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The Sacramento Kings only have one NBA championship in franchise history and it didn't even occur when the team was called the Kings. Since going professional in 1945 as the Rochester Royals, the team won its first and only title several years later, particularly in the 1950-51 season. It was impressive given that it was only the second season the Royals were in the NBA.
This Royals team was coached by Les Harrison. The roster was led in scoring by Arnie Risen, who averaged 16.3 points per game. The Royals were the fifth-ranked offense in the league. At this time, there were only 11 teams in the NBA. Rochester averaged 84.6 points per night.
The Royals had the third-best defense in the NBA. They were giving up only 81.7 points per game. The team started off the season 12-8. The Royals had two separate seven-game winning streaks during the season. They wound up finishing the campaign with an overall record of 41-27.
Rochester finished with 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.
Over in the Eastern Division, the Philadelphia Warriors had the top mark. That division had the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Syracuse Nationals, Baltimore Bullets and Washington Capitols in it.
The Royals began the 1951 playoffs by taking on the Pistons in the Western Division Semifinals. There was no first-round of the postseason at this time.
Rochester won the series 2-1. Bob Davies led the way by averaging 17.3 points. Risen was right behind him at 16.3 points.
The Western Division Finals saw the Royals and Lakers go head to head. Rochester won this series as well, this time in four games. Risen was once again spectacular. He averaged 18.3 points by racking up 73 points in four games.
The Royals were now in the NBA Finals for the first time ever. To win the title, they would have to take down the mighty Knicks, who were led by Max Zaslofsky. This series figured to be tough for both teams and that's exactly what it was like.
The Royals won the series in seven games to capture the title. Risen averaged 21.7 points, 14.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists. He probably would have been named Finals MVP if that award was given back in the day.
Since that magical Royals team won the championship, this franchise hasn't even been back to the Finals. The Rochester Royals became the Cincinnati Royals, Kansas City-Omaha Kings and Kansas City Kings before turning into the Sacramento Kings in 1985.
After the name change, the team found little success, only making the postseason twice. The Kings lost in the first round to the eventual NBA Finalists the Houston Rockets in 1985-86 (led by the “Twin Towers” of Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Samson) and then nearly a decade later during the 1995-96 season to another finalist the Seattle SuperSonics who went down to the historic 72-10 Chicago Bulls.
A few years later, the Kings franchise would then assemble their only other more prominent iteration as they drafted flashy point guard Jason Williams in 1998, traded for All-Star Chris Webber, and signed Serbians' Vlade Divac and their 1996 first-round selection Peja Stojakovic, forming what would be known as “The Greatest Show on Court.”
The Sacramento franchise went to the 2002 Western Conference Finals, where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. The current Kings haven't made the playoffs since 2007.
Hopefully, there's a future Kings team out there that can win the ring and join the 1950-51 Rochester Royals as champions.
