Sacramento Kings News

Home

Quizzes

Watch

Newsletter

Image credit: ClutchPoints

10 greatest Kings in franchise history, ranked

Originally posted on NBA on ClutchPoints
By Jesse Cinquini | Last updated Apr 2, 2025 12:45 PM ET

The Sacramento Kings organization has been around for quite a long time. They began as the Rochester Royals back in 1945 when the NBA was still in its fledgling stages and called the NBL. The franchise then relocated to Cincinnati in 1957 and stayed there for 15 seasons until 1972 rolled around.

The Royals relocated once again to Kansas City and were renamed the Kings. They existed in Kansas City up until 1985, when the franchise moved one more time, this time to Sacramento, where it remains to this day.

Over the long history of the Sacramento Kings franchise, it hasn’t accomplished a whole lot in terms of titles. The Kings have won just two titles in franchise history, in 1946 and 1951, and they won their first title when the NBA was still called the NBL.

Despite the Kings’ unspectacular accomplishments as a franchise, they have been fortunate enough to have some of the best players ever to play in the NBA on their rosters over the years, such as Oscar Robertson, Chris Webber, and Mitch Richmond, just to name a few.

Here are the 10 greatest players in Kings history, ranked.

10. Mike Bibby

Bibby was a member of the Kings franchise for half of his 14-year playing career in the NBA. Bibby provided borderline elite scoring and playmaking during his stint with Sacramento, as he averaged 15.4 points and 5.4 assists per contest across 476 regular season games with the franchise.

The floor general was also an underrated defender at the point guard position, considering he averaged 1.2 steals per game as a King during the regular season. And he was an invaluable piece of that 2002 Kings team that reached Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers. He scored 22.7 points and dished out 4.4 assists per game during that seven-game series.

9. Vlade Divac

Arguably one of the best passing big men in NBA history, Divac spent six seasons with the Kings from 1998-99 to 2003-04. He earned one All-Star appearance as a King and averaged 11.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.0 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game in 454 career regular-season games with Sacramento.

Divac’s skillset was ahead of his time, considering how he was able to stuff the stat sheet and do a little bit of everything on the court. His best season as a King was during the 2000-01 season when he averaged 12.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per contest and earned the only All-Star appearance of his pro career.

8. Peja Stojakovic

Stojakovic might just be the greatest pure shooter in the history of the Kings franchise. He averaged 18.3 points on 39.8% shooting from behind the three-point arc across his eight seasons with the Kings.

What’s just as impressive as his three-point percentage was his usage rate, as he attempted an average of 5.2 threes per game across 518 career regular-season games with Sacramento, a very high number for the time as teams didn’t let it fly from deep early and often like they do today.

Stojakovic earned back-to-back-to-back All-Star appearances as a member of the Kings, as he made the team in 2001-02, 2002-03, and 2003-04.

7. DeMarcus Cousins

Arguably the most talented big man ever to don a Sacramento Kings jersey, Cousins put up huge numbers during his seven seasons with the Kings from 2010-11 to 2016-17. He averaged 21.1 points, 10.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game in 470 career regular-season appearances with Sacramento and made the All-Star team three times.

But while Cousins accomplished a lot individually with the Kings, his teams didn’t have a lot of success. The Kings never made the playoffs with Cousins on the roster and never won more than 33 games during the regular season.

6. De’Aaron Fox

Sacramento Kings guard De'Aaron Fox (5) dribble the ball up the court during the Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

The most recent Kings player on this list, De’Aaron Fox has been in the NBA for just eight years. He was with the Kings for his entire career until the Kings traded Fox to the San Antonio Spurs at the 2025 NBA trade deadline. He made one All-Star team and was the leading scorer for the 2022-23 team that ended the Kings’ 16-season playoff drought, the longest in NBA history.

In his 7½ seasons in Sacramento, Fox averaged 21.5 points, 6.1 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game. On the Kings’ all-time lists, he is fourth in points and assists and second in steals.

5. Chris Webber

Chris Webber was a Hall of Fame power forward that played 6½ years of his 15-year career in Sacramento. He was a four-time All-Star with the Kings and averaged 23.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game.

The Kings acquired Webber as part of the Mitch Richmond trade in May 1998. They traded Webber to the Philadelphia 76ers in February 2005.

Acquiring Webber helped kick off the most successful era in Sacramento Kings history as they made the playoffs every season from 1998-99 to 2005-06. However, they didn’t have much playoff success. They did reach the Western Conference Finals in 2002, where they lost to the Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant led Los Angeles Lakers in seven games.

Despite his rather brief time in Sacramento, Webber is still eighth all time in rebounds and steals for the Kings and fifth all time in blocks.

4. Nate Archibald

The second-best point guard in Kings history, Archibald spent six years of his NBA career with the Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City Kings. He earned three All-Star appearances during his stint with the team and averaged 25.2 points, 8.1 assists, and 1.5 steals per game across 433 career regular-season games with the franchise.

Archibald’s best season as a King/Royal was, without a doubt, the 1972-73 campaign, as he led the entire league in minutes (46.0), points (34.0), and assists (11.4) per game.

3. Mitch Richmond

Richmond should be remembered as the best scorer in Sacramento Kings history. He was a scoring machine from both outside and inside the three-point arc during his seven seasons with the Kings, as he averaged 23.3 points per game and shot 45.3% from the field and 40.4% from behind the three-point arc in 517 regular-season games with the squad.

Richmond earned six All-Star appearances as a King and even won the All-Star MVP award in 1994-95 after dropping a game-high 22 points. He is third all time in Kings franchise history in scoring and has the most points since they moved to Sacramento.

2. Jerry Lucas

Before he helped the New York Knicks win an NBA title in 1973, Lucas was a superstar-caliber player with the Cincinnati Royals. Lucas spent seven seasons of his pro career with the Royals and averaged 19.6 points and 19.1 rebounds per game across 465 total regular-season games with the franchise.

During his time with the Royals, Lucas was named to the All-Star team six times, won the Rookie of the Year award in 1963-64, and won the All-Star Game MVP in 1964-65. Lucas’ best season came during 1965-66 when he averaged 21.5 points and 21.1 rebounds per game and played 79 games.

Lucas is still second all time in Kings franchise history in rebounds. He is ninth in points scored.

1. Oscar Robertson

Robertson is the best player ever to play for the Sacramento Kings franchise, and it’s not close, either. He’s not only the greatest King ever, but he’s also one of the greatest players ever to play the game.

Robertson spent 10 of his 14 Hall of Fame seasons in the NBA with the Cincinnati Royals, and he accomplished so much during his time with the team. He led the league in assists per game a whopping seven times as a Royal, led the league in free-throw percentage twice, led the league in points per game once, and led the league in minutes per game once.

Robertson’s ability to rack up points, rebounds, and assists was unparalleled by any other player in the league at the time. Arguably Robertson’s best season as a Royal was in the 1961-62 campaign — just his second year in the NBA — as he averaged a triple-double of 30.8 points, 11.4 assists, and 12.5 rebounds per game in 79 games played that season.

He is far and away the Kings’ all-time leading scorer with 22,009 points and is 17th in NBA history with 26,710 for his entire career. Robertson also is the Kings’ all-time leader in assists by a wide margin, and he is third in rebounds.

This article first appeared on NBA on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: