This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2011)

Sacramento Kings
2011–12 Sacramento Kings season
Sacramento Kings logo
Conference	Western Conference
Division	Pacific Division
Founded	1945 (Joined NBA In 1948)
History	Rochester Royals 1945–57 Cincinnati Royals 1957–72 Kansas City-Omaha Kings 1972–75 Kansas City Kings 1975–85 Sacramento Kings 1985–Present
Arena	Power Balance Pavilion
City	Sacramento, California
Team colors	Purple, Black, Silver, White
Owner(s)	Joe Maloof, Gavin Maloof, Phil Maloof, George J. Maloof, Jr., Adrienne Maloof-Nassif, Robin E. Hernreich
General manager	Geoff Petrie
Head coach	Keith Smart (interim)
D-League affiliate	Reno Bighorns
Championships	NBL: 1 (1946) NBA: 1 (1951)
Conference titles	1 (1951 )
Division titles	NBL: 2 (1947, 1948) NBA: 3 (1979, 2002, 2003)
Official website	kings.com
Home Away

The Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are members of the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The only team in the "big four" sports leagues located in Sacramento, they play their home games at Power Balance Pavilion.

The Kings trace their origins to a local semi-professional team based in Rochester, New York in the early 1920s, making them one of the oldest basketball clubs still in existence. The team joined the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1945 as the Rochester Royals. The Royals defected to the NBL's rival, the Basketball Association of America, in 1948. In 1949, as a result of that year's merger between the NBL and BAA, the Royals became members of the newly formed NBA. Though the Royals were often successful on the court, they had trouble turning a profit in the comparatively small market of Rochester, and relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1957, becoming the Cincinnati Royals. In 1972, the team relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, initially splitting its games between Kansas City and Omaha, Nebraska, and taking up the name Kansas City Kings. The team again failed to find success in its market, and moved to Sacramento in 1985.

The team won the NBL championship in 1946 and the NBA championship in 1951. Since 1945 they have won one conference championship and five division championships.

Franchise history[link]

Rochester[link]

The franchise that became the Sacramento Kings initially started in the city of Rochester, New York, as the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball League.

In the early 1920s, the team was a semi-pro group sponsored by a local Seagram's distillery. The team was known as the Rochester Seagrams for over two decades. Between 1920 and 1940 many strictly pro operations folede, but the sponsored Seagrams stayed afloat as others fell by the wayside during the Great Depression. Under the watch of Hall Of Famer Les Harrison, the team grew in talent, hosted increasingly better competition, and became a greater local treasure as years went by.

At the conclusion of World War II, the National Basketball League was returning to success after waiting out the War Years. It was looking to add successful operations to its circuit, and Rochester was a natural candidate. The team had changed its name to the Rochester Pros, and moved to the 4500-seat Edgerton Sports Arena in 1942. Invited to join the NBL for the 1945–46 season, Les Harrison and brother Jack parted ways with sponsor Seagram's, who doubted the team would profit from the jump. The team then held a rename-the-team contest in Rochester's largest newspaper. The winner was 15-year-old Richard Paeth for his entry, the "Royals."

Success for the Royals was almost immediate. Founded in 1945 by owner/coach/general manager Les Harrison (Hall of Famer) and his brother and co-owner/business manager Jack Harrison, the team won the NBL championship in 1945–46, its very first year in the circuit. The team was led by Bob Davies, Al Cervi, George Glamack, and Otto Graham, a future NFL Hall of Famer, who, in his only season in professional basketball, won a league championship before moving on to football and leading the Cleveland Browns to ten straight championship games, winning seven. Additionally, the Royals had doubled the original investment of the Harrisons in just one season. Playing numerous exhibitions in addition to the NBL schedule, the team was arguably at its Rochester peak in 1946.

The following season, NBL Governors voted that the regular season "Pennant Winner" would be declared as the official NBL Champion, and the post-season would consist of a separate, non-championship tournament. The Royals finished 31–13 (.705), capturing their second NBL Championship in as many years, and lost in the post-season tournament finals to George Mikan and the Chicago American Gears.

The following season the NBL scrapped their one-year "pennant" experiment, and from that point forward the post-season playoffs determined the NBL Champion. The Royals again finished with the league's best overall record at 44–16, and lost to George Mikan's new team, the Minneapolis Lakers, 3 games to 1 in the NBL Finals.

The countless exhibitions, plus the season schedules, wore the team down by 1948, with injuries figuring in the 1947 and 1948 NBL Finals. The team added Bobby Wanzer, a Seton Hall University recruit made by Davies, to replace Cervi, among other roster moves. The team's strong reputation also soon made it part of the NBL – BAA merger.

In 1948, the Royals moved to the Basketball Association of America along with the Fort Wayne Pistons, Minneapolis Lakers, and Indianapolis (Kautskys) Jets. A year later, the BAA merged with the remaining NBL teams to become the National Basketball Association.

The move to the BAA took away Rochester's profitable exhibition schedule, and placed it in the same Western Division that Minneapolis was in. Of the two best teams in pro basketball, only one of them could play in the league finals, 1949–1954. Minneapolis, with Mikan, was almost always a little better at playoff time than the Royals. With their smallish arena and now-limited schedule, the Royals became less profitable even as Harrison maintained a remarkably high standard for the team, which finished no lower than second in its division, 1945–1954. He spent much of the 1950s looking for a buyer for his team as debts mounted.

