Top 10 Sacramento Kings / Cincinnati Royals

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For the sake of brevity, I didn’t go into all the names and locations the franchise has had in the title of his post.  A good many of the players go back to the days when the Kings were the Cincinnati Royals.  After a stop in Kansas City- Omaha as the Kings, they limited themselves to being the Kansas City Kings before going onto Sacramento.  The Kings best opportunity to win a championship was in 2002  when shady/poor officiating resulted in the Kings losing in the division finals to the Lakers. Why more wasn’t made of that debacle is beyond me.  For a franchise without a championship, the Kings have had some great players.  Here’s my list of their top 10:

10. Sam Lacey:  Sam’s stats weren’t spectacular, but he was a consistent presence in the paint for the Royals/Kings for 12 seasons. He did average a double double with 11.1 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.  He also threw in a healthy four assists per game.  Lacey was a one-time all star. He also helped out on the defensive end with 1.7 blocks and 1.5 steal per game.  While not quite a star, he was a solid player for a number of years.  He also gets bonus points for playing in Cincinnati, Kansas City- Omaha and Kansas City.

9. Wayne Embry:  Back in the late 50s, dinosaurs and Wayne Embry roamed the earth.  Actually Wayne roamed the paint for the Royals from 1958-59 season through the 1965-66.  He gets my personal vote for the player that most reminds me of Wes Unseld.  And younger guys are asking, “Who is Wes Unseld?”  Wayne was a strong interior player who scored 14.1 ppg., pulled down 10.4 rebounds and added 1.6 assists.  Embry found his way to five all star games.

8. DeMarcus Cousins:  In seems like every franchise has at least on guy like DeMarcus on its top 10 list.  A talented guy that put up big stats on a losing team.  In Cousins case, the numbers were 21.1 ppg., 10.8 rebounds and three assists.  Boogie’s numbers grew as is time progressed with the Kings.  In all, he spent 6+ seasons in Sacramento.  In his last 127 games with the Kings, he averaged right at 27 points per game. DeMarcus went to three all star games as a King.  As is often the case with talented  who have baggage, Cousins was traded for a package of less talented players.  Kings fans are left to wonder what could have been.

7. Jack Twyman:  Whenever I put together these lists, I have a weakness giving old guys preference.  Jack Twyman is a case in point.  Twyman was a great player in his era.  His era, however was the 50s and 60s.  Jack shot .450 for his 11 year career with Rochester, later Cincinnati Royals.  That’s more impressive than it might seem at first.  In the 1957-58 season he shot .452 from the field.  That led the NBA.  For his career, Jack scored 19.2 ppg.  He also accounted for 6.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Twyman was very durable, leading the NBA in games played seven times.  Jack was also a six-time all star.  Old guys like me, or guys that like NBA history may aware of his interaction with teammate, Maurice Stokes, who suffered a head injury.  It’s a refreshing story of decency.

6. Mitch Richmond:  Mitch was a scorer, averaging 23.3 ppg.  He was good from long range, hitting .404 from beyond the arc and .847 from the line.  He did that over a long period of time in Sacramento, spending seven seasons there.  He was an all star six of those seasons.  In addition to his scoring, Richmond rebounded at the rate of 3.7 per game and contributed 4.1 assists.  The Kings/Royals have had some good shooting guards in their history, but Richmond tops the list.

5.  Paja Stojokovic:  Peja’s calling card was shooting.  He hit .893 of his free throws and .398 of his threes while with the Kings.  He spent eight seasons with the Kings and averaged 18.3 ppg. during his time with the team.  He averaged 20+ ppg for four of those seasons.  Stojokovic led the NBA in free throw percentage in  2003-04 with a percentage of .927.  Peja wasn’t a huge force on the boards, pulling down five boards per game.  He also contributed two assists a game.  Of course Peja didn’t pass the ball, Peja shot the ball.

4. Jerry Lucas:  Lucas played on a championship Knicks team, but he was at his best with the Cincinnati Royals.  Jerry averaged 19.6 ppg., which are good, but 19.1 rebounds which is amazing.  Lucas was in the top five in rebounding in each of his six full seasons with the Royals.  Jerry hit nearly half of his shots from the field, coming in at .497.  He led the NBA in that category in his rookie season with a mark of .527.  It didn’t take as much to led the NBA in shooting during the 1963-64 season.  Lucas was an all star in every year he was with the Royals.

3. Nate Archibald:  Nate was a great little guy who may be forgotten by modern fans.  He played for the Royals/Kings from 1970-71 thru 1975-76.  During that time he averaged 25.2 ppg and 8.1 assists.  And not surprisingly for a guy nicknamed “Tiny”, rebounding was a big part of his game as he averaged 2.8 caroms a game.  In the 1972-73 season, Archibald put up an eye-popping season, averaging 34 points and 11.4 assists per game.  That was good enough to lead the NBA in both categories. Nate was the Sporting News ‘s NBA’s MVP that season.  Tiny was a three-time all star with the Royals/Kings.

2. Chris Webber:  Webber is another example of a good player who may have actually been underrated.  While with the Kings his stat line was 23.5 – 10.8 -4.8.  Webber was a versatile big man who score, board and pass.  Injuries were an issue with Webber.  Chris was able to appear in 67 or more games only three times in his 6+ seasons in Sacramento.  He was healthy long enough to be named to the all star game four times while with the Kings.  Webber was the main cog in the 2002 Western Conference finals that saw the Kings done in by either incompetent or crooked refs.

1. Oscar Robertson:  For a long period of time Robertson was considered possibly the most complete player in NBA history.  Think of a more under control Russell Westbrook.  In ten seasons with the Royals, Oscar averaged 29.3 points, 8.5 rebounds and 9.5 assists.  Robertson led the NBA in assists seven times, averaged 30 points or more six times and twice led the NBA in free throw percentage.  The Big O was an all star in all ten of his seasons with the Royals.  He was the NBA Rookie of the Year in the 1960-61 season and the league MVP for the 1963-64.  I believe he’s still one of the top 10 players in NBA history.