The Sacramento Kings are a professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California, United States. They are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Kings are the only team in the Major professional North American sports leagues located in Sacramento; they play their home games at Sleep Train Arena.

The Kings can trace their origins to a local semi-professional team based in Rochester, New York in the early 1920s. The team was officially established professionally in the National Basketball League (NBL) in 1945 as the Rochester Royals. The Royals defected to the NBL's rival, the Basketball Association of America, in 1948. In 1949, as a result of that year's absorption of the NBL by the BAA, the Royals became members of the newly formed NBA. Though the Royals were often successful on the court, they had trouble turning a profit in the comparatively small market of Rochester, and relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1957, becoming the Cincinnati Royals. In 1972, the team relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, initially splitting its games between Kansas City and Omaha, Nebraska, and taking up the name Kansas City Kings. The team again failed to find success in its market, and moved to Sacramento in 1985.
They won the NBA championship in 1951. Since 1945, the franchise has won one conference championship and five division championships.

Franchise history

1945-1948 & 1948-1957: Rochester Royals
The team started in Rochester for the National Basketball League as the Rochester Royals. The team immediately found success upon their arrival in the league as in their first year, they captured the NBL title. They followed this with two more NBL Final appearances. This was followed by their transfer to the Basketball Association of America, and a year later, their move into the NBA.

The team was a strong contender and was a main contender despite being bested by George Mikan and the Minneapolis Lakers in the majority of games. Even though their early years were filled with success including their lone NBA title in 1951, the team could not find financial success and team founder Lester Harrison moved the team to Cincinnati in 1957.

The Kings are one of four NBA franchises to win a championship under a different name but not the current one; the Atlanta Hawks (who won the 1958 championship as the St. Louis Hawks), Oklahoma City Thunder (who, as the Seattle SuperSonics, captured the title in 1979) and Washington Wizards (who were known as the Washington Bullets when they won the championship in 1978) are the others.

1957-1972: Cincinnati Royals
Initially led by power forward Maurice Stokes, the Royals were the team to beat. This ended when a head injury that Stokes ignored took its toll and with it the Royals nearly folded. Although they also had Jack Twyman the team still struggled to compete in the league. This all changed when the Royals acquired territorial pick Oscar Robertson.

1960-1970: The Oscar Robertson era
With Robertson, the team once again became contenders for the championship. Along with other stars such as Twyman and Bob Boozer, the team had very high hopes and chances. Robertson was a high-flyer in the league, averaging a triple-double in the 1961-1962 season and was named MVP of the 1964 season. Another addition, Jerry Lucas, seemed to make a definite appeal to the title.

Despite these successes, the team could not overcome the dominant Boston Celtics that reigned over this era for every year but one. The team also failed to keep certain promising players throughout their existence. Oscar Robertson left in 1970 and immediately won a title with the Milwaukee Bucks led by another superstar, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

In 1972, the decision was made that the Cincinnati Royals would be moving to Kansas City after flirting with San Diego also.

1972-1985: Kansas City-Omaha Kings

1972-1976: The Nate Archibald era
The Royals were renamed the Kings because Kansas City already had the Royals baseball team. (However, at that time St. Louis still had two teams named the Cardinals, including the football team that now plays in Arizona, and the New York Giants are often called the "New York Football Giants" to distinguish themselves from the baseball team that played there until 1957.) The basketball team agreed to change its nickname, even though it had used the name for 25 years before the baseball team was established. The team initially divided its home games between Kansas City and Omaha until 1975, when it abandoned the Omaha market. During that time the team was officially called the "Kansas City-Omaha Kings". The move from Omaha marked the opening of the 16,785-seat Kemper Arena in Kansas City. During the first days the Kings played at the 7,316-seat Municipal Auditorum in Kansas City and the 9,300 seat Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha. The team netted a new superstar in Nate Archibald, who led the league in scoring and assists. The Kings later played several home games in St. Louis during the early 1980s to large crowds.

