Top 5 seasons in Kings history
By Logan Struck
1. Sacramento Kings 2001-02
This whole list could be full of different seasons from the early 2000s era of Kings basketball, but I decided to keep the best one. Coached by former Kings player Rick Adelman, the record of 61-21 was the best in franchise history.
Although this team lost in the Western Conference Finals, they were taken down by one of the best duos of all time, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, on the Los Angeles Lakers. They did manage to take that Lakers team to seven games, being just one win away from their only franchise Finals appearance since 1951. The Lakers went on to sweep the Nets in the finals, so we can only assume the Kings would have handled them the same way, making that game seven loss even more heartbreaking.
This Kings team was led by Hall of Famer Chris Webber, who averaged 24.5 points and 10.1 rebounds per game. He was an All-Star that year, accompanied by teammate Peja Stojaković, who averaged 21.2 points on about 41% shooting from three-point range. These two were surrounded by loads of other talents, such as Doug Christie, an All-Defensive second-teamer, along with guard Mike Bibby and center Vlade Divac to round out the main starting five.
The Kings soared through the first two rounds of the playoffs, only losing a combined two games in those series. In the first round, they took down a veteran Utah Jazz team featuring Hall of Famers John Stockton and Karl Malone, although they were well past their prime. In the second round, they beat a great Dallas Mavericks team built around Hall of Famers Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash in just five games.
