Just Wait ’til Next Year: 1996 – When Hope Turned to Heartbreak: The Season Collapses

(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.)

If you weren’t around and/or a Kings fan in 1996, you won’t believe me when I tell that 1996-97 may have been a more disappointing season than 2024-25. There were expectations that not only were not met, they were hilariously/infuriatingly missed. And along the way the Kings used their first round draft pick on a player that would not be a part of the core rotation, a fan favorite was traded for a seemingly redundant player, and a successful (by Kings standards) head coach was fired.

Let’s Kangz Basketball!

In spite of the 95-96 team faltering a bit down the stretch, hopes were high coming off the Kings first playoff appearance in a decade. The core of the team possessed vets (Mitch Richmond, Olden Polynice, Sarunas Marciulionis) and youth with some upside (Brian Grant, Tyus Edney. Corliss Williamson, Michael Smith, Billy Owens). After years of riding the coaching carousel, the Kings had settled in with Garry St. Jean, who was entering his fifth season.

The offseason began with the shocking trade of Marciulionis for Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf. While Rooney had missed a good chunk of the prior season, he was a solid fan favorite, and (remember, this is 1996 and the internet is in its absolute infancy) the fans were unaware of just how washed his body was at this point. Marciulionis would play just 17 games and 255 minutes for Denver before being forced to retire.

Abdul-Rauf was available in large part due to his stance of not standing at attention for the national anthem, thus alienating him with much of the Denver fan base. On paper, and especially considering Sarunas’ fragility, this seemed like a great deal for the Kings, even if Abdul-Rauf was not a true point guard.

Two weeks after the Abdul-Rauf trade, the Kings held the 14th pick in the draft. While the fans in attendance at the ARCO Arena draft party chanted for Syracuse’s John Wallace, the Kings drafted Predrag Stojakovic (how do we even pronounce that?), a 19-year-old what from where? It may have been the first (though certainly not the last) instance of Kings fans booing a pick, and when Geoff Petrie was interviewed about it later his response was, “If you want to lead the orchestra, you have to turn your back to the audience.” When the news came out that Predrag wouldn’t be coming over in 1996, well, let’s just say that those who were already unhappy did not become less unhappy.

The Kings also drafted Jason Sasser with the 41st pick, selling his rights to the Portland Trail Blazers a day later. So, it was Petrie who started this phenomenon of selling picks? And of all the things that future Kings front offices would glean from Petrie, it was the selling of second round picks?

The Kings were under .500 for the entire season. After cratering at 16-24, they won 12 of their next 20 to improve to 28-32. And then the bottom fell out, as the Kings lost 7 in a row and 13 of 14. St. Jean was fired after the 7 game losing streak, and Eddie Jordan went 6-9 the rest of the way.

Brian Grant missed 58 games, including the entirety of games 6-59.

Mitch Richmond had arguably his best season as a King; averaging 25.9 points per game, he was named to another All-Star team and finished second team All-NBA. Abdul-Rauf was the second highest scorer at 13.7. If younger Kings fans want to know what Mitch Richmond was so grumpy about, this season serves as a good example. There was no Chris Mullin / Tim Hardaway flanking him. It was a poo-poo platter of Abdul-Rauf, Polynice, Owens or Williamson. Pick whichever one you want, but if whoever you pick is your second best player, you’ve got problems. And in spite of all of this, ARCO Arena was still selling out night after night after night.

Reynolds’ Wrap

“This was a season that is difficult for me to remember since I try hard to forget everything about it! The season started with a lot of optimism due to previous finish and minor roster changes. Basketball operations fully expected to have another playoff team and better record. Nothing went right. Had key injuries, coaching change and owner issues. Honestly, this season was a 24-25 version many decades earlier. Also, the team had very few assets to make improvements and a cash strapped owner that needed to sell tickets as he was starting to explore selling the team. This was probably the first season that our great fans realized they deserved better and expressed it. Wish I had known the exact time frame they would be rewarded and maybe I would have drank less beer, slept better and been more considerate of my wife and family. Team in the valley and no peaks in site.” – Jerry Reynolds

***

The Kings were sliding backward, and had a roster that appeared to be unfixable, with not much in the asset cabinet (the 11th pick in the draft was the “haul” for this bad season). The coaching position seemed unsettled. The star player wasn’t happy. Ownership and the front office were justifiably questioned. Sound familiar?

Oh well, maybe we’d get lucky in the draft, and that “Stogiecrotchitch” guy would come over. Brian Grant would get his next contract and we’d hope for lightning in a bottle. It would be just one more long summer, right? All we had to do was Wait ‘til Next Year.