| 21 October 2010
Talk about a long history, the Sacramento Kings started out in the early 1920s as "the Rocherster Seagrams" (yes, sponsored by a distilling company!). With the birth of the NBA, the Seagrams became the Royals, then the Kings. No love lost between the Lakers and the Kings, that's for sure, and the Lakers provided a heap of heart-ache for Sacramento. To the extent that it even prompted one famous now-ex-Laker to dub them "the Queens".
But that aside, there's no denying the talent that this franchise has had, and it's good to see a former proud franchise beginning a climb back towards their golden years.
Ok, now their top 5 all time...
5. John Kennedy Twyman - Mitch Richmond came oh-so-close to taking this spot - it was difficult for me to choose, but I guess sentimentality split the two.
Jack Twyman as a player was one of the NBA's first great scorers. A Hall of Famer, and more than held his own against some of the real legends of the game.
Jack Twyman as a humanitarian is unsurpassed... anyone who does not know the story should read it.
Jack Twyman as a player was one of the NBA's first great scorers. A Hall of Famer, and more than held his own against some of the real legends of the game.
Jack Twyman as a humanitarian is unsurpassed... anyone who does not know the story should read it.
4. Nathaniel Archibald - New Yorker Nate "Tiny" Archibald was the precursor to what we saw with Isiah Thomas and Allen Iverson. Deserving of his nickname, the guy was waterbug quick on a level not seen before in the NBA. '72/73 season, Tiny lead the NBA in scoring and assists - torching the league for averages of 34.0/11.4.
By any measure, that is awesome.
By any measure, that is awesome.
3. Mayce Edward Christopher Webber, III - Yet another player whose decline towards the end of his career made it difficult to remember what Chris Webber truly was before injuries cut him down: in his time, an elite big mentioned in the same breath as Duncan, Garnett and Shaq. No big had C-Webb's athleticism, his range. '99 up until his injury in '03, he was arguably the best PF in the game.
2. Jerry Ray Lucas - Only Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell were better rebounders than Luke... and even with Russell - that's a point of argument. And he could score. His worst season produced 17/17. That was his worst. Two seasons he averaged better than 20/20.
Guy wasn't a "monster" on the boards, nor did he possess an amazing leap. What he did have was smarts, and phenomenal vision (literally - the guy had 20.10!).
And all that equated to one of the best Kings ever. Well... "Royals".
Guy wasn't a "monster" on the boards, nor did he possess an amazing leap. What he did have was smarts, and phenomenal vision (literally - the guy had 20.10!).
And all that equated to one of the best Kings ever. Well... "Royals".
1. Oscar Palmer Robertson - Was there ever any doubt about this? A veritable hurricane of hoops, the Big O literally took the NBA by storm, and made it his own. Robertson could do it all, score, dish, and get boards. Everyone knows of his triple/double season, but he went damn close four other times to carving that notch.
Forget simply this franchise, Oscar Robertson's one of the best ever to play the game.
Forget simply this franchise, Oscar Robertson's one of the best ever to play the game.
Up next, the San Antonio Spurs!