While still in Cincinnati, the Kings introduced a most unusual uniform design, which placed the player's surname below his number. The design remained intact through the first several seasons of the team's run in Sacramento, even when the shade of blue on the road uniforms was changed from royal blue to powder blue, and the script '"Kansas City"' which adorned the road jerseys was scrubbed after the move in favor of a repeat of the "Kings" script on the home shirts. The Kings' back jersey template was later adopted by the WNBA and the NBA Development League, as well the NBA during the All-Star Game since 2006.

The Kings had some decent players throughout. Tom Van Arsdale, the shooting forward, "Jumpin" Johnny Green, and Matt Guokas helped Archibald in the first year in Kansas City. Toby Kimball was a fan favorite. Jimmy Walker teamed with Archibald as the Kings made the playoffs the second year. Sam Lacey, an effective passing center, became one of the most dependable players in the league. Archibald became the first player to lead the league in scoring and assists in the first season in Kansas City. However, the management traded Archibald, and wasted high draft picks. Bob Cousy gave way to Phil Johnson, who was fired midyear in 1977 and replaced by Larry Staverman, a player on the team on two separate occasions when it was in Cincinnati and who later became the Cleveland Indians groundskeeper.

1976-1985: Bad Luck settles in
The Kings finally achieved some success in their new home when they hired Cotton Fitzsimmons as coach. Coach Fitzsimmons won the Midwest Division in 1978–79 with rookie point guard Phil Ford who was NBA Rookie of the Year in 1979. Kansas City was led by shooting guard Otis Birdsong, strong on both offense and defense, all around shooting forward Scott Wedman, and passing center Sam Lacey, who had a trademark 25-foot (7.6 m) bank shot. They also drew an average of 10,789 fans to Kemper Arena that season, the only time during their tenure in KC that average attendance was in five figures (the attendance even at the peak was only two-thirds of Kemper's capacity). The Kings made the playoffs in 1979–80 and again in 1980–81, despite finishing the regular season at 40–42. The Kings made a surprise run in the NBA Playoffs, reaching the Western Conference Finals. Big Ernie Grunfeld played the point in this run, as KC used a slow half court game to win the first two rounds. Power forward Reggie King had a remarkable series, dominating the opposition. After upsetting the Phoenix Suns by winning Game 7 at Phoenix in the Conference Semifinals, they bowed to the Houston Rockets in five games in the Conference Finals.

However, a series of bad luck incidents prevented the team from building on its success. Ted Stepien, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers lured Wedman and Birdsong away with big contract offers, the roof literally fell in at Kemper Arenabecause of a severe storm, forcing the team to play most of the 1979–80 season at the much smaller Municipal Auditorium, and the ownership group sold the team to Sacramento interests for just $11 million. The general manager was fired in a bizarre scandal in which he was found to be reusing marked postage stamps. When the Kings rehired Joe Axelson as general manager, they brought back the man who had previously traded superstars Oscar Robertson, Norm Van Lier, Nate Archibald and Jerry Lucas, and used the third pick in the ABA dispersal draft on Ron Boone. Axelson stayed on after the Kings left Kansas City where, in their last game ever, fans wore Joe Axelson masks. Axelson later said he hoped his plane would never touch down in Kansas City.

Axelson became the first general manager in the history of sports to fail with the same franchise in four different cities: Cincinnati, Kansas City, Omaha and Sacramento. He was not fired for good until he rehiredcoach Phil Johnson, whom he fired in midseason in Kansas City ten years before. The Kings also had the misfortune of entering this period competing with the Kansas City Comets for the winter sports dollar, when the Comets were led by marketers—the Leiweke brothers. Their final season, 1984–85, resulted in a dismal 31–51 record as fans stayed away from Kemper Arena in droves, with average attendance of just 6,410. The most notable moment of this season lives in infamy, when New York Knicksstandout Bernard King suffered a devastating knee injury on March 23. The writing was on the wall for Kansas City.

1985-1991: Early years in Sacramento
The Kings moved to their current home of Sacramento, California in the 1985–86 NBA season, with their first Sacramento season ending in the first round of the Western Conference 1986 NBA Playoffs. However, they saw little success in subsequent years, and the team did not make the playoffs again until the 1996 NBA Playoffs in the 1995–96 NBA season. Some of their failure was attributable to misfortunes such as the career-altering car crash suffered by promising point guard Bobby Hurley in 1993, and the suicide of Ricky Berry during the 1989 offseason; some was attributed to poor management such as the long tenure of head coach Garry St. Jean and the selection of "Never Nervous" Pervis Ellison with the first overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft. Current Kings television broadcaster Jerry Reynolds and NBA legend Bill Russell were among the early coaching staff.