The Royals won the NBA title in 1951 by defeating the New York Knicks 4 games to 3. It is the only NBA championship in the franchise's history. However, the title did not translate into profit for the Royals. The roster turned over in 1955, except for Wanzer; the team moved to the larger Rochester Memorial. Now a losing team filled with rookies, the Royals still did not turn a profit. Meanwhile the NBA was putting pressure on Harrison to sell or relocate his team to a larger city. With this in mind, the 1956–57 season was the Royals' last in Rochester.

The Royals' twelve-year stay in Rochester featured the services of nine future members of the Basketball Hall of Fame, one member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and a Hollywood Walk of Famer: Al Cervi, Bob Davies, Alex Hannum, Les Harrison, Red Holzman, Arnie Risen, Maurice Stokes, Jack Twyman, Bobby Wanzer, Otto Graham, and Chuck Connors.

Cincinnati[link]

In April 1957, the Royals were moved to Cincinnati by the Harrison brothers. This move followed a well-received regular season game played at Cincinnati Gardens on February 1, 1957. The change of venue had been said to have been suggested by Jack Twyman and Dave Piontek, who were two of several roster players on the new Royals from that region. Cincinnati, which had a strong college basketball fan base and no NFL franchise to compete with, was deemed the best choice for the Harrisons. The Royals name continued to fit in Cincinnati, often known as the "Queen City".

During the team's first NBA draft in Cincinnati, the team acquired Clyde Lovellette and guard George King. They teamed with the 1–2 punch of Maurice Stokes and Twyman to produce a budding contender in the team's very first season in the Queen City. Injury to Marshall and the loss of star guard Si Green to military service dropped the team into a tie for second place in the NBA Western Division during the 1957–58 season's second half.

In the season's finale, All-Pro star Maurice Stokes struck his head when he fell after pursuing a rebound. He shook off the effects of the fall, even as he had briefly been unconscious. After Game One in the playoffs three days later, Stokes' head injury was greatly aggravated by airplane cabin pressure during the flight back to Cincinnati for Game Two. He suffered a seizure and was permanently hospitalized, a tragedy that greatly shook the team. Stokes, a tremendous talent who could play center, forward and guard, was 2nd in the NBA in rebounds and 3rd in assists, a double-feat only Wilt Chamberlain has matched for a full season. Without Stokes, the team nearly folded.

Fellow All-Star Twyman rose to All-Pro level the next two seasons for Cincinnati, even as the team posted two 19-win seasons. The 1958–59 Cincinnati team featured five rookies, with Lovellette, King and other key players having left the team in the wake of Stokes' tragic injury. The Harrisons, under pressure to sell to a local group, sold to a local ownership headed by Thomas Woods. The fact that Stokes was simply dumped by the team and the new ownership infuriated many.

Jack Twyman came to aid of his teammate and even legally adopted Stokes. Raising funds for Stokes' medical treatment, Twyman helped him until his death in April 1970. The 1973 feature film Maurie, which co-starred actors Bernie Casey and Bo Svenson, dramatized their story.

Shooting often for the beleaguered team, Twyman was the second NBA player to average 30 points per game for an NBA season. Twyman and Stokes were later named Hall of Famers.

In 1960, the team was able to land local superstar Oscar Robertson. Robertson led a team that included Twyman, Wayne Embry, Bob Boozer, Bucky Bockhorn, Tom Hawkins and Adrian Smith over the next three seasons. The Royals reversed their fortunes with Robertson and rose to title contender. An ownership dispute in early 1963 scuttled the team's playoff chances when new owner Louis Jacobs booked a circus for Cincinnati Gardens for the week of the playoff series versus the champion Boston Celtics. The Royals home games were at Xavier University's home Schmidt Field House.

In late 1963, another local superstar, Jerry Lucas, joined the team. The Royals rose to second-best record in the NBA. From 1963 to 1966, the Royals contended strongly against Boston and the Philadelphia 76ers, but won no titles. The team's star players throughout the 1960s were Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas. Robertson met with individual success, averaging a triple-double in 1961–62 and winning the Most Valuable Player award in 1964. Robertson was a league-leading scorer and passer each season. Lucas was Rookie Of the Year in 1964, led the league in shooting, and later averaged 20 rebounds per game over three seasons. Both were All-NBA First Team selections multiple times.

The Royals were an also-ran throughout the era anyway. The team failed to keep promising players and played in the tough NBA East division, dominated by the Boston Celtics, even as a Baltimore team played in the West Division for three years, denying the team likely visits to the NBA Finals.

In 1966, the team was sold to a pair of brothers named Max and Jeremy Jacobs. That same season, the Royals began playing some of their home games in neutral sites such as Cleveland (until the Cavaliers began play in 1970), Dayton and Columbus, Ohio which was the norm for the rest of the Royals tenure in the Queen City.

New coach Bob Cousy traded Lucas in 1969. Robertson was traded to Milwaukee in 1970, where he immediately won an NBA title. The declining franchise left Cincinnati shortly thereafter, moving to Kansas City in 1972.

Kansas City/Omaha[link]

The Royals were renamed the Kings because Kansas City already had the Royals baseball team. The basketball team agreed to change its nickname, even though it had used the name for 25 years before the baseball team was established. The team initially divided its home games between Kansas City and Omaha until 1975, when it abandoned the Omaha market. During that time the team was officially called the "Kansas City-Omaha Kings". The team netted a new superstar in Nate Archibald, who led the league in scoring and assists. Both "Kings" and "Royals" fit in Kansas City, due to that city being host to the American Royal livestock show. The Kings later played several home games in St. Louis during the early 1980's to large crowds.

