On April 30th, the Sacramento Kings finished their best season in about 20 years. This season they finished the regular season with a 48-34 record, which was good for third in the Western Conference. This 2022-23 season was the first time the Kings have made the playoffs since the 2005-06 season. It might not have been the best season in the Kings’ history, but it was one of the most memorable.
We know this Kings’ season was terrific, but where does it rank among the top 5 seasons in Kings’ history? This list will account for regular season and postseason success. This will only cover seasons post-1960, so the 1951 Rochester Royals championship team will not be here. I will also exclude multiple seasons of teams with the same core of players to avoid repetitiveness.
5. Kansas City-Omaha Kings 1974-75
This Kings squad, led by coach Phil Johnson, finished the season with a 44-38 record. This team’s success was mainly due to Hall of Famer Tiny Archibald, who averaged 26.5 points per game and received first-team All-NBA honors. There were two All-stars on this team, one Tiny and the other Sam Lacey, who averaged 11 points per game and 14 rebounds.
This team lost in the Western Conference Semifinals, as the NBA did not expand the playoffs until 1984, and they received a first-round bye. They lost to the Chicago Bulls in six games, as that Bulls squad had some notable players such as Jerry Sloan, Bob Love, Nate Thurmond, and Chet Walker.
Tiny Archibald, one of the best Kings of all time, deserves some recognition here as this was his only Kings team that made the playoffs. This team broke a seven-year-long playoff drought in Phil Johnson’s first season.
4. Sacramento Kings 2022-23
I am sure we are all familiar with this Kings team, as they finished with a 48-34 record. They had the first-ever unanimous Coach of the Year with Mike Brown, the first-ever Clutch Player of the Year with De’Aaron Fox, two all-stars with Fox and Domantas Sabonis, and the Executive of the Year with GM Monte McNair.
While this year was very successful, they fell short in the playoffs despite a great fight. Losing in the first round after a hyped-up regular season was heartbreaking, but that will not take away from a memorable year. This team took the reigning champions, Golden State Warriors, to seven games but could not stop future Hall of Famer Stephen Curry.
All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox had a great year, averaging 25 points and 6 assists per game while leading the league in clutch points. Fox continued his outstanding play through the playoffs as he averaged 27 points and 7.7 assists per game, even though he played through a fractured finger on his shooting hand. This was also Fox’s first playoff appearance of his career.
This team had many players take the league by storm this year, including All-Rookie first-teamer Keegan Murray and sharpshooter Kevin Huerter. Along with veteran forward Harrison Barnes to round out the main starting lineup, this team did the unthinkable and broke the 16-year-long playoff drought.
3. Kansas City Kings 1980-81
This Kings team finished with a record of 40-42. Even with a losing record, this team makes the list because of the postseason success. This team lost to the Houston Rockets in five games in the Western Conference Finals, making them just one of two Kings teams to make the conference finals. Just two seasons prior, this team, with a similar roster, won 48 games but could not make it past the conference semifinals.
This team was led by coach Cotton Fitzsimmons, who won Coach of the Year two seasons prior. This team was highlighted by Otis Birdsong, as he received second-team All-NBA honors, averaging 24.6 points per game. We also see Phil Ford, who averaged 17.5 points and 8.8 assists per game. There is also forward Scott Wedman, coming off an All-Star season, averaging 19 points per game.
The only Hall of Famer on this team was Jo Jo White playing in the last year of his career and well past his prime. Injuries took a toll on this team, as Birdsong and Ford missed a combined 27 games, which is part of the reason their record does not reflect the success of this team.
Going back to the reason this team is number three on this list is their playoff success. This team won two playoff series, the first round against the Portland Trail Blazers and the second round against the Phoenix Suns. The Suns eliminated them in the previous two seasons, so a sweet revenge series is what came into play.
2. Cincinnati Royals 1963-64
The Cincinnati Royals, before relocating to Kansas City then Sacramento, and before rebranding to the Kings, had some great seasons with some great players. This 1963-64 season, the Royals finished with a 55-25 record which was good for second-best in the NBA. This team was coached by Jack McMahon and led by four Hall of Famers, including Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, Wayne Embry, and Jack Twyman.
This team reached the Eastern Division Finals, where they were taken down by a Boston Celtics team led by Bill Russell, who was surrounded by SEVEN other Hall of Famers. That Celtics squad was serious and went on to win the Finals.
This was Robertson’s MVP year, averaging 31.4 points, 11 assists, and 9.9 rebounds per game. Lucas also had a great season, winning Rookie of the Year, averaging 17.7 points and 17.4 rebounds per game. As a team, they had the best defensive rating of any Kings team since 1960. It’s a shame the Celtics had the most prominent superteam of all time, otherwise, this Royals squad would have had a path to a championship.
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.
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