- [Narrator] The Sacramento Kings were once the best team
in the NBA.
Executive Geoff Petrie renovated the lowly franchise
in the late '90s.
Petrie hired Rick Adelman, an experienced coach.
He made a controversial trade for Chris Webber,
a multi-talented young power forward
mired in serious legal troubles off the court.
Webber's play blossomed in Adelman fast-paced offense,
so much that he overcame his initial distaste for Sacramento
and signed a huge longterm extension.
By 2002, a team fronted by Webber and Adelman had graduated
from good, to great, to championship caliber.
Center Vlade Divac complimented Webber down low
with his own veteran savvy and creative flair.
Young Peja Stojakovic broke out
as not just an elite shooter, but an all-star,
one of the league's best scorers.
Doug Christie was the prototypical glue guy
equipped to guard the best opposing scorer
and contribute some shooting of his own.
Bobby Jackson was Sacramento's beloved spark plug
off the bench,
joined by rapidly improving youngster Hedo Turkoglu.
And a risky 2001 trade paid off.
Petrie swapped dazzling fan favorite Jason Williams
for Mike Bibby, who soon proved himself to be a superior,
more reliable point guard,
precisely what the Kings needed to win it all.
And the quest for Sacramento's first ring was going well.
The Kings held home court advantage
in the '02 Western Conference Finals,
and took a two-one series lead over the L.A. Lakers.
2002 looked like the year the Kings would become finalists,
if not champions, and maybe not for the last time.
This one hurts.
(melancholy instrumental music)
So let's hop right into the '02 Western Conference Finals.
Yes, Shaq and Kobe and friends were twice defending champs
seeking a three-peat,
but Phil Jackson's team was not favored.
The Kings held home court advantage in the series,
and after squandering it early,
regained their edge with a big game three victory
on the road.
This, despite playing the start of the series
without Peja Stojakovic,
who'd injured his ankle earlier in the playoffs.
On May 26th, 2002, Sacramento stood on the verge
of winning again in L.A. to set up a three-one series lead
they weren't likely to surrender.
Hedo Turkoglu stepped up and Peja's absence,
part of a rock solid starting unit
that led by double digits before L.A. shooter Robert Horry
chipped away at the deficit.
Vlade Divac led Sacramento's balanced scoring,
but missed this first of two late free throws
to give L.A. some life.
The Lakers got the ball back down just two
with 11 seconds left, but Kobe missed, Shaq missed.
Sacramento's top-notch defense got the job done,
except for this.
Divac tipped one last rebound out of the paint
and straight into the deadly hands of Big Shot Rob.
- [Announcer 1] The Lakers have won!
- [Announcer 2] Robert Horry's greatest hits tour continues.
- [Narrator] A three-one series lead became a two-two tie
because of this ill-fated slap.
Painful but not the end of the world.
Sacramento returned home and pulled back ahead
on Mike Bibby's game-winning jumper.
And you might remember what happened next.
Game six is still one of the most controversial games
in NBA history.
The extreme discrepancy in foul calls drew attention
during the action.
It made headlines immediately afterward,
and then again years later when crooked former ref
Tim Donaghy came right out and said,
officials rigged game six in the Lakers favor.
We've gotta keep it moving,
but that rabbit hole awaits
if you really wanna lose your mind.
That said, rigged or not, the Kings had a chance
to win game six.
Bibby could have tied it up with this three
in the final seconds.
Same for game seven.
Despite dismal free throw shooting,
the Kings pushed the decisive contest to overtime
only to screw up the final minute.
The Lakers won the West,
then marched ahead to their third straight championship.
That sucks, but the Kings had more than demonstrated
they were on par with the dynastic Lakers,
especially given the turmoil brewing in L.A.,
the future looked bright.
And indeed the '02-'03 Kings were just as good
as the year before, if not better.
The team looked the same, only deeper:
Progress from Turkoglu and high flying Gerald Wallace,
plus a couple new signings.
Even with Webber, Stojakovic, Bibby, and Bobby Jackson
all missing significant time due to injury,
the Kings nearly matched their '02 peak.
They won 59 games and got healthy in time for the postseason
where they unceremoniously extinguished
the Stockton-Malone title quest.
Next up or the Dallas Mavericks, an excellent team,
but one the Kings had handled in the regular season.
Sacramento immediately made a statement
by dominating game one in Dallas.