1991-1998: The Mitch Richmond era
The early 1990s were difficult for the Kings. Sacramento was known for having strong fan support, and while they won over 60% of their home games, the team struggled on the road, going 1–40 on the road in a single season. But prayers were answered when they acquired Mitch Richmond, who previously played for the Golden State Warriors. The former NBA Rookie of the Year was selected as an All-Star six times while making the All-NBA Second Team three times. Garry St. Jean was chosen as new coach in 1992 and coached the team all the way through 1997, where he was replaced by Eddie Jordan.

Besides Richmond, Sacramento had other stars like Spud Webb, Walt Williams, Olden Polynice and Brian Grant during the 90's, but they only lasted with the team for a few years. Webb was traded to the Atlanta Hawksfor Tyrone Corbin in 1995, Williams would be sent to the Miami Heat for Billy Owens (who was drafted by the Kings in 1991, and traded to Golden State for Richmond) midway through the 1995-96 season, Grant went to free agency during the 1997 offseason and sign with the Portland Trail Blazers, and Polynice signed with the Seattle SuperSonics in 1999.
One accomplishment the team achieved under St. Jean during their tenures was a playoff appearance in 1996. The series was lost 3-1 to the Seattle SuperSonics who, led by Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp, finished as year's conference champions. They did not make a playoff appearance again while Richmond was still on the Kings. He was soon traded along with Otis Thorpe to the Washington Wizards for Chris Webber in May 1998. Although Richmond was lost, this trade proved to be one of the keys to finally achieving playoff success after so many seasons of mediocrity.

1998–2006: "The Greatest Show On Court"
The Kings began to emerge from mediocrity with the draft selection of Jason Williams in the 1998 NBA Draft, the signing of Vlade Divac, and the trade for Chris Webber prior to the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season. These acquisitions coincided with the arrival of Peja Stojakovic, who had been drafted in 1996. Each of these moves was attributed to general manager Geoff Petrie, who won NBA Executive of the Year twice.

The Kings improved and became perennial playoff contenders. Led by new head coach Rick Adelman, and aided by former Princeton head coach and Kings assistant Pete Carril, the so-called "Princeton offense" impressed others for its quick style and strong ball movement. Some criticized the Kings for their poor team defense, Williams's "flash over substance" style with its many turnovers, and Webber's failure to step up in important match-ups. Still, they quickly garnered many fans outside of California, many of whom were drawn to the spectacular pairing of Williams and Webber. Despite their success, they were young and defeated by more experienced teams in the playoffs, the Utah Jazz in 1999 and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2000.

Following the 1999–2000 season, the Kings traded starting small forward Corliss Williamson to the Toronto Raptors for defensive shooting guard Doug Christie, a move made to improve the subpar defense. Stojakovic moved into the starting small forward role, where he and Webber proved to complement each other well, and as the Kings continued to improve, their popularity steadily rose, culminating in a February 2001 Sports Illustrated cover story entitled "The Greatest Show On Court" with Williams, Christie, Stojakovic, Webber, and Divac gracing the cover. In 2001, they won their first playoff series in twenty years, defeating the Phoenix Suns three games to one, before being swept in four games by the Los Angeles Lakers, who eventually won the NBA Championship.

In July 2001, Jason Williams was traded to the Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies, along with Nick Anderson for Mike Bibby, and Brent Price. Despite Williams' spectacular (though erratic) play, the Kings had sought more stability and control at the point guard position. This move was complemented by the re-signing of Webber to a maximum-salary contract, securing the star long term.

With Bibby, they had their best season to date in 2001–02. They finished with a league-best record of 61–21, winning 36 of 41 at home. The Kings went on to play the archrival and two-time defending Champion Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, which is regarded as one of the greatest playoff matchups in history, and in a controversial series,[1] lost in seven games, one game away from the NBA Finals. This was a crushing blow to the Kings; a playoff defeat by an archrival during their prime year would leave the team to begin to decline and age, and the team would never be the same again.

