The Story of the Kansas City Kings
The Kings played their home games at the newly built Kemper Arena, which they shared with the KC Scouts hockey team.
The Kansas City Kings were a part of the city’s sports landscape for 13 seasons, from 1972 to 1985, representing the region in the NBA before relocating to Sacramento. Their journey to Kansas City was one of multiple moves, reflecting the challenges of sustaining a professional basketball franchise in various markets.
The franchise traces its roots back to 1923, when it began as the Rochester Seagrams, a semi-professional team in Rochester, New York. It turned fully professional in 1945, joining the National Basketball League (NBL) as the Rochester Royals. The team found immediate success, winning the 1945–46 NBL championship. In 1948, the Royals joined the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which merged with the NBL the following year to form the NBA.
The peak of the franchise’s success came in 1951 when the Royals won their only NBA championship, defeating the New York Knicks in a seven-game series. Despite this victory, financial struggles in the small market of Rochester forced the team to relocate to Cincinnati in 1957. The team was unable to secure consistent success in Cincinnati, and by the early 1970s, financial issues led to another move.
The Move to Kansas City and Omaha
In 1972, the franchise relocated to Kansas City but had to modify its name to the Kansas City–Omaha Kings to avoid confusion with the city’s Major League Baseball team, the Royals. The Kings split their home games between Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium and Omaha’s Civic Auditorium for three seasons.
By 1975, Omaha was dropped from the team name, and the franchise became known simply as the Kansas City Kings, playing full-time in Kansas City at the newly built Kemper Arena, which they shared with the KC Scouts hockey team.
October 15, 1973 cover of Sports Illustrated. Courtesy Sports Illustrated.
The early years in Kansas City were defined by Nate “Tiny” Archibald, who became the only player in NBA history to lead the league in both scoring (34.0 PPG) and assists (11.4 APG) in the same season (1972–73), though the team struggled to find consistent success. Improvement came in the late 1970s under coach Cotton Fitzsimmons, who led the Kings to a division title in 1978–79 with key players Otis Birdsong, Scott Wedman, Sam Lacey, and Phil Ford. The peak of their Kansas City era came in 1980–81 when they reached the Western Conference Finals despite a 40–42 regular-season record.
This brief success was followed by decline. The team struggled with poor attendance, frequent roster turnover, and ownership instability. Financial difficulties led to the sale of the team in 1983 to a group of Sacramento investors. After two more underwhelming seasons in Kansas City, the Kings played their final game in the city in April 1985 before officially relocating to Sacramento.
Legacy of the Kansas City Kings
Though they never won an NBA championship while in Kansas City, the Kings left an imprint on the city’s sports history. Their presence brought professional basketball to the region, and they remain the only NBA franchise to have called Kansas City home. Players like Nate Archibald and Sam Lacey became household names, while the team’s run to the 1981 Western Conference Finals remains a highlight in Kansas City sports lore.
Since the move to Sacramento, Kansas City has not had an NBA team, though it has been considered in various league expansion discussions. While the Kings franchise continues in California, its Kansas City chapter remains a significant part of its history.