Coaches
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 season. The list does not include NBL seasons.
The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The team was founded as the Rochester Royals by Lester Harrison and his brother Jack Harrison in Rochester, New York in 1945. [1] The Royals won the National Basketball League (NBL) championship during their inaugural season by defeating the Sheboygan Red Skins 3–0. [1] In 1948, the team joined the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which merged with the NBL to become the NBA a year later. [2] The franchise won its first NBA championship in the 1951 NBA Finals under the coaching of Lester Harrison. [2] The Harrison brothers moved the team to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1957 due to poor attendance. [2] After spending 15 years in Cincinnati, the team was purchased by a group of businessmen from Kansas City, who moved the team to Kansas City and renamed it to the Kings in 1972. The team was briefly named the Kansas City-Omaha Kings from 1972 to 1975 when home games were split between two cities. In 1983, the franchise was bought by a Sacramento-based group, and in 1985, moved to Sacramento, becoming the Sacramento Kings. [2]
There have been 28 head coaches for the franchise since joining the NBA. Rick Adelman is the franchise's all-time leader in regular season games coached (624), regular season games won (395), playoff games coached (69), and playoff games won (34). Phil Johnson, Cotton Fitzsimmons, and Mike Brown have won NBA Coach of the Year with the Kings, in the 1974–75, 1978–79, and 2022–23 seasons respectively. [3] [4] [5] Harrison, Bobby Wanzer, Ed Jucker, Bob Cousy, Draff Young, Jerry Reynolds, Reggie Theus, and Kenny Natt have spent their entire NBA head coaching careers with the Kings. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] Wanzer, Tom Marshall, Jack McMahon, Cousy, Larry Staverman, Adelman and Theus formerly played for the Kings. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] The Kings are currently owned by Vivek Ranadivé, with former Rockets executive Monte McNair as the general manager and Mike Brown is the head coach.
| GC | Games coached |
| W | Wins |
| L | Losses |
| Win% | Winning percentage |
| # | Number of coaches [a] |
| * | Spent entire NBA head coaching career with the Kings |
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2023–24 season. The list does not include NBL seasons.
The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Kings are the oldest team in the NBA, and the first team in the major professional North American sports leagues located in Sacramento. The team plays its home games at the Golden 1 Center. Their best seasons to date in the city were in the early 2000s, including a very successful 2001–02 season when they had the best record in the NBA at 61–21.
Robert Joseph Cousy is an American former professional basketball player. He played point guard for the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963, and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals during the 1969–70 season. A 13-time NBA All-Star and 1957 NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP), Cousy was a core piece during the early half of the Celtics dynasty winning six NBA championships during his 13-year tenure with the Celtics. Nicknamed "The Houdini of the Hardwood", Cousy was the NBA assists leader for eight consecutive seasons, introducing a new blend of ball-handling and passing skills to the NBA. He is regarded as the first great point guard of the NBA, and was the first to reach the 4,000, 5,000, and 6,000 career assists milestones.
Peter Joseph Carril was an American basketball coach. He is best known as head coach of Princeton University for 30 years and for his use of the "Princeton offense". He also coached at Lehigh University and as an assistant with the Sacramento Kings in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Chuck Connors Person is an American former basketball player and coach. Person played 14 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and was the 1987 NBA Rookie of the Year. Person played college basketball at Auburn University and was selected fourth overall in the 1986 NBA draft by the Indiana Pacers, for whom he played six seasons. He also played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs, Charlotte Hornets and Seattle SuperSonics.
Richard Leonard Adelman is an American former professional basketball player and coach. He coached 23 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Adelman served as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in the class of 2021.
Robert Edris Davies was an American professional basketball player. Alongside Bobby Wanzer he formed one of the best backcourt duos in the National Basketball Association's early years. Davies and Wanzer led the Rochester Royals to the 1951 NBA championship. Davies was also a former basketball coach at the Seton Hall University and was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on April 11, 1970.
Reginald Wayne Theus is an American basketball coach and former player. He played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he was a two-time NBA All-Star. He is currently the men's basketball head coach and athletic director at Bethune–Cookman. He was the head coach for the NBA's Sacramento Kings and in college with the New Mexico State Aggies and the Cal State Northridge Matadors men's teams. He was also an assistant coach for the Louisville Cardinals under Rick Pitino.
Lawrence Joseph Staverman was an American professional basketball player and coach. A 6' 7" forward from Villa Madonna College, Staverman was drafted in the 9th round of the 1958 NBA draft by the Cincinnati Royals. He had a five-year career as a player in the NBA, with the Royals, the Chicago Zephyrs/Baltimore Bullets, and the Detroit Pistons.
Robert Francis Wanzer was an American professional basketball player and coach. A five time NBA All-Star and three time All-NBA Second Team selection, Wanzer played his entire professional career for the Rochester Royals of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). He won an NBA championship with the Royals in 1951. During his final two years as a player, he served as the team's player-coach. After he retired from playing in 1957, he remained as a coach with the Royals for one season, before he became the head coach of the St. John Fisher Cardinals college basketball team in 1963. He stayed in the role with the college for 24 years until his retirement in 1987. Wanzer was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987 and into the newly formed New York City Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991.
Lester J. Harrison was an American professional basketball player, coach, and team owner and is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Kenneth Wayne Natt is an American former professional basketball player and ex-interim head coach for the National Basketball Association's Sacramento Kings. He was a 6'3" 185 lb (84 kg) guard and played collegiately at Northeast Louisiana University and had a three-year NBA playing career. After serving as an assistant with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2004 to 2007, Natt was named to the coaching staff of newly appointed Kings head coach and former Kansas City Kings teammate Reggie Theus in 2007. He was subsequently named interim head coach on the firing of Theus, but he himself was fired on April 24, 2009, after the Kings finished with an NBA season-low 17 wins.
The 1957 NBA All Star Game was the seventh NBA All-Star Game. With the score 43-39 in favor of the West and with time running out in the first half, the East's Bill Sharman attempted to throw a long pass to Bob Cousy. Instead, the play resulted in him making a remarkable 70-foot (21 m) shot to end the first half.
The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (NBL) to form the National Basketball Association (NBA).
The 2002–03 NBA season was the Kings' 54th season in the National Basketball Association, and 18th season in Sacramento. The Kings were coming off their controversial Western Conference Finals defeat to the Los Angeles Lakers, who won the series in seven games. During the off-season, the Kings signed free agent Keon Clark, and later on in December signed Jim Jackson. Throughout the season, none of the Kings' players played a full season via suspension or injury, but they still managed to hold a successful 34–17 record at the All-Star break, and post a 59–23 record, two games less than their previous output in which they went 61–21, thus repeating as Pacific Division Champions once again.
David Joerger is an American professional basketball coach who is an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the head coach of the Dakota Wizards from 2000 to 2004 and in 2006–2007 in the International Basketball Association, Continental Basketball Association, and the NBA Development League, winning championships in 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2007. He also coached the Sioux Falls Skyforce from 2004 to 2006, winning a championship in 2005. In the NBA, Joerger served as head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies from 2013 to 2016, and Sacramento Kings from 2016 to 2019.
This page details the all-time statistics, records, and other achievements pertaining to the Sacramento Kings.