Stories from the earlier years (split from VF21 blog)

[quick dog]

VF21,

You and some of the ultra-veteran Kings fans ought to relate some stories from the bad old years. It might give hope to newer, yet still loyal, Kings fans who may not realize how awful the original Sato Kings really were. I did not watch basketball in those years. I began watching them just before all the big "Vlade-Era Trades". There must be some amusing horror stories and Kings' factoids of general interest.

The Jerry Reynolds' book, Reynolds Remembers, had some of these old stories.

 

[ZZE916]

VF21,

You and some of the ultra-veteran Kings fans ought to relate some stories from the bad old years. It might give hope to newer, yet still loyal, Kings fans who may not realize how awful the original Sato Kings really were. I did not watch basketball in those years. I began watching them just before all the big "Vlade-Era Trades". There must be some amusing horror stories and Kings' factoids of general interest.

The Jerry Reynolds' book, Reynolds Remembers, had some of these old stories.

I've got one for you. The very first game the Kings played in Sacramento was a pre season game against the Sonics at either American River College, or Consumnes River College (I think it was Consumnes). The Kings came out to warm up before the game, and the crowd went nuts. That was expected. What wasn't expected was the way the crowd cheered for every basket...during warmups!!! The players were looking at each other like, "What's wrong with these people"? Obviously, most ticket holders at the time had never been to an NBA game in their lives (myself included).

 

[Ryan]

VF21,

You and some of the ultra-veteran Kings fans ought to relate some stories from the bad old years. It might give hope to newer, yet still loyal, Kings fans who may not realize how awful the original Sato Kings really were. I did not watch basketball in those years. I began watching them just before all the big "Vlade-Era Trades". There must be some amusing horror stories and Kings' factoids of general interest.

The Jerry Reynolds' book, Reynolds Remembers, had some of these old stories.

Where do we begin.... I still love the rumored story when Spud Webb walked into the locker room during his first game as a king and Anthony Bonner greeted him "Welcome to Hell"

 

[Ryan]

The topic of "stories from 1985-98" might be worth it's own thread. At least we can laugh about it.

 

[ZZE916]

Where do we begin.... I still love the rumored story when Spud Webb walked into the locker room during his first game as a king and Anthony Bonner greeted him "Welcome to Hell"

I agree. There are so many stories to share (Luckenbill patching the roof of ARCO during a game, Causwell's "Nintendo Thumb" injury) that this should have its own thread.

 

[Ryan]

And who can forget Pervis Ellison refusing to put on his Kings hat after being selected #1 in the 1989 draft??

 

[VF21]

VF21,

You and some of the ultra-veteran Kings fans ought to relate some stories from the bad old years. It might give hope to newer, yet still loyal, Kings fans who may not realize how awful the original Sato Kings really were. I did not watch basketball in those years. I began watching them just before all the big "Vlade-Era Trades". There must be some amusing horror stories and Kings' factoids of general interest.

The Jerry Reynolds' book, Reynolds Remembers, had some of these old stories.

Yes, Reynolds' book has a lot of old stories, but I think some of the really veteran (translate "old") fans probably have memories of things that happen that may not have made it into the book...

I like the idea, qd, so I've split this into its own thread. Hopefully people will share their memories of the really old days, back when a single-digit loss was every bit as good as a win and you could get a free sandwich at Arby's if the team won the night before.

 

[ESP47]

One of my favorite memories back in the day was when the Kings were down by 1 or 2 in the final seconds of a regular season game against the Warriors. Sprewell was guarding Richmond and Richmond had his back to the basket just outside the three point line. As time was about to end he did this turn around fadeaway 3 that went in and won the game. That was awesome to see them win like that back then.

 

[Gary]

I will still never forget that back to back to back home games where we beat the Mavs 139-81 and then the 76ers 154-98. I was able to attend both of those games and it was one of the loudest two games I had ever seen at Arco. It was back in the 92-93 season. Walt Williams went for 40 in the 76ers game.

 

[JayBird]

I didn't actually watch this game, but i read about it in this book called "The Sports Hall of Shame". It was Kings at Lakers at the old Forum, and the score at the end of the first quarter was LA 40, Sac 4. Chick Hearn put the game "in the refrigerator" in the first quarter. The 36 point margin ended up being the final deficit. That's gotta be the worst Kings horror story I've ever heard.

 

[ZZE916]

I didn't actually watch this game, but i read about it in this book called "The Sports Hall of Shame". It was Kings at Lakers at the old Forum, and the score at the end of the first quarter was LA 40, Sac 4. Chick Hearn put the game "in the refrigerator" in the first quarter. The 36 point margin ended up being the final deficit. That's gotta be the worst Kings horror story I've ever heard.

Unfortunately, I was watching the game. I couldn't believe it. The Kings were bad, but that was unbelieveable.

 

[ZZE916]

When the Kings had the distinction of the first team to have four first round draft picks in 1990, it was exciting. What made it funny was a story in one of the hoops magazines that said something like, 'The Kings are the first team to have four first round picks. Unfortunately, they are also the first team to need ten first round picks'. The magazine was correct.

 

[Prince_XY]

I've got one for you. The very first game the Kings played in Sacramento was a pre season game against the Sonics at either American River College, or Consumnes River College (I think it was Consumnes). The Kings came out to warm up before the game, and the crowd went nuts. That was expected. What wasn't expected was the way the crowd cheered for every basket...during warmups!!! The players were looking at each other like, "What's wrong with these people"? Obviously, most ticket holders at the time had never been to an NBA game in their lives (myself included).

This is very funny.

I can imagine the crowd being embarrassingly weird and cute at the same time.

 

[Prince_XY]

And who can forget Pervis Ellison refusing to put on his Kings hat after being selected #1 in the 1989 draft??

I'm pretty sure after the Webber/Divac years, he had some regrets behaving as such.

 

[Prince_XY]

I didn't actually watch this game, but i read about it in this book called "The Sports Hall of Shame". It was Kings at Lakers at the old Forum, and the score at the end of the first quarter was LA 40, Sac 4. Chick Hearn put the game "in the refrigerator" in the first quarter. The 36 point margin ended up being the final deficit. That's gotta be the worst Kings horror story I've ever heard.

Is this true?

LA 40 and Kings only 4 at the end of first quarter?

 

[ZZE916]

Is this true?

LA 40 and Kings only 4 at the end of first quarter?

Sadly, it is true.

 

[nebs]

The two back to back blowouts that was already mentioned in this thread is probably my favorite old school memory. I was at the Philly game.

I remember Mitch and someone on the Knicks, John Starks maybe, throwing blows near the end of one game in Arco.

A Kings ball boy made the team. Michael Yogi Stewart. Played pretty well actually and got a nice offer from Toronto the next year.

I have some good memories as a kid though, around 12 years old.. even though we sucked. My friend and his family were good friends with some people.. basically I got to go on the court and in the bowels of Arco a bunch of times. Eating food outside the locker room etc. They had a keg right outside the locker room from what I remember.

One time I asked Mitch Richmond's wife if she was his Mom. I guess I thought she looked old or something. lol

 

[fnordius]

It might give hope to newer, yet still loyal, Kings fans who may not realize how awful the original Sato Kings really were.

One of my favorite summaries of the whole era was made by a livid Charles Barkley on the night of April 17, 1996, right after his Suns had lost to the Kings by 1 point. "We play a team like that a hundred times, we should beat a team like that a hundred times!"

But, the thing is, that was about the best the Kings had been since they came to Sacramento. They didn't manage a winning season, but suckitude in the WC meant that, with that win, they were going to finally have the opportunity to get crushed by Seattle in the playoffs. So they had totally played their brains out to get that 1 point win that so humiliated Barkley.

So imagine how bad the whole decade before must have been...

Fans have it so much easier now... the front office may do its share of screwing up, but at least we know that they are not utter morons, and that they know something about basketball. In the old days, nobody could safely say that. It was like being in the Muss era for over a decade, without feeling like it would ever end. Locals loved the Kings because they were OUR Kings, even though they were rarely much better than the current OKC team.

The current rebuild may be starting 3 years too late, but it seems to be underway, finally. So keep your chins up.

 

[VF21]

Back in the days before 9/11, you could still go out to the airport and meet people coming off planes. I remember going out to Sac Metro to greet the team after the playoff series against Utah. It was VERY late at night and yet, there we were, Kings fans by the hundreds out to welcome back the team that made us feel we could wear our Kings gear out in public without being ridiculed. I think the team was more touched by seeing all of us out there than anything else that happened that year...

 

[ZZE916]

The first regular season game at the old ARCO was black tie optional. I rented a tux, along with my ticket partner. Many people arrived in limos, and tuxes were everywhere. The Kings lost to the Clippers (San Diego Clippers at the time), but from the reaction of the crowd afterward you would have thought we won the championship. The next day, the Bee ran a piece about some of the Clippers players commenting on the "farmers and hicks in tuxedos". That reputation stuck for decades.

 

[Warhawk]

Is this true?

LA 40 and Kings only 4 at the end of first quarter?

Yep, I saw the game as well. We outscord them every other quarter (IIRC), but had such a deep hole to start we couldn't come back....

 

[nebs]

An off the wall memory here.. anyone remember when Wayman Tisdale had his jersey stolen at some point on a trip to LA? He had to wear some other jersey for the game.

 

[ZZE916]

This one shows how far the commentators have come. I hope this isn't offensive in any way. When Grant Napear first started calling games, he had a tendency to sound like Elmer Fudd at times. When the Kings first acquired Wayman Tisdale, Grant was calling a road game. Tisdale grabbed a rebound and Grant said, "That Wayman Tisdale is a willy wemarkable webounder!" I had a group of friends over and we fell out of our chairs. We still laugh about it 20 years later.