Game two brought disaster.
In the third quarter of a blowout loss,
Webber planted his feet to catch a lob from Bibby
and never made it off the floor.
After years of wear,
the meniscus in Webber's left knee tore.
The Kings competed impressively without their top scorer,
but fell to Dallas in game seven.
One year after cruel twists of fate and dubious officiating
pushed the Kings off the precipice of victory,
an injury stopped their second ascent well short.
And this one hurt longterm.
Webber's injury required summertime surgery,
and the Kings would miss their star for a while.
Petrie knew Sacramento needed help down low.
He acquired Brad Miller in a deal
that lost the King's Turkoglu
and key bench defender Scot Pollard.
That and a couple other little moves left coach Adelman
with less depth, much less defense,
and of course, no Webber entering '03-'04.
But the King still had Peja who earned a few MVP votes
with a brilliant season of scoring.
The Kings didn't reintroduce Webber,
who served a suspension on top of his recovery, until March.
They lost Bobby Jackson mid season.
Even with all that, Sacramento won 55 games
and entered the playoffs a four seed,
but the playoff prelude looked entirely different.
Webber wasn't himself.
His percentages drooped,
his defense disappeared, and his presence stymied the system
Adelman had reshaped around Stojakovic and Bibby.
Once the face of the Kings, Webber bickered with teammates
and got booed at home.
Reports even surfaced of Webber wanting a trade.
Sacramento rekindled some positive vibes
with a first round revenge victory over the Mavericks.
In the second round, they scrapped out
another seven game series against the Timberwolves.
Webber put up an admirable fight
against league MVP Kevin Garnett,
but KG owned game seven in Minnesota,
and in the final seconds,
Webber's shot for overtime wiggled free of the rim.
Now what?
With no more basketball, the Kings had to figure out
who they were and what, if anything, must change.
Petrie had succeeded before with big risky swings.
Would he try something again?
He wasn't gonna fire Adelman, the first coach ever
to win in Sacramento.
And though Webber's return went badly
for all involved parties, trading the star wasn't the GM's
first, or second, or any choice.
Better to let the big guy regain form.
Petrie seemed most inclined to keep the core intact,
but it wasn't entirely up to him.
Divac left in free agency.
As much as he loved Sacramento,
the 36 year old wanted one more big contract,
and he found that with the post-Shaq Lakers.
Stojakovic was disappointed to see Vlade go
and irritated with Webber's ongoing public remarks.
So Peja requested a trade anywhere.
No dice.
The Maloof brothers, who owned the Kings,
dismissed the idea.
They and Petrie met with Peja and told him
to plan on sticking around, so he did.
Observers saw a team in turmoil,
but the Kings stayed mostly intact.
Their main error of note was letting the expansion Bobcats
snatch away Gerald Wallace, who blossomed in Charlotte.
But Sacramento made up for that
by drafting another late bloomer, Kevin Martin.
Nice photo.
Other than that, the Kings just snagged
big old Greg Ostertag to replace Divac
and marched ahead hoping everyone would get along.
Things seemed fine.
Webber did an increasingly decent impression
of his pre-injury self,
Peja shook off a rusty start, the Kings won games,
but Petrie was not feeling it.
He tinkered first by trading Christie
for the younger Cuttino Mobley.
Then in February 2005, he made the big move.
No, not Stojakovic, Webber,
who insisted the stars had nothing between them
and that he didn't wanna leave.
Petrie called trading his cornerstone
one of the most difficult and emotional decisions
he'd ever made.
This fan wondered if the Kings were self-destructing
to start over.
This one was happy to dismiss Webber's sore knees
and big salary.
And finances did indeed seem like the main thing
on Petrie mind,
because even considering Webber's condition and contract,
this return was pretty weak,
though salary differences did afford Sacramento
at least a bit of future flexibility.
And good thing for that because the Sonics booted
the Webber-less Kings right out of the 2005 playoffs.
Yes, Sacramento lost to a braided Vlad Radmanovic.
Yet another step back from the accomplishments of '02.
Now what?
The Maloofs weren't 100% in on Adelman,
but had already exercised the option on his contract
for one more year.
Even after the playoff disappointment,
even after a flirtation with Phil Jackson,
the Kings kept their coach.
So it was on Petrie to improve the roster,
which lacked in several areas.
He watched some of Sacramento's role players depart
while searching for moves to replenish talent.
