In 1993, the Chicago Bulls won their third straight NBA championship. I moved to Chicago that April to find my fortune on the options market (spoiler alert – I’ve been back in Sacramento for 30 years), and I witnessed the glory that was playoff and championship NBA basketball. The Bulls were still playing at the old “Madhouse on Madison,” and it was raucous and loud (when the Blackhawks were on the ice, the noise rivaled ARCO). I would still root for the Kings from a distance, but I looked forward to my new lifetime home and a life of elite basketball.
Michael Jordan retired from the NBA in 1993 that year to pursue a career in baseball.
Let’s Kings Basketball!
The Kings kicked off their perennially extended off-season by drafting Bobby Hurley. Hurley had a fabulous career at Duke, had received glowing reviews from Dream Team members after they scrimmaged against him, and was cast to be in an upcoming feature film with the likes of Nick Nolte, Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway. Hurley was going to get a chance to play alongside an All-Star point guard in Mitch Richmond, and learn the NBA game under the high BBIQ Spud Webb. Walt Williams was entering his second season after a promising rookie year. No one was thinking playoffs, but a firm step forward was definitely a possibility (cue up that old record scratch sound effect one more time).
Richmond, Webb, Wayman Tisdale and Lionel Simmons had healthy seasons. After that, it was a hellscape. Williams missed 25 games. Randy Brown missed 21. Duane Causwell missed 41. Put another way, Trevor Wilson was sixth on the team in total minutes. Trevor. Wilson.
Bobby Hurley Accident
On the evening of Dec. 12, after the Kings lost at ARCO to the Clippers, Bobby Hurley was driving home in his Toyota 4Runner when he was broadsided by a station wagon that was driving without its lights on. Hurley, who was not wearing his seatbelt, was thrown nearly 100 feet from his vehicle and wound up in a drainage ditch. If not for the fact that Mike Peplowski was on the same stretch of road (near Del Paso Road and I-5, which was still largely undeveloped at the time), Hurley may have died in that ditch. As it was, even once Hurley was transported to UC Med Center, doctors were unsure if he would survive the night.
Hurley fortunately did survive, and even recovered to the point where he was back on an NBA floor the following season. But the accident cost him weight, strength, and his ambidextrous abilities that allowed him to carve up opposing defenses. Whatever Hurley might have become as a professional basketball player, it was not to be. But Hurley is still with us over thirty years later, thanks in part to the GOAT assist of Mike Peplowski.
The Kings had taken on a real “snake bit” persona at this point. Not only had they missed the playoffs for eight straight seasons, their 28-54 finish gave them eight straight seasons of sub-30 win basketball. From Ricky Berry to Pervis Ellison to Bobby Hurley and more, this had become a franchise of unfulfilled promise and missed opportunities. And as the organization was operating on a shoestring budget, there was just zero room for error. The Kings sellout streak remained intact, though there were a lot more empty season ticket holder seats on a nightly basis. The arena could still rock, but it could also be strangely quiet on the nights where the Kings were throwing up on themselves. The team was 20-21 at home (8-33 road), but lost 12 of those 21 games by 10+ points, back in the day when a 10 point lead meant a lot more than it does today. I had come back to visit Sacramento and used my season tickets (which I still shared with a friend) to witness the Kings being outscored 34-60 in the first half on their way to an 83-108 loss to the then sub-500 Denver Nuggets. The place was pretty empty by the end, but I stayed to watch Trevor Wilson finish out his 34 minutes and 0-8 from the floor.
I also had floor seats when the Kings visited Chicago in March, I was pitied for wearing my Kings baby blue jacket to the 94-111 shellacking. Getting razzed is one thing, but pity? People feeling sorry for me being a Kings fan? Ouch, babe.