While still in Cincinnati, the Kings introduced a most unusual uniform design, which placed the player's surname below his number. The design remained intact through the first several seasons of the team's run in Sacramento, even when the shade of blue on the road uniforms was changed from royal blue to powder blue, and the script '"Kansas City"' which adorned the road jerseys was scrubbed after the move in favor of a repeat of the "Kings" script on the home shirts. The Kings' back jersey template was later adopted by the WNBA and the NBA Development League, as well the NBA during the All-Star Game since 2006.

The Kings had some decent players throughout. Tom Van Arsdale, the shooting forward, "Jumpin" Johnny Green, and Matt Guokas helped Archibald in the first year in Kansas City. Toby Kimball was a fan favorite. Jimmy Walker teamed with Archibald as the Kings made the playoffs the second year. Sam Lacey, an effective passing center, became one of the most dependable players in the league. Archibald became the first player to lead the league in scoring and assists in the first season in Kansas City. However, the management traded Archibald, and wasted high draft picks. Bob Cousy gave way to Phil Johnson, who was fired midyear in 1977 and replaced by Larry Staverman, a player on the team on two separate occasions when it was in Cincinnati and who later became the Cleveland Indians groundskeeper.

The Kings finally achieved some success in their new home when they hired Cotton Fitzsimmons as coach. Coach Fitzsimmons won the Midwest Division in 1978–79 with rookie point guard Phil Ford who was NBA Rookie of the Year in 1979. Kansas City was led by shooting guard Otis Birdsong, strong on both offense and defense, all around shooting forward Scott Wedman, and passing center Sam Lacey, who had a trademark 25-foot (7.6 m) bank shot. They also drew an average of 10,789 fans to Kemper Arena that season, the only time during their tenure in KC that average attendance was in five figures. The Kings made the playoffs in 1979–80 and again in 1980–81, despite finishing the regular season at 40–42. The Kings made a surprise run in the NBA Playoffs, reaching the Western Conference Finals. Big Ernie Grunfeld played the point in this run, as KC used a slow half court game to win the first two rounds. Power forward Reggie King had a remarkable series, dominating the opposition.

However, a series of bad luck incidents prevented the team from building on its success. Ted Stepien, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers lured Wedman and Birdsong away with big contract offers, the roof literally fell in at Kemper Arena because of a severe storm, forcing the team to play most of the 1979–80 season at Municipal Auditorium, and the ownership group sold the team to Sacramento interests for just eleven million dollars. The general manager was fired in a bizarre scandal in which he was found to be reusing marked postage stamps. When the Kings rehired Joe Axelson as general manager, they brought back the man who had previously traded superstars Oscar Robertson, Norm Van Lier, Nate Archibald and Jerry Lucas, and used the third pick in the ABA dispersal draft on Ron Boone. Axelson stayed on after the Kings left Kansas City where, in their last game ever, fans wore Joe Axelson masks. Axelson later said he hoped his plane would never touch down in Kansas City.

Axelson became the first general manager in the history of sports to fail with the same franchise in four different cities: Cincinnati, Kansas City, Omaha and Sacramento. He was not fired for good until he rehired coach Phil Johnson, whom he fired in midseason in Kansas City ten years before. The Kings also had the misfortune of entering this period competing with the Kansas City Comets for the winter sports dollar, when the Comets were led by marketers—the Leiweke brothers. Their final season, 1984–85, resulted in a dismal 31–51 record as fans stayed away from Kemper Arena in droves, with average attendance of just 6,410. The most notable moment of this season lives in infamy, when New York Knicks standout Bernard King suffered a devastating knee injury on March 23. The writing was on the wall for Kansas City.

Move to Sacramento[link]

The Kings moved to their current home of Sacramento, California in the 1985–86 NBA season, with their first Sacramento season ending in the first round of the Western Conference 1986 NBA Playoffs. However, they saw little success in subsequent years, and the team did not make the playoffs again until the 1996 NBA Playoffs in the 1995–96 NBA season. Some of their failure was attributable to misfortunes such as the career-altering car crash suffered by promising point guard Bobby Hurley and the suicide of Ricky Berry; some was attributed to poor management such as the long tenure of head coach Garry St. Jean and the selection of "Never Nervous" Pervis Ellison with the first overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft. Current Kings television broadcaster Jerry Reynolds and NBA legend Bill Russell were among the early coaching staff.

1993–1996[link]

The early 1990s were difficult for the Kings. Sacramento was known for having strong fan support, and while they won over 60% of their home games, the team struggled on the road, going 1–40 on the road in a single season. The Kings made the playoffs in 1996 largely due to the efforts of star player Mitch Richmond but they did not see success. The team was sold to the Maloof Family, who changed the direction of the team.

1997–1999[link]

The Kings began to emerge from mediocrity with the draft selection of Jason Williams in the 1998 NBA Draft, the signing of Vlade Divac, and the trade of Mitch Richmond for Chris Webber prior to the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season. These acquisitions coincided with the arrival of Peja Stojakovic, who had been drafted in 1996. Each of these moves was attributed to general manager Geoff Petrie, who has won NBA Executive of the Year twice. The Kings improved and became perennial playoff contenders. Led by new head coach Rick Adelman, and aided by former Princeton head coach and Kings assistant Pete Carril, the so-called "Princeton offense" impressed others for its quick style and strong ball movement. Some criticized the Kings for their poor team defense, Williams's "flash over substance" style with its many turnovers, and Webber's failure to step up in important match-ups. Still, they quickly garnered many fans outside of California, many of which were drawn to Williams and Webber. Despite their success, they were young and defeated by more experienced teams in the playoffs, the Utah Jazz in 1999 and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000.