After going 59-23 and winning the division during the following season, 2002–03, the Kings sought to avenge their playoff loss to the Lakers. However, Webber was out due to a knee injury in the playoffs, and the Kings lost to the Dallas Mavericks in a seven game series. Webber's knee required major surgery. He returned mid-season in 2003–04, but without his quickness and athleticism, which had been the focal point of the offense, the Kings ended the season with a playoff defeat to the Minnesota Timberwolves in seven games.

The 2004–05 season marked change for the Kings, who lost three starters from the 2002 team. In the off-season of 2004, Divac signed with the Lakers, which led Brad Miller to start at center. Early in the season, Christie was traded to theOrlando Magic for Cuttino Mobley, and in February, Webber was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for three forwards (Corliss Williamson, Kenny Thomas, and Brian Skinner). The Kings lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Seattle SuperSonics. The 2005 off-season continued with changes, when they traded fan-favorite Bobby Jackson for Bonzi Wells and acquired free agent Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

The 2005–06 season started poorly, as the Kings had a hard time establishing team chemistry. Newcomers Wells and Abdur-Rahim made major contributions early, but both were injured and missed a significant number of games. As the Kings' season continued, the Maloofs decided to make a major move. Stojakovic was traded for Ron Artest, known for his volatile temper. With Artest, the Kings went 20–9 after the 2006 NBA All-Star Weekend, which was the second best post-All-Star break record that season. They finished the season 44–38, and 4th in the Pacific Division. The Kings were seeded 8th in the Western Conference playoffs, and were matched up in the first round against the San Antonio Spurs. Though the Kings were surprisingly competitive, the Spurs eliminated them 4-2. This was the end of the Webber era, and to date, the last winning season by the Kings franchise.

2006-2009: The Period of Struggle
The 2006 off-season began with the disturbing news that head coach Rick Adelman's contract would not be renewed. The Kings named Eric Musselman as his replacement.

In 2006–2007, the disappointing play of the Kings was coupled with the distraction of legal troubles. Coach Eric Musselman pleaded no contest to DUI charges early in the season, while Artest got into trouble for neglect of his dogs, and was later accused of domestic assault. The Kings relieved Artest of basketball duties, pending investigation, then later reinstated him. They finished the season 33–49 (their worst in 9 years) which landed them in fifth place in the Pacific Division. They posted a losing record (20–21) at home for the first time since 1993–94. Their season included a seven game losing-streak that lasted from January 4 to January 19. The Kings missed the 2007 NBA Playoffs, the first time in eight seasons. Musselman was fired in April. The Kings' future appeared to rest on the shoulders of Kevin Martin, who was a lead candidate for 2007 NBA Most-Improved Player of the Year.

The 2007 off season was a time of change. Head coach Musselman was replaced by former Kings player, Reggie Theus. The Kings selected Spencer Hawes with the 10th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. In addition, they acquired Mikki Moore from the New Jersey Nets. Martin signed a contract worth $55 million, extending his period with the team for five more years. The Kings lost key players over the off-season, with backup Ronnie Price leaving for the Utah Jazz, and Corliss Williamson retiring.

They claimed fourth-year Beno Udrih off waivers from Minnesota. Udrih quickly assumed the starting position for an injured Bibby. It was announced in February that the Kings had traded Bibbyto the Atlanta Hawks for Tyronn Lue, Anthony Johnson, Shelden Williams, Lorenzen Wright and a 2nd round draft pick. The move was presumably made to clear cap space. Bibby had been last player from the Kings team that reached the Western Conference Finals in 2002.

The Kings improved by 5 games and finished the 2007–08 season 38–44, and missed the playoffs by a bigger margin (12 games) than the previous season (8 games). They went 26–15 at home and 12–29 on the road. After selling out every home game since 1999, the 2007–08 season sold out only three games at ARCO Arena with attendance averaging 13,500 fans per home game, almost 4,000 below capacity.

