National Basketball Association (1972-1985)
Tombstone
Born: 1972 – The Cincinnati Royals relocate to Kansas City & Omaha
Moved: April 16, 1985 (Sacramento Kings)1S.L. Price. “It’s official – the Sacramento Kings”. The Bee (Sacramento, CA). April 17, 1985
First Game: October 11, 1972 (L 129-94 vs. Los Angeles Lakers)
Last Game: April 14, 1985 (L 122-116 vs. Los Angeles Lakers)
NBA Championships: None
Arenas
1972-1974 & 1979-1980: Municipal Auditorium
Opened: 1935
1972-1975: Omaha Civic Auditorium
Opened: 1954
Demolished: 2016
1974-1985: Kemper Arena
Opened: 1974
Marketing
Team Colors:
Ownership
Owners:
- 1972-1973: Jeremy Jacobs, Max Jacobs, et al.
- 1973-1982: H. Paul Rosenberg, Leon Karosen, Robert Margolin, Ray Evans, et al.
- 1982-1983: Leon Karosen, H. Paul Rosenberg & Robert Margolin
- 1983-1985: Joseph Benvenuti, Gregg Lukenbill, Frank Lukenbill, Stephen Cippa, Robert Cook & Frank McCormick
Background
The Kansas City Kings were a middling NBA franchise that had just four winning seasons during thirteen years in town. The club arrived in 1972 as the relocated Cincinnati Royals. Since Kansas City already had the Royals baseball team, the team re-branded itself as the Kings. At first, the franchise split its time between Kansas City’s Municipal Auditorium and the Omaha Civic Auditorium, 180 miles to the north in Nebraska. The team was formally known as the Kansas City-Omaha Kings from 1972 until 1975.
The Kings moved into the brand-new Kemper Arena in downtown Kansas City in 1974. For the 1975-76 season, the Kings abandoned their Omaha games and settled in at Kemper full-time.
Cotton Fitzsimmons Era
The team’s best seasons came during the tenure of head coach Cotton Fitzsimmons during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Fitzsimmons was named the NBA’s Coach-of-the-Year in 1979 as the Kings enjoyed their best season by record (48-34) and won their only division chamionships. The Kings made the playoffs four times in Fitzsimmons’ six seasons between 1978 and 1984. The franchise’s finest hour in Kansas City came during the 1981 playoffs. Despite entering the postseason as a 6th seed with a losing regular season record, the Kings knocked off the top-seeded Phoenix Suns and advanced to the Western Conference finals. They lost the semi-finals to the Houston Rockets in five games.
Off the court, the Kings continued to flounder as the 1970’s turned to the 1980’s.
In June 1979, the roof at the five year-old Kemper Arena partially collapsed during a wind storm. Kemper was closed for 10 months and the Kings were forced to play most of the 1979-80 season back at tiny old Municipal Auditorium.
Tragedy struck on the eve of the 1982-83 season. Forward Bill Robinzine, the Kings’ top draft pick in 1975 and a solid defender for Kansas City’s late ’70’s squads, took his own life at age 29. Robinson last played for Kansas City in 1980. He was out of basketball at the time, hoping to land an overseas contract in Europe.
Competition From Indoor Soccer
In the fall of 1981 the Kansas City Comets of the Major Indoor Soccer League set up shop at Kemper Arena. Playing a winter season that mirrored the NBA’s calendar, the Comets walloped the Kings at the box office. During the inaugural season in 1981-82, the Comets averaged 11,508 fans per game at Kemper. The Kings’ average was a paltry 6,644.
A Sacramento-based group purchased the Kings for a reported $10.5 million in June 1983. Kansas Citians widely believed that the new owners intended to move the Kings to Sacramento once the team’s Kemper Arena lease expired in 1985. The new owners made it official in January 1985, announcing the team would move to Sacramento at the end of the 1984-85 campaign. Barry Petchesky at Deadspin has an deep dive into the Kings’ final days as the team maneuvered itself out of town.
Voices
“The NBA had an odd numbers of teams. We were confident we could get an expansion team for Sacramento if we went in and turned it around in Kansas City. Then we could flip the Kings. We really made and effort to sell the Kings in Kansas City and we improved it. But not by enough.”
– Greg Van Dusen, Senior Vice President 1983-1985 (Interviewed 2018)
“The Comets were probably outdrawing the Kings three to one. Joe Axelson, the General Manager of the Kings, hated the Comets and he hated soccer. Because the Comets were brutalizing them. We went in there and got a list of the Top 100 employers in Kansas City. Not one of them had anything to do with the Kings.”
– Greg Van Dusen (2018)
“There was a real rivalry between the Comets and Kings fan bases in Kansas City. My family leased a home in Prairie Village. Across the street was a family with three young kids who all played soccer and loved the Comets. They kept a big stack of firewood in their driveway. An ice storm hit and we lost power for five days – no electricity, no heat. We had a young child at the time. Our neighbors across got their power back after two days. But they put their blinds down and never offered any firewood. They knew I worked for the Kings!”
– Greg Van Dusen (2018)
Kansas City Kings Video
The final season. Kings host the Milwaukee Bucks at Kemper Arena. January 24, 1985.
In Memoriam
Power forward Bill Robinzine (Kings ’75-’80) took his own life on September 16, 1982 at the age of 29.
Owner Leon Karosen (Kings ’73-’83) passed away on May 10, 1990 at age 73.
Head Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons (Kings ’78-’84) died of lung cancer on July 24, 2004. Fitzsimmons was 72. New York Times obituary.
Center Sam Lacey (Kings ’72-’81) died on March 14, 2014 at 66 years of age. New York Times obituary.
Links
National Basketball Association Programs
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