2000–2005[link]

Following the 1999–2000 season, the Kings traded starting small forward Corliss Williamson to the Toronto Raptors for defensive shooting guard Doug Christie. Stojakovic and Webber proved to complement each other well, and as the Kings continued to improve, their popularity steadily rose, culminating in a February 2001 Sports Illustrated cover story entitled "The Greatest Show On Court" with Williams, Christie, Stojakovic, Webber, and Divac gracing the cover. In 2001, they won their first playoff series in twenty years, defeating the Phoenix Suns three games to one, before being swept in four games by the Los Angeles Lakers, who eventually won the NBA Championship.

In July 2001, starting Williams was traded to the Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies for Mike Bibby. The Kings sought more stability and control at the point guard position. This move was complemented by the re-signing of Webber to a maximum-salary contract, securing the star long term.

With Bibby, they had their best season to date in 2001–02. They finished with a league-best record of 61–21, winning 36 of 41 at home. The Kings went on to play the two-time defending Champion Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, and in a controversial series,^[1] lose in seven games, one game away from the NBA Finals.

After winning another division Championship going 59–23 in 2002–03, they lost Webber to a knee injury in the playoffs, and lost to the Dallas Mavericks in a seven game series. Webber's knee required major surgery. He returned mid-season in 2003–04 without his quickness and athleticism; the Kings ended the season with a playoff defeat to the Minnesota Timberwolves in seven games.

The 2004–05 season marked change for the Kings, who lost three starters from the 2002 team. In the off-season of 2004, Divac signed with the Lakers, which led Brad Miller to start at center. Early in the season, Christie was traded to the Orlando Magic for Cuttino Mobley, and in February, Webber was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for three forwards (Corliss Williamson, Kenny Thomas, and Brian Skinner). The Kings lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Seattle SuperSonics. The 2005 off-season continued with changes, when they traded fan-favorite Bobby Jackson for Bonzi Wells and acquired free agent Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

2005–2011[link]

The 2005–06 season started poorly, as the Kings had a hard time establishing team chemistry. Newcomers Wells and Abdur-Rahim made major contributions early, but both were injured and missed a significant number of games. As the Kings' season continued, the Maloofs decided to make a major move.

Stojakovic was traded for Ron Artest, known for his volatile temper. With Artest, the Kings went 20–9 after the 2006 NBA All-Star Weekend, which was the second best post-All-Star break record that season. They finished the season 44–38, and 4th in the Pacific Division. The Kings were seeded 8th in the Western Conference playoffs, and were matched up in the first round against the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs eliminated the Kings 4-2.

The 2006 off-season began with the news that head coach Rick Adelman's contract would not be renewed. The Kings named Eric Musselman as his replacement.

In 2006–2007, the disappointing play of the Kings was coupled with the distraction of legal troubles. Coach Eric Musselman pleaded no contest to DUI charges early in the season, while Artest got into trouble for neglect of his dogs, and was later accused of domestic assault. The Kings relieved Artest of basketball duties, pending investigation, then later reinstated him. They finished the season 33–49 (their worst in 9 years) which landed them in fifth place in the Pacific Division. They posted a losing record (20–21) at home for the first time since 1993–94. Their season included a seven game losing-streak that lasted from January 4 to January 19. The Kings missed the 2007 NBA Playoffs, the first time in eight seasons. Musselman was fired in April. The Kings' future appeared to rest on the shoulders of Kevin Martin, who was a lead candidate for 2007 NBA Most-Improved Player of the Year.

The 2007 off season was a time of change. Head coach Musselman was replaced by former Kings player, Reggie Theus. The Kings selected Spencer Hawes with the 10th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. In addition, they acquired Mikki Moore from the New Jersey Nets. Martin signed a contract worth $55 million, extending his period with the team for five more years. The Kings lost key players over the off-season, with backup Ronnie Price leaving for the Utah Jazz, and Corliss Williamson retiring.

They claimed fourth-year Beno Udrih off waivers from Minnesota. Udrih quickly assumed the started for an injured Bibby. It was announced in February that the Kings had traded Bibby to the Atlanta Hawks for Tyronn Lue, Anthony Johnson, Shelden Williams, Lorenzen Wright and a 2nd round draft pick. The move was presumably made to clear cap space. Bibby had been last player from the Kings team that reached the Western Conference Finals in 2002.

The Kings improved by 5 games and finished the 2007–08 season 38–44, and missed the playoffs by a bigger margin (12 games) than the previous season (8 games). They went 26–15 at home and 12–29 on the road. After selling out every home game since 1999, the 2007–08 season sold out only three games at ARCO Arena with attendance averaging 13,500 fans per home game, almost 4,000 below capacity.

Following a quiet 2008 off-season, it was confirmed on July 29, 2008 that the Kings would trade Artest and the rights to Patrick Ewing, Jr. and Sean Singletary to the Houston Rockets in exchange for former King Bobby Jackson, Donté Greene, a future first round draft pick, and cash considerations^[2] for Rashad McCants and center Calvin Booth.