Following a quiet 2008 off-season, it was confirmed on July 29, 2008 that the Kings would trade Artest and the rights to Patrick Ewing, Jr. and Sean Singletary to the Houston Rockets in exchange for former KingBobby Jackson, Donté Greene, a future first round draft pick, and cash considerations[2] for Rashad McCants and center Calvin Booth.
Reggie Theus was fired in the middle of the 2008–09 season, giving way to Kenny Natt as the interim head coach. The Kings continued to struggle under Natt, ending up with the NBA's worst record for the 2008–09 season at 17–65. On April 23, 2009, Kings' Vice President Geoff Petrie announced the firing of Natt and his four assistants, Rex Kalamian, Jason Hamm, Randy Brown and Bubba Burrage.[3]

2009-present-"Here we Rise" Period
With the worst record of the 2008–09 season, the Kings had a 25% chance of obtaining the first overall pick in the NBA draft. Overall, the Kings had a 64.3% chance of obtaining one of the top three picks in the NBA draft and could not draft any lower than number four overall. The Kings ended up with the fourth selection in the 2009 NBA Draft. Along with new head coach Paul Westphal, they selected Tyreke Evans with the 4th pick. With the 23rd pick, they selected Omri Casspi from Israel.

On April 27, 2010 Evans was the first Sacramento era player to receive the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. Evans also became the 4th player in NBA history, joining Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan, and LeBron James, to average 20 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists per game for the whole season as a rookie.

On June 24, 2010, the Kings selected DeMarcus Cousins with the 5th pick of the 2010 NBA Draft. They also selected Hassan Whiteside, with the 33rd pick of the 2010 NBA Draft.

Despite the excellent play of Cousins and Evans, both of whom where frontrunners in rookie of the year voting[4][5] and received All-Rookie First Team honors,[6][7] the Kings still finished their respective seasons poorly, going 25-57 in Evans' rookie year, and 24-58 in Cousins' rookie year. Some of this was due to the poor fit of the roster around Evans and Cousins, and some was because of the uninspired coaching of Westphal, who had been coaching since 1985.

The 2010–2011 season was marked with uncertainty towards the end of the season. Frustrated by the lack of progress towards an arena and dwindling profits from other businesses, the Maloofs sought an immediate relocation of the franchise to Anaheim. The move seemed certain towards the end of the year, as Grant Napear and Jerry Reynolds signed off at the final home game vs. the LA Lakers.

In the 2011 NBA draft the Kings traded for the draft rights of Jimmer Fredette in a three team deal with the Charlotte Bobcats and the Milwaukee Bucks also involving John Salmons, Shaun Livingston, Beno Udrih,Corey Maggette, and Stephen Jackson. Around this time, the team also took the slogan,"Here we rise!" for its marketing campaign.
On February 21, 2013, the Kings traded Thomas Robinson, the 5th overall pick of the years draft, as well as Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt, to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Patrick Patterson, Toney Douglas and Cole Aldrich.[8]

2011–2013: Unsuccessful Relocation Plans

Anaheim
On February 19, 2011, NBA commissioner David Stern admitted that the Kings and officials in Anaheim, California had discussions about relocation. It was later found that the organization went as far as to file for a trademark of the name "Anaheim Royals", among others. The Maloofs prepared to make their case for relocation at the NBA Board of Governors meeting in New York, in what many expected to simply be a formality.

In a surprise announcement, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson announced during a presentation to the NBA that Ron Burkle, a billionaire associate of former United States President Bill Clinton and Democratic Party fundraiser, wanted to buy the Kings and keep them in Sacramento. Johnson also pledged some $10 million from local businesses as a show of support from Sacramento. This, despite support from Sacramento citizens, may have swayed Stern and the relocation committee to tell the Maloofs to withdraw their relocation plans.

The Kings remained in Sacramento for the 2011-12 NBA season. Similar to a situation with the Seattle SuperSonics, both parties have stated that the franchise will relocate for the 2013–14 NBA season unless the city of Sacramento can provide a long term solution concerning a new arena. The city had plans for an arena and awaited a 100-day analysis of funding options for the arena. Seattle is the most likely candidate for the relocation and rumors have sprung that a deal is close, as Chris Hansen has recently purchased 6.8 million dollars worth of parking spaces for Seattle's new arena.