In August, the Kings were part of a multi-team deal
that lost them Bobby Jackson,
but brought in the versatile Bonzi Wells,
who had just one year left on his contract.
Then they finally found a hopeful Webber replacement,
Shareef Abdur-Rahim, the one time all-star
who was only available because a knee issue derailed
his trade to the Nets earlier that month.
So yeah, here were your Kings entering the '05-'06 season.
Kinda underwhelming, and as it turned out, not very good.
The defense hadn't really improved
and the offense took a dip.
Stojakovic and the newcomer Wells both missed
a bunch of games due to injuries.
By late January, the Kings were well below .500,
headed for their first draft lottery
since the pre-Adelman '90s.
But Petrie, refusing to settle, made a move.
The Kings finally granted Peja's trade wish,
dealing him straight up to the Indiana Pacers
in exchange for the man known at the time as Ron Artest.
Artest hadn't settled back into a happy role with Indiana
after his long suspension for the Malice at the Palace.
So the deal made sense for both sides.
Artest had a wildcard persona,
but also elite defensive talent,
so the Kings accepted the risk.
The Maloofs were gamblers, or, you know, they owned casinos.
Anyway, the move paid off immediately.
The Kings salvaged their season,
playing elite basketball after the all-star break.
Sacramento made the playoffs as an eight seed
and put up a decent fight against the one seed Spurs
before losing in six.
Now, at this point, you might be saying,
"Okay, so an elite team met some bad luck,
"made some moves, and regressed to middle of the pack.
"Not much of a collapse."
Shut up, here it comes.
Not long after the playoff defeat,
the Kings fired coach Adelman.
Petrie may have wanted to keep his old friend around,
but those spiky haired brothers, who'd courted Phil Jackson
then spent the last season screaming from the sidelines,
we're done with the coach.
To replace Adelman the Kings hired Eric Musselman.
Why addle men when you can muscle men?
After some negotiations with Wells, now a free agent,
the Kings let him walk and signed John Salmons
to a big contract.
And here you go, the 2006-2007 Sacramento Kings.
Artest played well, Bibby and Abdur-Rahim stayed healthy,
Salmons was fine, and Kevin Martin broke out
as one of the league's top scorers.
And they sucked.
Musselman's team played fast, like the old Kings,
but their offense was much less efficient
and their defense dismal.
The Kings lost 49 games and missed the playoffs,
so they fired Musselman, hired Reggie Theus as coach,
picked Spencer Hawes in the lottery,
and spent money on big man Mikki Moore.
When that team predictably continued to lose,
Petrie dealt away the last remaining member
of the '02 Kings, Mike Bibby to dip fully into rebuild mode.
From '08 to '09, the Kings emptied out.
They became the worst team in the NBA.
The '09 draft lottery, though, didn't go how they'd hoped.
Sacramento, represented by a recently retired Webber,
held the best odds, but fell to the fourth pick.
The Kings thus missed out on Blake Griffin and James Harden.
They ended up picking Tyreke Evans,
who won rookie of the year
and played quite well for a while,
but also was not Steph Curry, who went seventh.
In the ensuing years, Petrie neither strung together
great lottery picks, nor found the right leader.
He picked DeMarcus Cousins in 2010, which was good,
but then he chose Jimmer Fredette
instead of any of these guys in 2011,
and picked Thomas Robinson over these guys in 2012.
After employing Adelman for eight straight winning seasons,
the Kings had five coaches
over the next seven losing seasons.
Never again in Petrie's tenure did Sacramento crack
even 30 wins.
Climbing out of the basement is way harder
than diving into it,
and constant threats of franchise relocation
only deepened the gloom of this era.
With new ownership in 2013, the Kings stayed in Sacramento,
but Petrie did not.
Out went the final relic of that time
the Sacramento Kings were really good.
It's a distinct period in the team's history.
In the first 35 years the Kings played in Sacramento,
they enjoyed eight winning seasons.
Those seasons happened consecutively
and they coincide precisely with the tenure
of coach Rick Adelman.
Those Kings became the leagues mightiest team
with a perfect mix of players,
including stars of different ages,
a terrific supporting cast,
and the right point guard for the moment.
This team was a magnificent construction,
but misfortune of every kind forced the architect
to dismantle his creation.
He never retrieved the right parts to rebuild,
and as fast as the Sacramento Kings had climbed,
they collapsed.