Reggie Theus was fired in the middle of the 2008–09 season, giving way to Kenny Natt as the interim head coach. The Kings continued to struggle under Natt, ending up with the NBA's worst record for the 2008–09 season at 17–65. On April 23, 2009, Kings' Vice President Geoff Petrie announced the firing of Natt and his four assistants, Rex Kalamian, Jason Hamm, Randy Brown and Bubba Burrage.^[3]

With the worst record of the 2008–09 season, the Kings had a 25% chance of obtaining the first overall pick in the NBA draft. Overall, the Kings had a 64.3% chance of obtaining one of the top three picks in the NBA draft and could not draft any lower than number four overall. The Kings failed ended up with the fourth selection in the 2009 NBA Draft. Along with new head coach Paul Westphal, they selected Tyreke Evans with the 4th pick. With the 23rd pick, they selected Omri Casspi from Israel.

Omri Casspi

On April 27, 2010 Evans was the first Sacramento era player to receive the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. Evans also became the 4th player in NBA history, joining Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James, to average 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game for the whole season as a rookie.

On June 24, 2010, the Kings selected DeMarcus Cousins with the 5th pick of the 2010 NBA Draft. They also selected Hassan Whiteside, with the 33rd pick of the 2010 NBA Draft.

The 2010–2011 season was marked with uncertainty towards the end of the season. Frustrated by the lack of progress towards an arena and dwindling profits from other businesses, the Maloofs sought an immediate relocation of the franchise to Anaheim. The move seemed a certain towards the end of the year, as Grant Napear and Jerry Reynolds signed off at the final home game vs. the LA Lakers.

In the 2011 NBA draft the Kings traded for the draft rights of Jimmer Fredette in a three team deal with the Charlotte Bobcats and the Milwaukee Bucks also involving John Salmons, Shaun Livingston, Beno Udrih, Corey Maggette, and Stephen Jackson.

2011–2012[link]

On February 19, 2011, NBA commissioner David Stern admitted that the Kings and officials in Anaheim, California had discussions about relocation. It was later found that the organization went as far as to file for a trademark of the name "Anaheim Royals", among others. The Maloofs prepared to make their case for relocation in an NBA Board meeting in New York, in what many expected to simply be a formality.

In a surprise announcement, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson announced during a presentation to the NBA that Ron Burkle, a billionaire associate of former United States President Bill Clinton and Democratic Party fundraiser, wanted to buy the Kings and keep them in Sacramento. Johnson also pledged some $10 million from local businesses as a show of support from Sacramento. This, despite support from Sacramento citizens, may have swayed Stern and the relocation committee to tell the Maloofs to withdraw their relocation plans.

The Kings remained in Sacramento for the 2011-12 NBA season. Similar to a situation with the Seattle SuperSonics, both parties have stated that the franchise will relocate to Anaheim or elsewhere for the 2012–13 NBA season unless the city of Sacramento can provide a long term solution concerning a new arena. Currently the city has plans for an arena and are awaiting a 100-day analysis of funding options for the arena.

On January 5, 2012, the Kings fired their head coach Paul Westphal.

On February 27, 2012 the Kings' owners, the city, and the NBA came to a tentative deal on the construction of a 387 million dollar facility in the rail yards in downtown Sacramento. The city would pay up-front more than 250 million dollars, raised by leasing city-owned parking lots to a private company. The Maloofs would contribute 75 million up-front as well as the money from the sale of the current Power Balance Pavilion. In addition they would pay a 5% surcharge on ticket sales to generate another 75 million through the span of the deal. Arena operator AEG was to contribute another 60 million up-front for the right to operate the arena. With this agreement, it was expected that the Kings would play in the new arena as early as 2015.

Amid great fanfare, the outline of the deal was approved by the city council on March 7, 2012.^[4] On April 13, 2012, the Maloof family announced that they had backed out of their deal with Sacramento.^[5]

Team Logo, Uniform and Colors[link]

Following their move from Kansas City in 1985 the Kings still used the same color scheme of cyan, red, and white. From 1985 to 1990, the Kings wore whIte jerseys at home with the player's name on the back below the jersey, a very unusual look for a uniform. the cyan road jerseys also used this look. The uniforms changed slightly in 1990, with royal blue used on the road, the shorts now incorporate the Kings logo, and the name and number switch places to a more standard basketball jersey. In 1994, the Kings radically changed their look, adopting a new color scheme of purple, silver, black and white. This color scheme was adopted by the NHL's Los Angeles Kings four years later, and would be used until 2011. From 1994-2002, the Kings wore a uniform set consisting of the Kings text on the jersey in black or white. They introduced a half-black, half-purple jersey the same year as an alternate jersey with a checkered pattern on the sides, and on the shorts. However the jersey would be replaced by a more, standard purple jersey. Before the start of the 2002-03 NBA season, the Kings changed their uniforms once again. This set included the team name on the home jersey, and the city name on the purple road jersey. The Kings used a more different style of text than the one used on their logo with the letters being lower-cased. In 2008 the team introduced a new style of uniforms, with the names switching jerseys with "Kings" on the road jersey in black text, and "Sacramento" on the home jersey still in white text. The numbers are black on both jerseys. The team introduced a new alternate jersey in 2009, showing elements of the team's early years in Sacramento, but still in the current colors with only purple left out.

Kings Mascot[link]

Since autumn of 1998,^[6] the official Kings mascot is Slamson the Lion. Previous to Slamson (1985 to 1998), the Kings mascot was "The Gorilla."

