(Note – Welcome our new off-season series, “Just Wait ‘til Next Year!” Special guest Jerry Reynolds and I will be bringing you our 147 combined years and 78 combined IQ points (divvy them up however you see fit), fighting off the ravages of time to bring you our recollections of past Kings years. We’re going to review each season, beginning with 1985. The template will be me droning on while you frantically look for the mute button, with Jerry coming in at the end to save the day – NO SCROLLING! Without further ado…)
This was the year that Darko Milicic – the original Marvin Bagley III of draft picks – was born. So was Chris Paul, who will be the starting point guard for the Sacramento Kings this coming season, under the guidance of assistant head coach DeMarcus Cousins.
But enough about 2025-26.
To the wayback machine – 1985!
The NBA Comes to Town
Prior to 1985, Sacramento professional sports consisted mostly of welterweight boxer Pete Ranzany and the Pacific Coast League Sacramento Solons baseball team (Gorman Thomas and Sixto Lezcano were the original launch angle explorers, as they adapted their swings to lob homeruns over the 230-feet deep, 65-foot high netted left field fence that was shoehorned into Hughes Stadium). The big concerts were Dire Straits at the Memorial Auditorium and Phil Collins at the Cal Expo Amphitheatre.
For the most part, if you wanted A-list sports and entertainment, you were traveling to the Bay Area.
So, when Gregg Lukenbill (where is his statue?!?) put together an ownership group and convinced the NBA that this sleepy little military and federal worker town was the perfect place for Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and a young, up-and-coming Michael Jordan to stop in and show their wares, it was met locally with awe, and more than a bit of disbelief. I mean, where was this team even going to play? What were you going to do, convert a warehouse or something?
If you are of a certain age, still drawing breath, and were fortunate enough to score one of the 10,333 tickets that were available at ARCO Arena I, you got to see real, live NBA stars, up close, in front of a raucous, joyous crowd. Yes, the locals rooted for their home team, but it was the event of having NBA elite right in your own backyard.
Oh, and the Kings were there, too!
I managed one trip to ARCO 1 in 1985-86, as tickets were at a very high premium. It reminded me slightly of seeing the San Francisco Warriors at the Cow Palace way back in 1971, though I was only 12 at the time – all I really remember is that Nate Thurmond was the biggest human being that I had ever seen in my life. I imagined that this is what Midwest college basketball was like.
One thing that does spring to mind about that lone visit was that head coach Phil Johnson was (a) very well dressed (I sort of dug the suit and tie HCs of yesteryear), and (b), he was rocking a pornstache that put mine to shame.
Smokin’ Joe Kleine
The first draft pick of the Sacramento era was Joe Kleine, the old Arkansas Razorback. A lot has been made over the years that the Kings passed on Karl Malone to draft Kleine with the sixth pick, but so did 12 other teams. More telling is that the two players drafted right after Kleine were Chris Mullin and Detlef Schrempf, but the Kings were drafting for a perceived need, LaSalle Thompson be damned.
A couple of things about Joe Kleine. First, the nicest seven footer that I had ever met (OK, he was 6-11, but I’m rounding up), until I kept crossing paths with Brad Miller at the Roseville Lowe’s (note to Mr. Miller: please stop stalking me). I met Kleine one day at the now defunct Carmichael Athletic Club. Just a cool, real, humble guy.
Also – and this may be something that the amplified level of scouting probably would have caught today – Joe Kleine had hands of iron. Not hands of stone, as stone does not clang. Kleine’s 21.1 turnover percentage was an eye popper. To put it into perspective, that is Colby Jones level. Worse than Alex Len. Do you think that Domantas Sabonis turns it over too much? Domas weighs in at 16.5%. This, combined with outsized expectations, was the demise of Joe Kleine, the Sacramento King. Kleine played in 80 of 82 games during the 1985-86 season, but was a distant 9th on the team in total minutes. Some of this was due to his league leading personal foul rate – his 6.8 fouls per 36 minutes led the league. Players with Kleine’s “particular set of skills” are hard to find in today’s NBA, but a stumpier Alex Len might be in the ballpark of a modern comp.
Smokin’ Joe was eventually traded and went on to have a long, 15-year NBA career, including 965 games, almost 15,000 minutes, and a turnover percentage that dropped to 14.3. He was also a member of the 1997-98 World Champion Chicago Bulls.
It always intrigued me that after Kleine left, the Kings acquired Greg Kite, and though Kite was (in my eyes) less of a player than Kleine, he was applauded by the fan base for his blue collar game. It cast an early light on how fan expectations shape the opinions of a player. And there is not anything wrong with it, other than it is usually the player that takes the heat for what was an error on the part of the front office.
The Rest Of the Roster
Another member of the inaugural squad was Mark Olberding. I mention this only because I have always been convinced that Olberding and wrestling’s Paul (Mr. Wonderful) Orndorf were the same person. They were never seen together, so connect the dots. Do your own research and draw your own conclusion, but you will not sway me in my beliefs.
Reggie Theus led the team in 3 pointers taken with a whopping 35, converting 6 (a robust .171%). Theus, Larry Drew and Eddie Johnson took 81 of the team’s 134 deep shots, converting 20 (24.7%). So volume notwithstanding, not much has changed around here in the past 40 years.
The 1985-86 Kings were 37-45, finishing 5th out of 6 teams in the Western Conference, 14th of 23 teams overall, and making the playoffs. Hey, this NBA thing was going to be great – you didn’t even have to be good to make the playoffs!