On January 5, 2012, the Kings fired their head coach Paul Westphal.

Sacramento railyards
On February 27, 2012 the Kings' owners, the city, and the NBA came to a tentative deal on the construction of a 387 million dollar facility in the rail yards in downtown Sacramento. The city would pay up-front more than 250 million dollars, raised by leasing city-owned parking lots to a private company. The Maloofs would contribute 75 million up-front as well as the money from the sale of the current Sleep Train Arena. In addition they would pay a 5% surcharge on ticket sales to generate another 75 million through the span of the deal. Arena operator AEG was to contribute another 60 million up-front for the right to operate the arena. With this agreement, it was expected that the Kings would play in the new arena as early as 2015.

Amid great fanfare, the outline of the deal was approved by the city council on March 7, 2012.[9] On April 13, 2012, the Maloof family announced that they had backed out of their deal with Sacramento.[10]

Virginia Beach
Although there had not been as much progress in these negotiations as there has been with Anaheim, another market trying to lure the Kings to move there is the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. Virginia Beach has said it is willing to build an 18,000 seat arena with Comcast Spectacor managing it in the hopes of luring a team to the area. Another city that has made an effort to lure the Kings is Seattle, who's been searching for a team to replace the Seattle SuperSonics since that franchise's relocation to Oklahoma City in 2008. As of now, Seattle has the best chance of landing the Kings as they have already agreed to build a new arena and have begun shopping for a team. They have stated that if a team such as the Kings were to move there the name would likely be changed to the SuperSonics.[11]

Seattle
On January 9, 2013, NBA.com reported that the Maloofs, majority owners of the Sacramento Kings, were in discussions with a Seattle-based ownership group led by Chris Hansen, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, and Eric Nordstrom and Peter Nordstrom from the Nordstrom corporation, to sell and relocate the team.[12] Eleven days later, on January 20, USA Today reported that a deal had been reached where the Maloof family would sell their majority ownership in the Kings to the Seattle ownership group, although Stern affirmed he would allow Johnson to address either the Board of Governors, or the Relocation Committee, prior to the approval of the sale or relocation if he desired to do so.[13] The next day, Yahoo! Sports reported that the sale to the Seattle group had been finalized, and that the league would shortly approve the sale and relocation to Seattle, with an official announcement to come later in that week.[14] According to this later report, efforts by potential Sacramento ownership groups were too late.[14]
On January 21, 2013, it was confirmed that a deal to sell the team to the Seattle-based ownership group, as long as the NBA Board of Governors approve the deal. A vote by the NBA Board of Governors is expected in April.[15] The Maloof family said in a statement that they had agreed to sell the team to a Seattle group led by investor Chris Hansen, but the deal is pending approval by the NBA Board of Governors. The sale would be for 65% of the franchise and based upon a $525 million valuation, with the new owners expected to relocate the franchise to Seattle and utilize the SuperSonics name. The Maloofs would have no ongoing stake in the team.

On February 6, 2013, David Stern stated the Seattle ownership group had filed with the NBA for franchise relocation from Sacramento to Seattle.[16]

On February 28, 2013, Kevin Johnson announced a counteroffer and framework towards an arena deal in a city address. The arena would be funded by Ron Burkle, while 24 Hour Fitness founder Mark S. Mastrov would provide backing for franchise bid.[17]

On March 1, 2013, it was announced that Kings minority owner John Kehriotis, who owns 12% of the team, will attempt to exercise his right of first refusal and submit a bid to purchase the Maloof's share of the team.[18]

On March 8, 2013, David Stern revealed during the Rockets-Warriors game that the bid made by Sacramento would not even be considered unless it was as large as the Seattle group. Additionally, Sacramento's investors must provide a different bid by April 3, 2013 so the NBA Board of Governors can make a final decision by at least April 19, 2013.[19]
On March 21, 2013, it was announced that Vivek Ranadivé had joined Ron Burkle and Mark Mastrov to be the 3rd major investor in the attempt to purchase the Kings. In order for Ranadivé to purchase the Kings, he would be required to sell his minority share of the Golden State Warriors. [20]