Season-by-season records[link]

Home arenas[link]

• Edgerton Park Arena (1945–1955)
• Rochester War Memorial (1955–1957)
• Cincinnati Gardens (1957–1972)
• Kansas City Municipal Auditorium (1972–1974)
• Omaha Civic Auditorium (1972–1978)
• Kemper Arena (1974–1985)
• ARCO Arena I (1985–1988)
• Power Balance Pavilion (formerly ARCO Arena II) (1988-present)

Players of note[link]

Current roster[link]

Basketball Hall of Famers[link]

• Nate Archibald (Cincinnati/Kansas City/Omaha)
• Al Cervi (Rochester)
• Bob Davies (Rochester)
• Jerry Lucas (Cincinnati)
• Lester Harrison (Franchise founder, Rochester)
• Arnie Risen (Rochester)
• Oscar Robertson (Cincinnati)
• Maurice Stokes (Rochester/Cincinnati)
• Jack Twyman (Rochester/Cincinnati)
• Bobby Wanzer (Rochester)

FIBA Hall of Famers[link]

• Vlade Divac (Sacramento)
• Oscar Robertson (Cincinnati)

Retired numbers[link]

• #1 Nate Archibald, G, 1970–76 (1970–72 Cincinnati, 1972–76 Kansas City)
• #2 Mitch Richmond, G, 1991–98
• #4 Chris Webber, F, 1998–2005
• #6 (Sixth Man) – The Fans of Sacramento, 1985–present
• #11 Bob Davies, G, 1948–55 (all in Rochester)
• #12 Maurice Stokes, F, 1955–58 (1955-57 Rochester, career-ending injury in 1957-58, team's first season in Cincinnati)
• #14 Oscar Robertson, G, 1960–70 (all in Cincinnati)
• #21 Vlade Divac, C, 1998–2004^[7]
• #27 Jack Twyman, F, 1955–66 (1955–57 in Rochester, 1957–66 in Cincinnati)
• #44 Sam Lacey, C, 1970–81 (1970–72 in Cincinnati, 1972–81 in Kansas City)

Archibald and Robertson were named two of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1996.

The 2005 Sacramento Monarchs WNBA Champions banner, as well as the Monarchs 2006 Western Conference Champions banner, also hang from the rafters of Power Balance Pavilion.

Individual awards[link]

See also[link]

• Pete Carril
• Scott Moak

References[link]

The Rochester Sports Project, by Douglas Brei

External links[link]

• Sacramento Kings official web site
• Cook, Kevin (1996). "The Rochester Royals The Story of Professional Basketball". Rochester History LVIII (1). http://www.rochester.lib.ny.us/~rochhist/v58_1996/v58i1.pdf. Retrieved November 18, 2008. 
• Bee Sports staff (April 14, 2011). "Kings through the years: Cheers, jeers, sighs and cries". Sacramento Bee. http://www.sacbee.com/2011/04/12/3548192/kings-through-the-years-cheers.html. Retrieved April 14, 2011. 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1086154/index.htm http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1003012/index.htm http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1075305/index.htm http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1081879/index.htm

Kansas City most commonly refers to:

• Kansas City metropolitan area, a 15-county metropolitan area in the US states of Kansas and Missouri, which includes;
  • Kansas City, Missouri, the anchor city
  • Kansas City, Kansas, a western suburb
  • North Kansas City, Missouri, northern suburb

Kansas City may also refer to:

• Kansas City, Oregon, an unincorporated community west of Portland, Oregon, U.S.
• Kansas City (film), a 1996 film by Robert Altman
• "Kansas City" (Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller song)
• "Kansas City" (Sneaky Sound System song)
• "Kansas City" (Oklahoma!), a song from Oklahoma!
• "Jim Jackson's Kansas City Blues", a 1927 song by Jim Jackson
• "The Kansas City Song", a song by Buck Owens and the Buckaroos
• "Kansas City", a song by Okkervil River

See also[link]

• Kansas City standard, a digital data storage standard for audio cassettes
• "Kansas City Shuffle", a song by Bennie Moten
• Deuce-to-seven low or Kansas City, a method for evaluating low hands in poker

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

State of Kansas
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): The Sunflower State (official); The Wheat State
Motto(s): Ad astra per aspera
Official language(s)	English[1]
Demonym	Kansan
Capital	Topeka
Largest city	Wichita
Largest metro area	Kansas portion of Kansas City, MO-KS Metro Area
Area	Ranked 15th in the U.S.
- Total	82,277 sq mi (213,096 km2)
- Width	417 miles (645 km)
- Length	211 miles (340 km)
- % water	0.56
- Latitude	37° N to 40° N
- Longitude	94° 35′ W to 102° 3′ W
Population	Ranked 33rd in the U.S.
- Total	2,871,238 (2011 est)[2]
- Density	35.1/sq mi  (13.5/km2) Ranked 40th in the U.S.
- Median household income	$50,177 (25th)
Elevation
- Highest point	Mount Sunflower[3][4] 4,041 ft (1232 m)
- Mean	2,000 ft  (610 m)
- Lowest point	Verdigris River at Oklahoma border[3][4] 679 ft (207 m)
Before statehood	Kansas Territory
Admission to Union	January 29, 1861 (34th)
Governor	Sam Brownback (R)
Lieutenant Governor	Jeff Colyer (R)
Legislature	Kansas Legislature
- Upper house	Senate
- Lower house	House of Representatives
U.S. Senators	Pat Roberts (R) Jerry Moran (R)
U.S. House delegation	Tim Huelskamp (R) Lynn Jenkins (R) Kevin Yoder (R) Mike Pompeo (R) (list)
Time zones
- most of state	Central: UTC-6/-5
- 4 western counties	Mountain: UTC-7/-6
Abbreviations	KS US-KS
Website	www.kansas.gov

Kansas (ⁱ/ˈkænzəs/) is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States.^[5] It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area.^[6] The tribe's name (natively kką:ze) is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was probably not the term's original meaning.^[7][8] Residents of Kansas are called "Kansans."

