There have been over 300 players to wear a Sacramento Kings uniform. Some of them were here for a good time, but not a long time.
The Sacramento Kings have had 497 players appear in at least one game over the 71 years of the franchises existence, 304 of them in the Sacramento era. Many of them have been memorable, for the better or worse. We all remember Scot Pollard, John Salmons, and Jimmer Fredette. We still have the Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic memorabilia stashed somewhere in the closet.
But there is likely a handful of players that you forgot ever put on a Sacramento uniform, and it’s time to uncover some hazy memories with our little dive in to Kings’ history.
For this list, we have included only players from the Sacramento era. There are certainly players who have played less games than most of the guys on this list (Hassan Whiteside, Sim Bhullar), but we wanted to jog your memory from yesteryear.
Here are 9 Sacramento Kings players that you might not remember.
#1. Drew Gooden – 1 game
There are only six players who have appeared in just one game for the Kings in the Sacramento era, and the most recognizable name of the six is Drew Gooden. He was traded from Chicago to Sacramento in February of 2009, and in his lone appearance in purple, Gooden played 26 minutes, scored 12 points, and pulled down 13 rebounds. His contract was bought out and he signed with the San Antonio Spurs four days later.
#2. Bill Wennington – 84 games
Bill Wennington had two different stints with Sacramento, separated by nearly a decade of his career. After playing his first five seasons with the Dallas Mavericks, Wennington was traded to the Kings in 1990, where he played for one season and averaged 5.7 points and 4.4 rebounds in 77 appearances and 23 starts. After two seasons overseas, he returned stateside to play for the Chicago Bulls.
Wennnigton won three championships in Chicago before returning to the Kings for his final NBA season. He appeared in just 7 games that year and averaged 2 points in 8 minutes per. He retired following the 1999-2000 season.
#3. Desmond Mason – 5 games
The Kings signed former Slam Dunk Contest champion Desmond Mason to a league minimum contract in the fall of 2009. Mason, who averaged 12.1 points over his 11 year playing career, scored a total of just 13 points in 5 appearances for Sacramento.
The Kings did their best to integrate him in to the regular rotation, as Mason received an average of 18.5 minutes per game for the first three games of the 2009-’10 season. He played ten minutes combined in the next two contests, and was waved by Sacramento just five games in to the season.