Why Sacramento Kings, the Oldest Franchise in the NBA, Struggle Every Season?

Posted on by Jack Marks

It’s that time of the year when fans just reflect upon their team’s performances over the season. While 20 teams that made it to the playoffs & play-in would give their fans something to cheer about, some team fans don’t get that luxury. Sacramento Kings fans are among such. However, despite the play-in round’s new inclusion, the consistent underdog Kings have been unable to enter.

Sacramento didn’t participate in the playoffs for a record-breaking 16th consecutive season. The Kings are the first and only Sacramento-based franchise in the top professional North American sports leagues. The Rochester Seagrams, a semi-pro club from Rochester, New York, founded in 1923, served as the franchise’s founding member.

Sacramento Kings
Credits: A Royal Pain

They entered the National Basketball League in 1945 under the new name Rochester Royals, and in their inaugural season (1945–1946), they captured the league’s title. Later, in 1948, they joined three other NBL clubs in joining the Basketball Association of America, which was the precursor of the NBA. The club, known as the Royals, had a lot of success on the court and won the NBA title in 1951. But they have been struggling since then in the NBA.

Sacramento Kings and their constant struggle in the league

This club has had a lot of bizarre events throughout the years, despite the fact that it was amazing in the early 2000s. There has been genuine disorder in addition to just being terrible. Drafting errors. Baffling terminations. A team like Sacramento could draw a lot of motivation from the Suns, who endured their own postseason drought before making it to the NBA Finals last year. Along with concerns about their youthful core, the Kings’ roster has a few highly intriguing contract issues that will be challenging to resolve.

Phoenix’s administration, which is currently good, wasn’t always of the highest caliber. Even though the Suns just had one of the most dominant regular-season runs in recent memory, the ownership of that team is presently the subject of an inquiry. The Kings should be able to successfully capture lightning in a bottle that they can keep for a time.