For thousands of years what is now Kansas was home to numerous and diverse Native American tribes. Tribes in the Eastern part of the state generally lived in villages along the river valleys. Tribes in the Western part of the state were semi-nomadic and hunted large herds of bison. Kansas was first settled by European Americans in the 1830s, but the pace of settlement accelerated in the 1850s, in the midst of political wars over the slavery issue. When officially opened to settlement by the U.S. government in 1854, abolitionist Free-Staters from New England and pro-slavery settlers from neighboring Missouri rushed to the territory to determine if Kansas would become a free state or a slave state. Thus, the area was a hotbed of violence and chaos in its early days as these forces collided, and was known as Bleeding Kansas. The abolitionists eventually prevailed and on January 29, 1861,^[9][10] Kansas entered the Union as a free state. After the Civil War, the population of Kansas grew rapidly, when waves of immigrants turned the prairie into farmland. Today, Kansas is one of the most productive agricultural states, producing high yields of wheat, sorghum and sunflowers.^[11] Kansas is the 15th most extensive and the 33rd most populous of the 50 United States.

History[link]

For millennia, the land that is currently Kansas was inhabited by Native Americans. The first European to set foot in present-day Kansas was Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, who explored the area in 1541.

In 1803, most of modern Kansas was secured by the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase. Southwest Kansas, however, was still a part of Spain, Mexico, and the Republic of Texas until the conclusion of the Mexican-American War in 1848. From 1812 to 1821, Kansas was part of the Missouri Territory. The Santa Fe Trail traversed Kansas from 1821 to 1880, transporting manufactured goods from Missouri and silver and furs from Santa Fe, New Mexico. Wagon ruts from the trail are still visible in the prairie today.

In 1827, Fort Leavenworth became the first permanent settlement of white Americans in the future state. The Kansas-Nebraska Act became law on May 30, 1854, establishing the U.S. territories of Nebraska and Kansas, and opening the area to broader settlement by whites. Kansas Territory stretched all the way to the Continental Divide and included the sites of present-day Denver, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo.

Quantrill's Raid on Lawrence, Kansas

Missouri and Arkansas sent settlers into Kansas all along its eastern border. These settlers attempted to sway votes in favor of slavery. The secondary settlement of Americans in Kansas Territory were abolitionists from Massachusetts and other Free-Staters, who attempted to stop the spread of slavery from neighboring Missouri. Directly presaging the American Civil War, these forces collided, entering into skirmishes that earned the territory the name of Bleeding Kansas.

Kansas was admitted to the United States as a slave-free state on January 29, 1861, making it the 34th state to enter the Union. By that time the violence in Kansas had largely subsided. But, during the Civil War, on August 21, 1863, William Quantrill led several hundred men on a raid into Lawrence, destroying much of the city and killing nearly 200 people. He was roundly condemned by both the conventional Confederate military and the partisan rangers commissioned by the Missouri legislature. His application to that body for a commission was flatly rejected due to his pre-war criminal record.^[12]

After the Civil War, many veterans constructed homesteads in Kansas. Many African Americans also looked to Kansas as the land of "John Brown" and, led by freedmen like Benjamin "Pap" Singleton, began establishing black colonies in the state. Leaving southern states in the late 1870s because of increasing discrimination, they became known as Exodusters.

At the same time, the Chisholm Trail was opened and the Wild West-era commenced in Kansas. Wild Bill Hickok was a deputy marshal at Fort Riley and a marshal at Hays and Abilene. Dodge City was another wild cowboy town, and both Bat Masterson and Wyatt Earp worked as lawmen in the town. In one year alone, 8 million head of cattle from Texas boarded trains in Dodge City bound for the East, earning Dodge the nickname "Queen of the Cowtowns."

In part as a response to the violence perpetrated by cowboys, on February 19, 1881 Kansas became the first U.S. state to adopt a Constitutional amendment prohibiting all alcoholic beverages.

Geography[link]

Kanopolis State Park.

Flint Hills in Wabaunsee County

Kansas is bordered by Nebraska on the north; Missouri on the east; Oklahoma on the south; and Colorado on the west. The state is divided into 105 counties with 628 cities, and is located equidistant from the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The geographic center of the 48 contiguous states is located in Smith County near Lebanon. The geodetic center of North America was located in Meades Ranch, Kansas, Osborne County until 1983. This spot was used until that date as the central reference point for all maps of North America produced by the U.S. government. The geographic center of Kansas is located in Barton County.

Geology[link]

Kansas is underlain by a sequence of horizontal to gently westward dipping sedimentary rocks. A sequence of Mississippian, Pennsylvanian and Permian rocks underlie the eastern and southern part of the state. The western half of the state consists of Cretaceous through Tertiary sediments derived from the erosion of the uplifted Rocky Mountains to the west. The northeastern corner of the state was subjected to glaciation in the Pleistocene and is covered by glacial drift and loess.

