Kings looking to end 15-year playoff drought
Whatever small signs of progress the Sacramento Kings may have shown in stretches the past two seasons under coach Luke Walton, the end result has been the same as it’s ever been.
For 15 straight seasons, the Kings have missed out on the postseason, tied for the longest playoff drought in NBA history.
While the Kings enter their third year under Walton with some intriguing pieces, led by lightning-quick point guard De’Aaron Fox and poised second-year guard Tyrese Haliburton, they know the questions won’t stop until the drought does.
“Obviously, you don’t want to be part of that and be attached to that, but at the end of the day we just have to worry about what we can do,” said Fox, who is entering his fifth season in Sacramento. “When you’re out there, for me, I can’t worry about the five years I’ve been here or the 10-plus years before that. You just have to go out there and play.”
The Kings went 31-41 last season and finished tied for 11th in the Western Conference, two games out of the play-in tournament. That matched the record of futility set by the Clippers franchise, which missed the playoffs 15 straight seasons from 1977-91 while playing in Buffalo, San Diego and Los Angeles.
This drought has been endured by only one fan base, in Sacramento, and as much as the Kings players want to get to the postseason for themselves, delivering that for the fans is also important.
“Obviously, we want to allow our fans to make the playoffs,” Haliburton said. “We want to bring the Kings back to the playoffs. That’s obviously the biggest goal. I don’t think anybody wants that more than us.”