60 free Sacramento Kings trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Sacramento Kings trivia quiz covers the NBA's oldest franchise across five cities: the Rochester Seagrams and Royals, the 1951 championship, Maurice Stokes and Jack Twyman, Oscar Robertson in Cincinnati, Tiny Archibald and the Kansas City–Omaha Kings, the roof that fell in at Kemper Arena, the 1985 move west, Mitch Richmond, the Greatest Show on Court and the 2002 Game 6 controversy, the 16-season drought, Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins, the near-move to Anaheim, and the Fox-Sabonis team that finally lit the beam. Expect easy questions on the arena, the mascot and the biggest names, plenty of history for regular fans, and hard ones about the circus that bumped a playoff series, the GM who failed in four cities and the executive who embezzled $13.4 million. Uniforms and logos, from the surname-under-number jerseys to Sactown, get a turn too. Every answer was checked against primary and encyclopaedic sources before it went in, so when you miss one you can trust the explanation. Play it solo or run it as a round at your next watch party. For the wider league, our NBA trivia page is the natural next stop.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the name of the Kings' downtown Sacramento arena, opened in 2016?
Golden 1 Center
The purple beam lit above it after every home win inspired the 'Light the Beam' chant.
Q 02The Kings franchise began in which New York city, as the Seagrams and then the Royals?
Rochester
They are the NBA's oldest franchise, tracing their roots to a semi-pro team formed in 1923.
Q 03Which distiller sponsored the semi-professional team that preceded the Royals?
Seagram
The Canadian company took the bulk of whatever money the team made.
Q 04In which year did the Royals win the franchise's only NBA championship?
1951
They beat the New York Knicks 4–3, the only title in a stretch otherwise dominated by George Mikan's Lakers.
Q 05Which local star was the Royals' captain, coach, manager and scout, and co-founded the franchise with his brother?
Lester Harrison
He and brother Jack paid a steep $25,000 entry fee in 1945.
Q 06Which Royals star suffered a career-ending brain injury in 1958 after a fall was aggravated by cabin pressure?
Maurice Stokes
Teammate Jack Twyman legally adopted him and cared for him until his death in 1970, a story told in the 1973 film 'Maurie'.
Q 07Which local superstar joined the Cincinnati Royals in 1960 and averaged a triple-double in 1961–62?
Oscar Robertson
'The Big O' won MVP in 1964 and was traded to Milwaukee in 1970, where he immediately won a title.
Q 08A 1963 Royals playoff series was disrupted when new owner Louis Jacobs booked what into Cincinnati Gardens?
A circus
The Royals had to play their home games at Xavier University's Schmidt Field House.
Q 09Which Hall of Fame coach traded Jerry Lucas in 1969 and the Big O in 1970, speeding the exit from Ohio?
Bob Cousy
Both deals were deeply unpopular and attendance collapsed.
Q 10Why did the franchise change its nickname from Royals to Kings when it relocated in 1972?
A local baseball team already used the name
They were initially the Kansas City–Omaha Kings, splitting home games between the two cities.
Q 11With which Nebraska city did the Kings share their home games from 1972 to 1975?
Omaha
They played 42 regular-season games there and kept visiting through 1977–78.
Q 12Which point guard led the NBA in scoring and assists in 1972–73, the Kings' first Kansas City season?
Nate Archibald
'Tiny' remains the only player ever to lead the league in both categories in the same season.
Q 13What unusual Kings uniform feature, introduced in Cincinnati, was later adopted by the WNBA and the All-Star Game?
The player's surname placed below the number
Q 21Which centre did the Kings take first overall in 1989, a pick blamed for early Sacramento struggles?
Pervis Ellison
'Never Nervous' Pervis missed 48 games as a rookie and was traded to Washington.
Q 22What was the Kings' road record in one early-1990s season, despite winning over 60 percent at home?
1–40
Sacramento's fan support was famous even as the team struggled away from ARCO Arena.
Q 23Which shooting guard, acquired from Golden State in 1991, made six All-Star teams with the Kings?
Mitch Richmond
He was traded to Washington with Otis Thorpe in 1998 for Chris Webber.
The template survived the first several Sacramento seasons.
Q 14Which point guard won 1979 Rookie of the Year with Cotton Fitzsimmons's Kings?
Phil Ford
That season's average of 10,789 fans was the only time Kansas City attendance reached five figures.
Q 15In 1981 the Kings became the first fifth seed to oust a top seed, beating which team in Game 7?
Phoenix Suns
They then lost the West finals to Houston; the franchise did not win another series for two decades.
Q 16What happened to Kemper Arena in 1979 that forced the Kings back into the smaller Municipal Auditorium?
The roof collapsed in a storm
The same year, GM Joe Begzos was fired for reusing marked postage stamps.
Q 17Which general manager became the first in sports history to fail with the same franchise in four cities?
Joe Axelson
Fans wore masks of his face at the last game in Kansas City; he said he hoped his plane never touched down there again.
Q 18For how many million dollars was the franchise sold to the Sacramento group in 1983?
10.5
The first ARCO Arena was a $12 million conversion of an 82,000-square-foot warehouse.
Q 19In which season did the Kings begin play in Sacramento?
1985–86
They made the playoffs in their first season and then not again until 1996.
Q 20Which NBA legend coached the Kings in 1987–88, early in the Sacramento era?
Bill Russell
Broadcaster Jerry Reynolds also had two stints as head coach around the same time.
Q 24Whom did the Kings receive from Washington in the May 1998 trade of their six-time All-Star guard?
Chris Webber
The deal was one of the keys to the 'Greatest Show on Court' era.
Q 25Which flashy point guard, drafted in 1998, thrilled fans with his passing before being traded for Mike Bibby?
Jason Williams
'White Chocolate' went to Vancouver in 2001 as the Kings tired of his turnovers.
Q 26Which former Princeton coach helped install the ball-movement offense of the Adelman-era Kings?
Pete Carril
The Princeton offense was famous for its cutting and passing.
Q 27What was the title of the February 2001 Sports Illustrated cover story on the Kings?
The Greatest Show on Court
Williams, Christie, Stojaković, Webber and Divac shared the cover.
Q 28What was the Kings' league-best record in 2001–02?
61–21
They went 36–5 at home before the controversial seven-game loss to the Lakers in the West finals.
Q 29How many free throws were the Lakers awarded in the fourth quarter of Game 6 of the 2002 West finals?
27
The New York Post ran the headline 'Foul Play'; a later league review found poor officiating but no proof of fixing.
Q 30Which team eliminated the Kings in seven games in the 2004 second round, ending the Webber era's last deep run?
Minnesota Timberwolves
Webber had returned mid-season from knee surgery but was never the same.