The Long Playoff Drought for A Once Great Team
The Sacramento Kings Nearly Won It All And Then Fell Into Obscurity
Childhood in Sacramento Watching Entertaining Basketball
My hometown is Sacramento. I grew up a Sacramento Kings fan. When I was a teenager and a young adult, the Sacramento Kings had some very talented teams featuring players like Mitch Richmond, Jason Williams, Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Mike Bibby, Doug Christie, Peja Stojakovic, and Brad Miller. These teams were entertaining to watch and made the playoffs multiple times.
Epic Western Conference Showdown
In the 2001–2002 season, the team even made the Western Conference finals and played against the “Goliath” team in the Los Angeles Lakers with both Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in their primes. Don’t even get me started with Robert Horry. He’s still a sore subject when it comes to discussion about one of the games in this series. The Kings had played some inspired basketball in that series. It looked like they might be the team to face the New Jersey Nets in the NBA Finals that year and become the NBA Champions with their first title since moving to Sacramento in 1985 from Kansas City.
Everyone knows how that series went down. It was a nail-biter. The Lakers won in 7 games. There were rumblings that the refs had tilted that series towards the Lakers. Years later, investigations found some misconduct during that series and one even admitted that the Kings probably should’ve won.
Change in Ownership
They still made the playoffs a couple more times after that but then made their last playoff appearance in the 2005–2006 season. They lost in the first round to the San Antonio Spurs. So what’s happened in the 16 seasons since the Kings last made the playoffs? They’ve made plenty of blunders and horrible personnel changes in the time since. The Maloofs sold the Sacramento Kings to their current owner, Vivek Ranadivé, in 2013. There was hope under new ownership.
Not For Lack of Talented Players
They’ve certainly had some talent. DeMarcus Cousins was an All-Star and long-suffering Kings player. Buddy Hield and Tyrese Haliburton were just traded to the Indiana Pacers. They now have Domantas Sabonis, son of legendary Portland Trailblazers center, Arvydas Sabonis. Yet the Kings in the 2021–2022 season sit in 13th place in the West and are set to miss the playoffs for the 16th season in a row as they are currently 22–38. The trade of some of their stars in exchange for young talent shows that they’re committing to another rebuild that could take a couple of years more until they become relevant again.
Boo To Rebuilds
As a fan, these rebuilds are not fun to watch. These losing seasons certainly also aren’t fun to watch. I know we probably won’t see the early 2000’s version of the Kings again for a long time. I credit that era and that team for revolutionizing today’s game and the way that the Warriors found success during their own mini-dynasty when they were winning championships. No one during that time had played the way the Kings did and they did so with flashy passing, high tempo offense, and perimeter shooting, much like many teams do now in today’s game.
How The Recent Trade Affects The Future
Will the Sacramento Kings break the longest current playoff drought in the NBA anytime soon? I sure hope so. Do I think they will? I’m still pretty doubtful. The recent trade brings me a mixed reaction at this point. Sure, they landed a bona fide rising star in Domantas Sabonis whose comparisons remind me a lot of former Kings star, Chris Webber, but the game has changed and I don’t know if it’s enough for the Kings to build around a star much like they did when they acquired Webber back in the 1998–1999 season. Many teams these days are creating super teams like the Golden State Warriors, Brooklyn Nets, Miami Heat, and Los Angeles Lakers, for example.
Sacramento Isn’t a Premier Market
The Sacramento market isn’t the most attractive for free agents to go to. I know what Sacramento is like. I’ve lived there. Even though I enjoyed it enough, there isn’t nearly enough entertainment and activity in the area to draw the stars of the NBA like the other cities I had previously mentioned. I think because of this Sacramento also falls victim to the perception of it still being a cow town even though at this point, the metro area is comparable to that of Pittsburgh and bigger than other existing NBA markets.
The Tools to Potentially Break the Drought
The only way the Kings can truly break out of this playoff drought is to make it seem like Sacramento and the organization itself is a place to play. They certainly already have a good coach in Alvin Gentry, who was formerly the New Orleans Pelicans head coach and the assistant head coach under Luke Walton. Now maybe all that the Kings need is a couple more complementary pieces and they could be right back in the playoff discussion, even as soon as this year. The hope for success this year in a competitive Western Conference is unlikely, but not impossible. Long-suffering fans just want to see a good product out there again. Sacramento Kings, I believe in you. Go out there and finish the season with some inspired basketball.
