The Sacramento Kings began play in the National Basketball League in the post-WWII 1945-46 season as the Rochester Royals. The beginning period for the franchise is the most successful in its history, as the team won the NBL title in their first season as a member of the league. They went to the NBL Finals two more times before the league merged with the BAA to become the NBA for the 1949-50 season. The Royals continued having success, winning their second title in 1951, defeating the rival New York Knicks 4-3. The Royals began the 1951-52 season strong, sprinting out to a 28-16 record (.636) and looking like worthy title holders with a chance to repeat. Life was good.

And then, King George VI died. Queen Elizabeth took the throne of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland on February 6, 1952.

The franchise was never the same. The Royals slowed a bit down the stretch in 1952, going 13-9 (.590) and falling to the eventual champ Minneapolis Lakers in 4 games in the conference finals. After having made the NBL/NBA Finals 4 out of 6 years while King George reigned, the Royals would never make it back under the eye of Queen Elizabeth. The Royals, recognizing this, began to move westward to try to escape the queen’s influence. They played 5 more seasons in Rochester, making it back to the conference finals once, but never the NBA Finals. The team moved further inland, to Cincinnati, where they spent 15 years never tasting the Finals again. 13 further years in Kansas City and Omaha produced no further luck, even as the team renamed themselves the Kings to recall their glory days under King George and to spurn Queen Elizabeth. Finally, the team bit the bullet and moved almost as far west as they could, to Sacramento, but even that could not pry them from her clutches. For 70 seasons, her power had kept the team in the lower reaches of the NBA.

The team had made 6 conference finals in 6 seasons under King George, and 6 conference finals in 70 seasons under Queen Elizabeth. Their only titles and only Finals appearances remained under him.

And then, this morning, she finally passed away. King Charles III rose to the throne.

What does this mean for the Kings? Clearly, now that there is once again a King ruling over Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Kings have been freed from Queen Elizabeth and will rise to reclaim their spot at the top of the NBA. The team will be restored to its former glory as British citizens sing “God Save the Kings” and Kinggan Murray wins MVP, Finals MVP, Rookie of the Year, and the scoring title in the same season. The only advice I can offer: prepare yourselves.