The NBA Sacramento Kings basketball team play in the Western Conference’s Pacific Division in the National Basketball Association. The Kings are based out of Sacramento, California and play at ARCO Arena.

The origins of the Kings can be tracked back to a Rochester, New York semi-professional team from the early 1920s, which makes the franchise one of the oldest that is still in existence. In 1945, they became a member of the National Basketball League and were called the Rochester Royals. In 1949, they became a member of the NBA, the successor to the NBL. In 1957, the team moved to Cincinnati, Ohio and were renamed the Cincinnati Royals. The team then moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1972 and became the Kansas City Kings before finally moving in 1985 to their current home of Sacramento, California. In 1946, as the Rochester Royals the franchise won an NBL championship and in 1951 an NBA Championship. Since 1945, the team has won five division championships and one conference championship.

The Kings struggled during their early years in Sacramento, but in 1996 finally returned to the playoffs led by Mitch Richmond. After drafting Peja Stojakovic and Jason Williams and acquiring Chris Webber and Vlade Divac, the Kings became playoff contenders under the leadership of head coach Rick Adelman. In 1999, they lost to the Utah Jazz and in 2000 to the Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs. In 2001, the Kings defeated the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the playoffs. It was the first playoff series that the franchise had won in twenty years. They were then swept by the Los Angeles Lakers. The 20001-02 season was the Kings best. They went 61-21 and lost the Western Conference Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers. In 2002-03, the Kings went 59-23 but lost in the playoffs to the Dallas Mavericks.