Topography[link]

The western two-thirds of the state, lying in the great central plain of the United States, has a generally flat or undulating surface, while the eastern third has many hills and forests. The land gradually rises from east to west; its altitude ranges from 684 ft (208 m) along the Verdigris River at Coffeyville in Montgomery County, to 4,039 ft (1,231 m) at Mount Sunflower, one half mile from the Colorado border, in Wallace County. It is a popular belief that Kansas is the flattest state in the nation, reinforced by a well-known 2003 study^[13] stating that Kansas was indeed "flatter than a pancake".^[14] This has since been called into question, with most scientists ranking Kansas somewhere between 20th and 30th flattest state, depending on measurement method. Its average elevation is 2,000 feet, higher than 36 states.^[15]

Rivers[link]

Spring River, Kansas

The Missouri River forms nearly 75 mi (121 km) of the state's northeastern boundary. The Kansas River (locally known as the Kaw), formed by the junction of the Smoky Hill and Republican rivers at appropriately-named Junction City, joins the Missouri at Kansas City, after a course of 170 mi (270 km) across the northeastern part of the state. The Arkansas River (pronunciation varies), rising in Colorado, flows with a bending course for nearly 500 mi (800 km) across the western and southern parts of the state. It forms, with its tributaries (the Little Arkansas, Ninnescah, Walnut, Cow Creek, Cimarron, Verdigris, and the Neosho), the southern drainage system of the state. Other important rivers are the Saline and Solomon Rivers, tributaries of the Smoky Hill River; the Big Blue, Delaware, and Wakarusa, which flow into the Kansas River; and the Marais des Cygnes, a tributary of the Missouri River. Spring River is located between Riverton (Fuglies), Kansas and Baxter Springs, Kansas.

National parks and historic sites[link]

Areas under the protection of the National Park Service include:^[16]

• Brown v. Board Of Education National Historic Site in Topeka
• California National Historic Trail
• Fort Larned National Historic Site in Larned
• Fort Scott National Historic Site
• Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail
• Nicodemus National Historic Site at Nicodemus
• Oregon National Historic Trail
• Pony Express National Historic Trail
• Santa Fe National Historic Trail
• Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve near Strong City

Climate[link]

Kansas contains three climatic types, according to the Köppen climate classification: it has humid continental, semi-arid steppe, and humid subtropical. The eastern two-thirds of the state (especially the northeastern portion) has a humid continental climate, with cool to cold winters and hot, often humid summers. Most of the precipitation falls in the summer and spring. The western third of the state – from about the U.S. Route 281 corridor westward – has a semiarid steppe climate. Summers are hot, often very hot, and generally less humid. Winters are highly changeable between warm and very cold. The western region receives an average of about 16 inches (410 mm) of precipitation per year. Chinook winds in the winter can warm western Kansas all the way into the 80 °F (27 °C) range. The far south-central and southeastern reaches of the state have a humid subtropical climate with hot, humid summers, milder winters and more precipitation than the rest of the state. Although not strictly falling in all of the zones, some features of all three climates can be found in most of the state, with droughts and changeable weather between dry and humid not uncommon, and both warm and cold spells in the winter.

Precipitation ranges from about 47 inches (1200 mm) annually in the southeast of the state, to about 16 inches (400 mm) in the southwest. Snowfall ranges from around 5 inches (130 mm) in the fringes of the south, to 35 inches (900 mm) in the far northwest. Frost-free days range from more than 200 days in the south, to 130 days in the northwest. Thus, Kansas is the 9th or 10th sunniest state in the country, depending on the source. Western Kansas is as sunny as California and Arizona.

Kansas is prone to severe weather, especially in the spring and early summer. In spite of the frequent sunshine throughout much of the state, due to its location at a climatic boundary prone to multiple air masses the state is vulnerable to strong and severe thunderstorms . Many of these storms become Supercell thunderstorms. These can spawn tornadoes, often of EF3 strength or higher. According to statistics from the National Climatic Data Center, Kansas has reported more tornadoes (for the period January 1, 1950 through October 31, 2006) than any state except for Texas – marginally even more than Oklahoma. It has also – along with Alabama – reported more F5 or EF5 tornadoes than any other state. These are the most powerful of all tornadoes. Kansas averages over 50 tornadoes annually.^[17] Severe thunderstorms sometimes drop very large Hail over Kansas as well as bringing flash flooding and damaging straight line winds.

According to NOAA, the all-time highest temperature recorded in Kansas is 121 °F (49.4 °C) on July 24, 1936, near Alton, and the all-time low is −40 °F (−40 °C) on February 13, 1905, near Lebanon.

Kansas's record high of 121 °F (49.4 °C) ties with North Dakota for the fifth-highest record high in an American state, behind California (134 °F/56.7 °C), Arizona (128 °F/53.3 °C), Nevada (125 °F/51.7 °C), and New Mexico (122 °F/50 °C).

Demographics[link]

The United States Census Bureau estimates that the population of Kansas was 2,871,238 on July 1, 2011, a 0.6% increase since the 2010 United States Census.^[2]

According to the 2010 Census, 83.8% of the population was White (78.2% non-Hispanic white), 5.9% was Black or African American, 1.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 2.4% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islander, 3.0% from two or more races. 10.5% of the total population was of Hispanic or Latino origin (they may be of any race).^[19]

As of 2007, Kansas had an estimated population of 2,775,997, an increase of 20,180, or 0.7%, from the prior year and an increase of 87,579, or 3.3%, since the year 2000.^[20] This includes a natural increase since the last census of 93,899 people (that is 246,484 births minus 152,585 deaths) and a decrease due to net migration of 20,742 people out of the state. Immigration from outside the United States resulted in a net increase of 44,847 people, and migration within the country produced a net loss of 65,589 people.^[21] The population density of the state is 52.9 people per square mile.^[22] The center of population of Kansas is located in Chase County, at 38°27′N 96°32′W / 38.45°N 96.533°W / 38.45; -96.533, approximately three miles north of the community of Strong City.^[23]