Just Wait ’til Next Year: 1989 – Tragedy, Turmoil, and a Franchise on Fumes

(Welcome back to our off-season series, “Just Wait ‘til Next Year!” in which special guest Jerry Reynolds and I bring you our 147 combined years to bring you our recollections of past Kings years.)

Not to be a buzzkill, but the 1989 season was an early low point for me as a Kings fan. I’m going to get the worst moment in Kings history out of the way, and we’ll then see where the vibe takes me for the rest of the article.

On August 14, 1989, Ricky Berry, coming off a promising rookie season that included a 40.7% conversion rate from the three point line (an absolute eye popper back in those days), was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

I feel guilty even discussing the loss in terms of the Kings organization. Berry had not yet turned 25, just a cub in what could have been a long, successful life. 1989 was prior to the days of the internet and social media, so while the influence of such media was not a factor, the recognition and discussion / treatment of mental health issues was pretty much null and void as well. And whatever unknown / undiagnosed demons existed within Ricky Berry, they claimed him on that dreadful August 14 day. Berry’s passing was much less publicized than Len Bias’ cocaine overdose three years earlier. Maybe that’s a function of Boston vs. Sacramento, or maybe it’s because Bias was the #2 pick in his draft, and Berry was the #18 in his. Regardless, it was the absolute saddest of chapters in Sacramento Kings history. Nothing else comes close. RIP, Ricky Berry. Almost 36 years later, and still gone too soon.

***

The Kings had landed the #1 pick in the draft, but in true Kings fashion they landed it in arguably the worst draft class to come along in some time. To wit: the 1987 draft would have landed you David Robinson. 1988 featured Danny Manning and Rik Smits (and Mitch Richmond). 1990 got you Derrick Coleman or Gary Payton. 1991 was Larry Johnson, Kenny Anderson, Dikembe Mutombo (hell, even Billy Owens, but we’ll get there when we get there). Now to be fair, not each and every one of the aforementioned players wound up being the Batman that every moribund organization prays for when landing the #1 pick. But there were plenty of Robins and a couple of Alfreds in that group. 1989? Not so much.

It’s hard to call a guy that plays eleven seasons, 474 games and 11,593 minutes a bust. From the perspective of the Sacramento Kings, 22 games and 866 minutes before being dumped for Bob Hansen, Eric Leckner and the draft pick that would become Anthony Bonner is bust city. The Kings shot at the brass ring wound up with the organization getting thrown under the merry-go-round.

And its not as though the choice of Pervis Ellison at No. 1 was controversial. This was not a Bagley for Doncic situation (spoiler alert!). The other local favorite was Stacey King (he went 6th), but the Kings already had their lefty big man in Wayman Tisdale. No one was particularly enamored with Danny Ferry. Sean Elliott and Glen Rice were seemingly redundant with the roster, and neither of them screamed franchise cornerstone. Further down the draft board, Tim Hardaway was a 14 pick and Vlade Divac 26…

OK, the last thing I want to do is get on a Lakers tangent while doing a Kings retrospective, but here you have them eventually spinning the 26th pick of a very weak draft into Kobe Bryant. The big market mystique notwithstanding, this is how successful teams stay successful, and this is how unsuccessful teams become successful. The best that the Kings have ever done outside the lottery? Probably Kevin Martin, who was also a 26 pick. But I digress.

Ellison was certainly a pick to get excited about, especially under the guidance of the front office’s Bill Russell. This was going to be Bill Russell 2.0, and Sacramento was going to become the new Boston (say chowda!). Alas, Never Nervous Pervis more than earned the new nickname of “Out of Service Pervis.”

Prior to the beginning of the season, the Kings traded Jim Petersen to Golden State for Ralph Sampson. I don’t know if the thought process was to give Ellison some company during the various rehabs, but Sampson was pretty much cooked upon arrival.

Head coach Jerry Reynolds never had a chance. Between the largely unavailable Ellison and Sampson, which turned Greg Kite into the seventh highest minutes eater on the roster, to the gaping hole left by Berry (Harold Pressley wound up 6th in minutes and shot 31% from deep, while his 148 attempts were 2nd on the team by a wide margin), the team got off to a 7-21 start before turning to Dick Motta.

Dick Motta is one of fourteen NBA head coaches to amass over 900 wins, but he is only one of four to suffer more than 1,000 losses. Of the fourteen head coaches with over 900 wins, only Motta and Bill Fitch have a losing w/l%. For those of you who weren’t around for this period but were around in the mid-2010s, think shorter, less effective, grumpier George Karl. The team would go 16-38 under Motta, including losing 13 of its last 14 games of the season.

The big in-season trade was sending Kenny Smith out for Antoine Carr and Sedric Toney. I enjoyed Carr’s junkyard dog approach, but I sure didn’t understand the trade. It seemed as though the Kings were trying to shore up the front line in Ellison’s repeated absence, but the year was already bleeding out.

Bright spots? Let’s see, let’s see, bright spots, give me a minute…

Parking at ARCO Arena was the cheapest that it would be from that time forward. No?

Alright…

Rodney McCray toiled through every game of this 23-59 season, logging an insane 3,238 minutes (39.5 per game average).

Wayman Tisdale averaged 22.3 points per game, while never once moving to his right.

Danny Ainge was my favorite player for the season, which was amazing considering how much I loathed him when he was a Boston Celtic. You could tell that Ainge was frustrated being in this circus, but he played hard every game and seemed singularly focused on pissing off his opponent, as though he was going to make sure that everyone had as little fun as he was having.

Reynolds Wrap

“This season truly did represent the worst of times and the lowest point of my working life. Summer started with the pick (number 1) of Pervis Ellison, trade for Ralph Sampson and holdout of Waymon Tisdale. Turns out that wasn’t even a negative. Late in the summer true tragedy struck. Ricky Berry, a true All-Star for the future, decided to end his life. Ricky was such a nice humble young man with a wonderful work ethic and well-liked by all teammates. That act has left a hole in my heart that has never healed. I felt we had a great relationship and so hurt that I didn’t see any signs. The season started with very little enthusiasm. Of course, with Danny Ainge on the team there were always surprises. After practice before the season started Danny came to my office and had some pertinent observations. He told me that it seems he is easily my best player. I agreed that he was clearly the best. Which Danny quickly replied that for us to win he needs to be 3rd or 4th best and mentioned he was 5th with Celtics. I just told Danny that we both understood the problem but no reason to tell the team and destroy what little hope they had. There was no joy in Kingsland!” – Jerry Reynolds

***

The season was mercifully over. But thanks to the team’s record, the Ellison trade, and an impending trade of Rodney McCray, the Kings had four first round draft picks in the 1990 draft (7, 14, 18 & 23). There was going to be a massive roster overhaul, and the next permutation of your Sacramento Kings was going to be young, fresh, exciting, and something to build on.

Say it with me: “Just Wait ‘til Next Year!”

(Read about the years leading up to 1989 here.)