History of the oldest team in the NBA

• Sacramento Kings is the oldest franchise in the NBA history, having been in existence since 1923
• The NBA team previously used different names and began using the name Sacramento Kings in 1985
• The Kings have played their home matches at the Golden 1 Center since 2016

Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team in Sacramento, California. They are the oldest team in the NBA. 

The Kings compete in the NBA as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. They are the only team in the major professional North American sports leagues based in Sacramento.

Sacramento Kings is the oldest team in the NBA. Photo/ Sactown Royalty.

The Kings have played their home matches in different arenas since its foundation. From 1998 to 2016, the Kings used the Sleep Train Arena as their home ground. 

However, they are currently playing their home games at the Golden 1 Center since the 2016-17 season.

The NBA franchise began using the name Sacramento Kings in 1985. Before that, they were known as Rochester Seagrams, Rochester Eber Seagrams, Rochester Pros, Rochester Royals, Cincinnati Royals, Kansas City-Omaha Kings and Kansas City Kings. 

Apart from being the oldest team in the NBA, The Kings are also one of the oldest continuously operating professional basketball teams in the United States. 

Over the years, they have had several top players such as Oscar Robertson, Jack, Twyman, Jerry Lucas, Mitch Richmond and Bobby Wander. 

History Of The Oldest Team In The NBA

Sacramento Kings, the oldest team in the NBA, was founded in 1923 as the semi-professional Rochester Seagrams in New York. After joining the National Basketball League, the team changed to the Royals in 1945. Three years later, the Royals joined the Basketball Association of America. 

BAA absorbed the BLL in 1949 to form the National Basketball Association. And the Royals became among the oldest teams to play in the National Basketball Association. The Royals were a force to reckon with in the NBA those days and even won the NBA championship in 1951. They had other chances of winning the title but often missed in the finals. 

The Royals never finished lower than second in their division for nine years (1945-1954). The Royals’ owners received pressure from the league to find a new home after an influx of new players resulted in a losing season. 

The Royals relocated to Cincinnati in 1957, and during the 1960s, they contended for the NBA East every year. But they were not able to go past Bolton Celtics, who were the powerhouse at that time. 

In 1996, The Royals’ owners sold the team to tycoons Max and Jeremy Jacobs. Afterwards, The Royals started playing their home matches in different cities such as Columbus, Cleveland and Dayton. The Royals moved to Kansas City in 1972 and changed its name to the Kansa City-Omaha Kings. They had to change the name so as to avoid confusion with Kansas City Royals, who were also popular. 

Kansas played their home matches in Kansas City and also Omaha, Nebraska. After several seasons, Max and Jeremy Jacobs sold the team for $11 million. And that resulted in their move to Sacramento in 1985. The Kings made it to the playoffs in their first season in Sacramento. However, they had a difficult time afterwards despite having top players such as Kenny Smith, Mitch Richmond and Reggie Theus. 

Sacramento Kings, the oldest team in the NBA, made it to the playoffs once again in 1996. However, they lost to the Seattle Supersonics in the first round. The team has struggled to find feet over the years, and since 2006, they have had sixteen consecutive losing seasons. 

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Who Owns The Sacramento Kings? 

Sacramento Kings, the oldest team in the NBA, is currently under the ownership of Vivek Ranadive. Vivek, who was the co-owner of Golden State Warriors since 2010, had to sell his shares of the team before purchasing Sacramento Kings. 

Vivek Ranadive. Photo/ ESPN.

Vivek, alongside Ronald Burkle and Mark Mastrov, bought 65% of the shares of Sacramento Kings from the Maloof brothers in 2013 for around $348 million. Vivek , who is also the club’s chairman, has been criticized over the years for the team’s lack of success in the court. He made headlines in 2014 when he proposed the team play with one player in offence while creating a 4-on-5 defence.