Reynolds’ Wrap:
“A lot of thoughts and memories in regard to Bobby Hurley and his potential career and eventual tragedy. The drafting of Hurley was the easy part. The Duke legend had an amazing career topped off with outstanding play against the 1992 Dream Team. Seemed perfect for a team in need of a young point guard for the future. All appeared on track for the rookie with the expected ups and downs. That all changed after game 19. Hurley‘s NBA career basically ended the same night his life was nearly taken. Bobby became a broken young man both in body and spirit. His effort in rehab and conditioning was legendary but due to the massive injuries was never able to resume anything close to former potential. On a side note, Mike Peplowski a late 2nd round pick that truly saved his life makes him in my opinion the most valuable 2nd round pick in Kings history. Much like the memories of the late Ricky Berry, the one of Bobby given last rites by his local priest still haunts!” – Jerry Reynolds
***
Another season had reached its merciful and merciless end. Fans were getting flummoxed, but riding in over the horizon, appearing out of the Cascades Mountains on his sojourn down from Portland, loomed a tall, shadowy figure. You’ve probably guessed the name, but if you have not, “Just Wait ‘til Next Year!”
GP! Come on down!
Great stuff as usual!
Jeff Peach-Tree…
Close enough! Nice!
Great article! ‘Who’s got it worse than us?’
They not like us.
As performed by Kangzrick Lamar.
Wow, I had not heard that Bobby was given his lat rights by a priest. Thank the heavens he survived. I have to wonder if two draft pick deaths to the same team in such a short time would have done in the franchise. In all seriousness, a “curse” wouldn’t have been a description that did it justice. “Snake bit” would be a generous euphemism.
My recollection has some lore and truth to it, at least the way I heard it:
The Head of the General Surgery Department at UC Davis was landing at SMF and claims to have seen the accident site (not the accident itself). The Chief resident at the time had just delivered a paper/talk/research (one or all of those) about the injury and was thus well versed
Bobby Hurley suffered a “Flail chest”. This is one of the most severe of traumas with a low survival rate. Peplowski finding him, the EMT/Ambulance folks (amazing as they are, we take them for granted IMO) getting him to the Med Center, the Chief Resident recognizing the flail chest – easily missed – and the treatment, including the Head of the Gen Surgery Dept being just available, all contributed to saving Bobby Hurley. Fate. Kismet. Joss. Destiny. Simply Marvelous stuff.
This season is a bit of blur. I remember the year prior attending about a half dozen Kings games. They really had their Washington Generals routine down to autopilot, first five minutes always in the same sequence: Duane Causwell, setup for a point blank dunk, would drop the pass, you’d get one Tizzy Flip and Richmond would hit a deep two because his toe was on the line.
About the only thing I remember about ’93 was a Bret Musburger comment covering a Duke game the year prior. He said something to likes of “it would be a tragedy if Hurley were to be drafted by Sacramento than never heard of again”. Great memory, f*ck u Bret!
Recall seeing an ESPN special on the Hurley family and Bob sr mentioning how crushed Bobby was to have lost his career while realizing just lucky to be alive .
Does anybody remember what Hurley looked like in the 19 games he played before the car accident? I honestly don’t remember and I don’t have any distinct memories one way or the other in terms of him looking good, bad, rookie, etc.
Anyone recall?
Just my opinion:
not all that impressive. His shot, which was supposed to be a plus (He had a Duke record of 7 3s in a game, maybe a March Madness one, IIRC) was hitchy, and seemed more a push especially at the NBA 3 point line*. He was fine at running the point from a passing standpoint, but also seemed to struggle on guarding the bigger, stronger NBA PGs. But as others here attest in their own way, though I believe it applies to me even more so… I claim full Sargent Schulz aka I know nothing.
*
The NCAA three-point line is 22 feet, 1 ¾ inches (6.75 meters) from the center of the basket, while the NBA’s line is 23 feet, 9 inches (7.24 meters). In the corners, the NBA line is 22 feet (6.71 meters), while the NCAA line is 21 feet, 7 ⅞ inches (6.59 meters)
Great college player , 19 games played . First 19 games were not encouraging for players like Stockton, Nash, Fox, Garland, Brunson, Payton, KJ, and countless others . They all got a lot better and with Hurley’s pedigree odds seemed to be on his side . Sadly, for him and Kings fans we will never know .
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