Sactown Royalty http://snipr.com/1u7x0

From the 1988-89 season to the 1993-94 campaign..., the Kings won
between 23 and 29 games a season. Forget about the playoffs. This was a
team that couldn't even sniff a 40% winning percentage. In this "era",
the Kings finished 6th or 7th in the Pacific Division every year.

No matter who the Kings threw out there... Kenny Smith, Rodney McCray,
Danny Ainge, Vinny Del Negro, Wayman Tisdale... Antoine Carr, Duane
Causwell, Lionel Simmons... Spud Webb, and finally, Mitch Richmond...
the team stunk. We expected them to stink, and while I celebrated their
occasional wins, we expected disaster.

In the 1990-91 campaign, the losing became a national joke. After
losing the team's first 7 games, the Kings won 87-82 on the road
against the Washington Bullets. They would go on to lose the next 37
games on the road, finishing 1-40 away from Arco that season. Then, the
Kings lost the first 6 games on the road to start the 1991-92 season,
setting an NBA record for futility that still stands, at 43 consecutive
losses. (See: Basketball.com: "Most consecutive road games lost"
http://snipr.com/1u7x2 )

17 years later, we again have a team in the cellar of the Pacific
Division (albeit with 5 teams, not 7). We again have a team with a
winning percentage that starts with a ".3". We again have a team with
players we root for, players we loathe, and... a seven game losing
streak on the road to start the season. The Kings' 0-7 start is the
worst in the NBA away from home. (The Knicks are 0-6 and the T-Wolves
are 0-4)

Maybe the Kings aren't out to break their own record here. Maybe
they're better than that historic 1990-91 team was. But while I enjoyed
the "fat" years of Webber/Divac/Bibby/Christie/Jackson and continually
reaching the playoffs every season, part of me says that those years
were not legitimate, and the Kings are back to playing their
appropriate role.

Welcome back, Kings. Some sick parts of us missed you.