 

[bajaden]

This isn't about a game, but one night they held sportstalk at the sports bar on Fair Oaks. Jerry Reynolds was one of the guests. I lived a couple of blocks away so I went. After his radio bit he came over and sat down with a bunch of us and started telling stories.

One was about Derek Smith. Jerry was sitting up in the stands watching the players practice, and Derek came off the floor and sat down next to him. He told Jerry, you need to set some picks and screens for me to get me open. Jerry said, I looked at him and said, Dude, we just traded two starters and two first round picks for you. Get yourself open!

 

[nebs]

^ Derek Smith died in 1996 at the age of 34. I didn't know that until I just looked him back up.

 

[quick dog]

I knew you folks would come through! Funny stuff.

It is a testiment to your collective emotional fortitude that you are still Kings fans.

I remember going to a barber shop in Sacramento back in the day, when I actually had hair and the Kings were awful. The barber was a huge Kings fan, and some of the Kings came to his shop. I though he was nuts. The Kings are better now, and I cut my own hairs.

My wife saw Bobby Jackson leaning aginst a wall at the Sactramento Galactic Airport last year, and she did not mention it to me until he had left.

She bought an old Bobby Jackson jersey at a garage sale for a buck a few years ago, before he came back. He has always been one of our favorite players. Since she only buys jerseys at thrift shops and garage sales, we have stuff from Jon Barry, Bobby Jackson, and disparate Pleistocene players. Old Kings tee-shirts are expendable.

I have a few ancillary questions for the especially "long-of-tooth".

(1) What was the deal on the first-round pick that we had years ago that died before he ever played for the Kings.

(2) Who actually picked Joe Klein (Cline? whatever) instead of Karl Malone?

 

[bajaden]

I knew you folks would come through! Funny stuff.

It is a testiment to your collective emotional fortitude that you are still Kings fans.

I remember going to a barber shop in Sacramento back in the day, when I actually had hair and the Kings were awful. The barber was a huge Kings fan, and some of the Kings came to his shop. I though he was nuts. The Kings are better now, and I cut my own hairs.

My wife saw Bobby Jackson leaning aginst a wall at the Sactramento Galactic Airport last year, and she did not mention it to me until he had left.

She bought an old Bobby Jackson jersey at a garage sale for a buck a few years ago, before he came back. He has always been one of our favorite players. Since she only buys jerseys at thrift shops and garage sales, we have stuff from Jon Barry, Bobby Jackson, and disparate Pleistocene players. Old Kings tee-shirts are expendable.

I have a few ancillary questions for the especially "long-of-tooth".

(1) What was the deal on the first-round pick that we had years ago that died before he ever played for the Kings.

(2) Who actually picked Joe Klein (Cline? whatever) instead of Karl Malone?

Not sure about the first round pick that died before he ever played. Unless you talking about Ricky Berry who commited sucide after being picked in the first round by the Kings. He did play for them however. He helped set the 3pt record for one game.

I'm not really sure about the Joe Klein pick, but it may have been Joe Axelson, who was a league appointed GM.

 

[ZZE916]

I have a few ancillary questions for the especially "long-of-tooth".

(1) What was the deal on the first-round pick that we had years ago that died before he ever played for the Kings.

(2) Who actually picked Joe Klein (Cline? whatever) instead of Karl Malone?

(1) You must be talking about Ricky Berry. He did play for the Kings (1988-89), but committed suicide during the offseason following his first year.

(2) That would have been Joe Axelson. Remember, Malone was picked 13th so Sacramento wasn't the only team that passed him up (Kleine was picked 6th). I suspect the reason the Kings didn't pick Malone was because we had a talented youngster by the name of Otis Thorpe who had been picked at #9 the previous year and had signed a multi-year contract.

 

[quick dog]

Remember when Shack won a League award for something or other, and the trophy basketball was to be presented at a half-time ceremony at a Kings game? Apparently, someone "borrowed" the trophy ball and wrote something akin to "Shack is an a-hole" on the ball. Who knows about that infamous incident? I thought, being fundamentally immature, that it was pretty funny at the time. He was indeed an a-hole.

Who wrote it? Is there more to the story?

I always thought that Mike Bibby or Vlade were possible culprits. Was Jason Williams on the team at that time; a "usual suspect".

 

[Gargamel]

I didn't actually watch this game, but i read about it in this book called "The Sports Hall of Shame". It was Kings at Lakers at the old Forum, and the score at the end of the first quarter was LA 40, Sac 4. Chick Hearn put the game "in the refrigerator" in the first quarter. The 36 point margin ended up being the final deficit. That's gotta be the worst Kings horror story I've ever heard.

http://img219.imageshack.us/img219/7094/kings87dv3.jpg