up being an invaluable cog the Kings got for an eye-poppingly cheap price. He took on tough defensive assignments on a nightly basis while being a respectable threat from beyond the arc.
At the end of the day, however, it was still Webber's greatness that propelled the 2001 team to great heights. Alas, the 2001 Lakers were just on another level. If it wasn't for an Allen Iverson masterclass, that iteration of the Kobe Bryant-Shaquille O'Neal partnership could have gone through the playoff ladder without suffering a single loss. Losing to that great of a team is nothing to hang one's head over.
3. 2002-03
Chris Webber is definitely one of those players who has a lot of what-ifs in his Hall of Fame career. What if he didn't call a timeout when they had none during the national championship game in 1993? What if Webber had closed out in time against Robert Horry in 2002? And what if Webber didn't endure a plethora of injury woes that put a damper on the Kings' playoff hopes over and over again?
In 2003, the Kings were still one of the favorites to win it all. But just like most teams, they wouldn't be able to do it without their best player. And they didn't have the services of Webber for the final five games of their Round 2 matchup against the Dallas Mavericks during that year. Sacramento lost the series in seven games. Even then, the 2003 season was a good follow-up to their stellar 2002 campaign, even if it didn't end the way they had hoped.
2. 1950-51
It may be downright blasphemy to put the only Kings team in franchise history to win a championship at the number two spot on this list. But hear me out.
There were literally just 11 teams in the league when the Royals won a championship. That alone makes the road to a title that much easier, as there were far less teams for them to overcome than in today's NBA. Moreover, the gulf in quality and talent in the sport is far too wide from where it was for the other entries on this list, making a certain Kings team's playoff run more impressive from a greater point of view.
Nevertheless, winning a championship always counts for something. And that something, in this case, is a second-place finish on the Kings' all-time greatest team rankings.
1. 2001-02
This team may not have won a championship like the 1951 Royals did, but the 2002 Kings remains the best team in franchise history nonetheless. This season was the culmination of the Kings' impressive roster-building to begin the 2000s, and it led to a franchise-record 61-win season, putting them as one of the favorites to win the title during that year.
And in the postseason, it seemed like the stars were aligning for a Kings championship run. They seemed to have the Lakers' number, with Vlade Divac and Chris Webber matching up well with the Purple and Gold's frontcourt and Mike Bibby carving up the Lakers on the perimeter. The Kings took a 2-1 series lead heading into Game 4, and they were even in a strong position to take a commanding 3-1 lead heading back home.
Alas, Robert Horry received the ball right in his shooting pocket with the Lakers trailing the Kings by two, 99-97, in the dying embers of Game 4. Horry nailed the triple, giving the Lakers the momentum heading back to Sacramento.
But the Kings maintained mental fortitude, winning Game 5 to put the Lakers on the brink of elimination. But what ensued was a robbery of epic proportions, as many believe that the officials called fouls heavily in favor of the Lakers to extend the series. The Kings then could not overcome the 8-on-5 on the court, and they ended up faltering in seven games.
It's not a stretch to say that this Kings team would have won a championship in most other years. It just so happened that they ran into a team that may have had the officiating crew in their pockets.
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