On March 25, 2013, it was announced that the CEO of Qualcomm, Paul E. Jacobs has joined the Sacramento Investors (major investor - Ron Burkle, Mark Mastrov, and VivekRanadive) to purchase the Sacramento Kings.[21]
On March 27, 2013, Chris Hansen submitted a bid for an additional 7% minority stake in the Sacramento Kings franchise. Pending approval by the NBA and a California Bankruptcy Court, Hansen is set to own 72% of the Sacramento Kings franchise before he relocates the Kings to Seattle beginning in the 2013-2014 NBA Season.[22]
On April 2, 2013, Chris Hansen claimed that over 44,000 ticket pledges had been requested by Sonics fans in just a matter of weeks.[23] Meanwhile, Sacramento's HereWeBuy grassroots campaign produced 10,000 ticket pledges over a span of a few months.[24]

On April 8, 2013, it was reported that Ron Burkle would cease all financial involvement as an investor towards the potential-Sacramento ownership group or a proposed-Sacramento-arena due to a conflict of interest that concerned the NBA.[25]

On April 10, 2013, the Maloof family gave Sacramento's potential-ownership group an ultimatum to match the the Seattle-ownership group's $341 million offer, by 5 pm on April 12, 2013, as a backup option, in the event that the Seattle-ownership group's legally-binding purchase and sales agreement is denied by the NBA Board of Governors. Otherwise, Sacramento's potential-ownership group will not receive any consideration to purchase the team, even if the NBA Board of Governors were to reject the Seattle Bid.[26]

On April 12, 2013, Chris Hansen announced that his Seattle-based ownership group has increased their purchase price for the Sacramento Kings from $525 million to $550 million. Hansen's 65% share is estimated at $357.5 million and is expected to further increase the values of all NBA franchises.[27]

On April 29, 2013, the NBA Board of Governors Relocation Committee that have been studying the situation unanimously voted 7-0 against relocating the Kings to the Seattle, with the official vote of the 30 NBA owners scheduled for May 13.[28][29]

On May 10, 2013, Chris Hansen announced that his ownership group increased the price on their purchase of the Maloofs' share of the Sacramento Kings, from a $550 million to a $625 million franchise valuation.[30] On May 11, reports indicated the Maloofs would decline to sell to any Sacramento owners, instead opting to sell 20 percent of the franchise to Hansen's group for $125 million as a contingency.[31]

On May 15, 2013, after meeting in Dallas, TX, the NBA owners voted 22-8 to reject the Kings' relocation to Seattle. The vote effectively ended the Hansen group's efforts to buy the Kings and move them.[32]

2013: New owners, New beginning
On May 16, 2013, the Maloof family reached agreement to sell the Sacramento Kings to a group led by Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur Vivek Ranadivé for a record NBA franchise valuation of $535 million. The new owners intend to keep the team in Sacramento.[33]

Team logo, uniform and colors
Following their move from Kansas City in 1985 the Kings still used the same color scheme of red, white and blue. The logo of a crown atop a bottom half of the basketball was also carried over. However, the shades of blue used on their home and road uniforms were different for five seasons. The home uniforms use royal blue, while the road uniforms use powder blue. The striping patterns were also different between the two uniforms, with the script "Kings" wordmark on the sides of the road shorts, and basic side stripes on the home uniforms. Carrying over from Kansas City was the unusual placing of player names at the bottom of the number at the back of the uniform.

The uniforms changed slightly in 1990, with royal blue now used on the road; the shorts now incorporate the Kings logo, and the name and number switch places to a more standard basketball jersey. The player names were now in a standard monotone serif font which was used by several NBA teams. This version would mark the last time the classic script "Kings" wordmark was used until 2005.

In 1994, the Kings radically changed their look, adopting a new color scheme of purple, silver, black and white. The uniform set consists of one wide side stripe running through the right leg of the shorts, with the primary Kings logo prominently featured. The home uniform is in white, while the road uniform is in black. From 1994–97 a half-purple, half-black uniform, featuring checkerboard side panels was used as an alternate uniform, which was panned by fans. However, the uniform would be revived for the 2012-13 season during Hardwood Classics Nights. A new purple uniform which shares the same template from the home and road uniforms, was introduced in the 1997–98 season.
Before the start of the 2002-03 NBA season, the Kings changed their uniforms once again. This set included a modernized version of the "Kings" script on the home jersey, and the city name on the purple road jersey. The side stripes now run through the uniform. In the 2005–06 season they introduced a gold alternate uniform, featuring the classic script "Kings" wordmark. However, this alternate lasted only two seasons.