Reynolds’ Wrap:
“Just a couple of special memories regarding that first season. The amazing fan involvement is still unmatched. Cheering from warmups until final horn. Of course, Arco 1 was its own special delight at least for games – the locker and training facilities were the worst in the last 40 years! Now, Sacramento’s first lottery pick, Joe Kleine was a unique case. Team and fans expected a lot but not much delivered. Truly, a good guy and hard worker. A minor flaw in his game was that due to hands of stone, he was equal opportunity in fumbling passes and rebounds. Early evidence that the draft is a crapshoot!” – Jerry Reynolds
***
Want to know more about 1985? Ask your parents. Or your grandparents. And stay off my lawn! In the meantime, just Wait ‘til Next Year.
If we had to give up Greg to get Section’s story time back, I can accept it! Fair trade and maybe we can even get Greg back in free agency next summer?
This piece reminds me of the time machine articles of about 15 to 17 years ago on the old site. Thank you for this, Rob, and the Reynolds Wrap is the chef’s kiss! Looking forward to the coming years. Excellent way to spend, in what looks like, a rather mundane offseason.
I may be able to add my memories around 1989. That was the year I caught the Kangz virus at the ripe old age of 11.
Hard to imagine that we’re heading into year 40 of the Kings in Sacramento. Of those 40 years, we’ve had exactly 10 years of 0.500+ basketball, including the strike-shortened 1998-99 season. I’m not seeing any reprieve from the crappy basketball. We’ve been burdened with some of the worst owners in the NBA these past four decades, the current one vying seriously with the Moofs for the worst of them all. The Moofs were deceitful reptiles and shitty at business but even they knew enough to get out of the way of the real basketball minds. Vivek sees the team as his personal billionaire’s toy that he can tinker with at will, fans’ hopes and expectations be damned. With so many dark years behind us, we’re about to get a heaping of several more. The talk of jumping ship to other teams is something I’ve never seen before from so many people on this forum and its previous incarnations, but such is the feeling of despair. This team has really entered a phase where it’s more of a soap opera than a professional sports team; the weirdo way in which Perry was brought in (no search at all, just give the job to your preferred candidate, à lá Vladiot’s approach to picking a head coach) is just the latest example. I hope the fans can find some way of wresting the team’s destiny away from Moronadive. The dichotomy of best fans in the league vs worst owner in the league is just really heavy. We deserve so much better.
I know it will never happen but if the fans want to say bye bye to Vivek or just let him publicly say he gives Perry 100% control over everything a GM has and needs to do is boycott the games for a week or 2 and the little chap might say” I give up”. Other than that sell the team. That might be easier.
Story time with Section214!
My Dad has talked to me about back when the team moved to Sac in 1985 and how crazy it was. Reading this has definitely having me wanting to go ask him more about the early years the next time I see him.
Rob – your writing just forces a grin as it tickles our nostalgia. Wonderful musings! Thank you for this episode, and thanks as well to The Great Jerry Reynolds (a bit of Reynolds Remembers thrown in is super).
The history of Kings basketball can perhaps be best described by their acquired big men: Joe Kleine the first of them.A look ahead – and you’ll get there – has some real doozies.
Your guidance through yesteryear – our own personal Mr. Peabody! (a bowtie- but also no pants) is a treat.
Thanks guys.
It was the time when I saw a few NBA snippets on Dutch TV, but mostly just bought the USA Today at the Amsterdam train station, leafed through Sports Illustrated at the American Bookstore or got video tapes of games sent by my American pen pal.
I can relate, somewhat.
My first live NBA game was a great one; 1st game of the 1st round New York Knickerbockers vs. Baltimore Bullets (neither name exists today) and it was an OT thriller at The Garden (Madison Square). That was April 1970.
Then we moved overseas and it was Stars & Stripes for box scores, video (mostly Monday Night Football – a friend’s Dad was a pilot for United who could finagle week old videotape, and a rare late night NBA playoff game on the non-English station.
I didn’t return to see a live game until the New Orleans Jazz, at the SuperDome, with Pistol Pete (and Rich Kelly, later to become a Sacramento King). 1979.(?)
Then not again until a 1985 Kings game at ARCO I with those wooden floor boards that we fans would rumble loudly and often.
Fun times! We all have a wayback machine, don’t we?
That’s my biggest hope – that as the series progresses and more and more folks “age in”, our members will use the thread to contribute their own special memories from each year.
“Where were you when the 2018 draft happened?“
Always remember when it was such a joy to see great NBA stars play in Sacramento . It was exciting just to see Magic, Bird , Jordan and Dr J regardless of outcome . Special memories .
I’ve asked this before but does anyone remember the “We built this city on basketball” song? It was to the tune of “we built this city” by starship. It was around the 1986 season and I’m guessing multiple teams did this since YouTube search results in a similar song for the hated ones. The song incorporated names of the Kings players into the lyrics.
My parents attended the first game at Arco. I was only 7 at the time. Reggie was my mom’s favorite player in the early years. She drew a portrait of him and got him to sign it. Good times!
I attended one game the first year at “the barn” as I recall it being called. I was in my early 30’s at the time. It was the Kings vs. the Clippers and the only that stands out in my memory was the Kings coughed up a 20 point lead going into the fourth quarter and lost. Talk about a foretaste of things to come! There was a pretty good fight in the fourth quarter too. I think we lost that too. Thanks Section!
Possible typo? I think it’s supposed to read 5th out of 6 teams in the Midwest Division. (I had to look it up and did not realize that they kept the Kings in the Midwest until ’88).
Great stuff Section!
Look forward to the rest of these.
That was a lot of fun to read Rob, thanks for taking the time to read that.
I seem to remember, that first season, the Kings won every Tuesday home game and one of those Tuesdays they beat the Boston Celtics. They also had the third best record, after Boston and Lakers, during the second half of the season or after the All-star break. Something like that, maybe.
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