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Michael Jordan Owned The Sacramento Kings…At Least In The Beginning

By Anthony Cardenas

19 Mar 1996: Guard Michael Jordan of the Chicago bulls plays pressure defense on point guard Tyus Edney of the Sacramento Kings as he dribbles down court during the first quarter of action in the Bulls game against the Kings at the United Center in Chic
19 Mar 1996: Guard Michael Jordan of the Chicago bulls plays pressure defense on point guard Tyus Edney of the Sacramento Kings as he dribbles down court during the first quarter of action in the Bulls game against the Kings at the United Center in Chic /
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The Sacramento Kings are a long lost thought in the time of ‘The Last Dance’ airing. But we wanted to know how well Jordan performed against the franchise.

This week, the sports world has been revolving around Michael Jordan and the ESPN docu-series ‘The Last Dance’. There are issues from 23 years ago being rehashed by the talking heads in the media, and a younger generation becoming enthralled with the most competitive athlete ever. For us Sacramento Kings fans, there won’t be a lot of shout outs during the ten part series.

There were no classic battles between the Kings and Bulls. Jordan came in to the league around the time the Kings moved their franchise from Kansas City to Sacramento, and the Kings were essentially bottom feeders for the entirety of his career. Being in opposite conferences, the teams would only place against each other twice a season.

But there was a small Kings reference in during the first showing on Sunday. There was footage of Jordan and the Bulls warming up in ARCO Arena, which featured a shot of Jordan standing next to a noticeable, purple Kings logo.

That is likely the only shout out that the Kings will receive in this documentary. But that doesn’t mean that Jordan didn’t own the Kings. At least during the first part of his career.

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He scored 40 and 43 points in his first two matchups with the Kings as a rookie. He had 49 and the 37 the next season. He finished with 40+ points in five of his first eight matchups with Kansas City/Sacramento. He scored less than 30 in just one of the first 14 matchups.

But Jordan leveled off against the Kings as his career wore on, if Jordan can level off at all. In his last three seasons in Chicago (1995-1998), Jordan averaged just 26.3 points per game in his six matchups with Sacramento. If you include his final two years in Washington, then that number dipped down to 23.2.

Jordan finished his career against the Kings with a 30.6 point per game average, a number that was certainly aided by his dominance in his early years. He played 26 total games against the Kings franchise.

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