In 2008, the team introduced a new style of uniforms, with the names switching designations with a modernized "Kings" script on the road jersey in black text, and "Sacramento" on the home jersey still in white text. In doing this, the Kings became unique; most professional franchises place the team nickname on the home jerseys and the city name on the road jerseys. The numbers are black on both uniforms. The side panels were revamped, now only featured on the shorts and at the top half of the uniform. Before the 2011–12 season a black alternate uniform was introduced, sharing the same template as the home and road uniforms, but with the classic script "Kings" wordmark and silver numbers.

Mascot
Since autumn of 1998, the official Kings mascot is Slamson the Lion.[34][35] Immediately prior to Slamson, the Kings mascot was "The Gorilla" from 1985 to 1998.

Home arenas
• Kansas City Municipal Auditorium (1972–1974)
• Omaha Civic Auditorium (1972–1978)
• Kemper Arena (1974–1985)
• ARCO Arena I (1985–1988)
• Sleep Train Arena (formerly ARCO Arena II/Power Balance Pavilion) (1988–present)
• Downtown Arena (pending construction) (2016-)

Rivalries
Los Angeles Lakers
The rivalry with the Lakers began when the Kings traded for Chris Webber in 1998. Featuring matchups such as Vlade Divac vs. Shaquille O'Neal, it became one of the most exciting in the NBA, climaxing when the two teams met in the 2002 West Conference Finals.[36] From that point on, injuries and trades would dull the rivalry,[37] though it has begun to emerge again with the Kings drafting center DeMarcus Cousins, and the Lakers trading for center Dwight Howard.[38] Both teams, however, have had a lack of sucess, with the Kings failing to make the playoffs and the Lakers being swept in the first round as the number 7 seed.[39]

Individual awards
NBA MVP
• Oscar Robertson – 1964
NBA Rookie of the Year
• Maurice Stokes – 1956
• Oscar Robertson – 1961
• Jerry Lucas – 1964
• Phil Ford – 1979
• Tyreke Evans – 2010
NBA Sixth Man of the Year
• Bobby Jackson – 2003
NBA Coach of the Year
• Phil Johnson – 1975
• Cotton Fitzsimmons – 1979
NBA Executive of the Year
• Joe Axelson – 1973
• Geoff Petrie – 1999, 2001
All-NBA First Team
• Oscar Robertson – 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969
• Jerry Lucas – 1965, 1966, 1968
• Nate Archibald – 1973, 1975, 1976
• Chris Webber – 2001
All-NBA Second Team
• Maurice Stokes – 1956, 1957, 1958
• Jack Twyman 1960, 1962
• Jerry Lucas – 1964, 1967
• Oscar Robertson – 1970
• Nate Archibald – 1972
• Phil Ford – 1979
• Otis Birdsong – 1981
• Mitch Richmond – 1994, 1995, 1997
• Chris Webber – 1999, 2002, 2003
• Peja Stojakovic – 2004
All-NBA Third Team
• Mitch Richmond – 1996, 1998
• Chris Webber – 2000
NBA All-Defensive First Team
• Doug Christie – 2003
NBA All-Defensive Second Team
• Norm Van Lier – 1971
• Brian Taylor – 1977
• Scott Wedman – 1980
• Doug Christie – 2001, 2002, 2004
NBA Rookie First Team
• Jerry Lucas – 1964
• Ron Behagen – 1974
• Scott Wedman – 1975
• Phil Ford – 1979
• Kenny Smith – 1988
• Lionel Simmons – 1991
• Brian Grant – 1995
• Jason Williams – 1999
• Tyreke Evans – 2010
• DeMarcus Cousins – 2011
NBA Rookie Second Team
• Travis Mays – 1991
• Walt Williams – 1993
• Tyus Edney – 1996
• Hedo Türkoğlu – 2001
• Isaiah Thomas – 2012