How to watch Sacramento Kings on TV?

SACRAMENTO KINGS

The Sacramento Kings were founded in 1923 as the Rochester (NY) Seagrams. The franchise changed names a few times but eventually became the Rochester Royals in 1945 when the joined the National Basketball League (NBL). They became an NBA team in 1948 and moved to Cincinnati in 1957.

In 1972, the franchise moved to Kansas City and also played games in Omaha, Nebraska, as the Kansas City-Omaha Kings. In 1975, they dropped the Omaha and 10 years later moved to Sacramento where they have been ever since.

Fans can watch Kings’ games on TV on ABC, TNT, ESPN, and ESPN+ when they are part of a nationally televised game. Regional broadcasts are available through NBC Sports California. Fans looking to watch the Kings complete schedule can do so via live stream on the NBC Sports app or by going to NBA.tv.

HOME OF THE KINGS

The only major professional sports franchise in Sacramento, the Kings now play at the Golden 1 Center. The arena opened in 2016 and became the Kings’ home after 19 years at the Sleep Train Arena. The Golden 1 Center is one of the NBA’s smallest arenas with a capacity of 17,608 for Kings’ home games.

CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY

The Kings franchise had a lot of success early when the team was in Rochester, New York. The Royals qualified for the postseason in each of their first seven seasons in the NBA. In just their third season, the team won its only conference title and its only NBA championship in 1951. The Royals beat the New York Knicks in seven games.

The team had success in Cincinnati and some in Kansas City. The franchise won two of its three division titles in Sacramento in 2002 and 2003. The other division crown came in 1979.

BEST OF THE KINGS

The best player in the history of the franchise never played in Sacramento, but Oscar Robertson was a star for the Royals from 1960 to 1970. The “Big O” was the 1961 Rookie of the Year and was named All-NBA First Team in nine straight seasons from 1961 to 1969. Robertson was a 12-time All-Star and the league MVP in 1964. He led the NBA in assists six times and finished his career with the franchise with 22,009 points. He is the franchise leading scorer and is also first in career assists with 7,731. Robertson finished his Hall of Fame career with averages of 25.7 points, 9.5 assists, and 7.5 rebounds per game.

Jack Twyman is also a Hall of Famer and also never played in Sacramento. He was part of the Rochester and Cincinnati Royals playing his entire 12-year NBA career with the franchise. Twyman was a six-time NBA All-Star who retired with 15,840 points, second most in franchise history.

Jerry Lucas played the first seven years of his NBA career with the Royals in Cincinnati. He was a seven-time NBA All-Star, six of which came with the Royals. In 1965, Lucas was the All-Star Game MVP. He was the league’s Rookie of the Year in 1964 and finished his career with the franchise No. 8 in scoring (9,107) and No. 2 in rebounds (8,876). Lucas earned a trip to the Hall of Fame after a career in which he averaged 17.0 points and 15.6 rebounds per game.