The 1994–95 Sacramento Kings season was the 46th season for the Sacramento Kings in the National Basketball Association, and their tenth season in Sacramento, California.
Season summary
Off-season The Kings received the eighth overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft, and selected power forward Brian Grant out of Xavier University, and also selected power forward Michael Smith out of Providence College with the 35th overall pick. During the off-season, the team signed free agent Frank Brickowski; however, Brickowski would miss the entire regular season due to a preseason shoulder injury.
For the season, the Kings redesigned their primary logo, replacing the colors blue and red with purple, black and silver to their color scheme of white. The team's primary logo featured the team name "Kings" in white letters on a purple sign, below the city name "Sacramento" in white letters on a purple ribbon, with a silver crown, purple and silver jousting sticks, and a purple basketball with silver seams; the logo is surrounded by a black outline.
The team also redesigned their home and road uniforms, which featured purple side panels on the right leg and bottom of their shorts, and the team's primary logo on the right leg. The white home uniforms featured a purple, silver and black trim, and silver and black outlines next to the side panels on their shorts, while the road uniforms were changed from blue to black, and featured a purple and white trim, and white outlines. In addition, the Kings revealed new half-black, and half-purple alternate road uniforms, which were purple on the left side and black on the right side, and featured a black and white trim; the alternate uniforms also featured purple and white-squared checkered flag side panels with white outlines on their jerseys and shorts, and the new primary logo on the left leg of their shorts.
The team's new primary logo would remain in use until 2016, while the new home and road uniforms would both last until 2002, and the alternate jerseys would last until 1997.
Regular season With the addition of Grant and Smith, and replacing Lionel Simmons with Walt Williams as the team's starting small forward, the Kings played above .500 in winning percentage with an 18–13 start to the regular season, and later on held a 25–20 record at the All-Star break. However, after holding a 28–20 record as of February 18, 1995, the team struggled posting a seven-game losing streak afterwards, and fell below .500 as the season progressed. On the final day of the regular season on April 23, the Kings faced off against the Denver Nuggets on the road at the McNichols Sports Arena for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference; the Nuggets won by a score of 102–89, as the Kings finished in fifth place in the Pacific Division with a 39–43 record, missing the NBA playoffs for the ninth consecutive year.
Mitch Richmond averaged 22.8 points and 3.8 assists per game, led the Kings with 156 three-point field goals, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team. In addition, Williams showed improvement, averaging 16.4 points, 4.1 assists and 1.6 steals per game, along with 103 three-point field goals, while Grant provided the team with 13.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team, Spud Webb contributed 11.6 points and 6.2 assists per game, and Olden Polynice provided with 10.8 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. Off the bench, Smith averaged 6.9 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, while Simmons provided with 5.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game, Randy Brown contributed 4.7 points and 2.0 steals per game, second-year guard Bobby Hurley contributed 4.2 points and 3.3 assists per game, and Duane Causwell averaged 3.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game.
During the NBA All-Star weekend at the America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, Richmond was selected for the 1995 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team. Richmond scored 23 points off the bench, and was named the NBA All-Star Game Most Valuable Player, as the Western Conference defeated the Eastern Conference, 139–112. Meanwhile, Grant and Smith were both selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as members of the Green team. Williams finished tied in ninth place in Most Improved Player voting, while Grant finished tied in fifth place in Rookie of the Year voting.
The Kings finished ninth in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 709,997 at the ARCO Arena II during the regular season.
Aftermath Following the season, Webb was traded back to his former team, the Atlanta Hawks, while Brickowski was traded back to his former team, the Seattle SuperSonics, and Brown signed with the Chicago Bulls.
Draft picks
Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 8 Brian Grant PF Xavier 2 35 Michael Smith PF Providence College 2 51 Lawrence Funderburke PF Ohio State
Roster
Roster Notes Power forward Frank Brickowski was on the injured reserve list due to a shoulder injury he sustained during the preseason, and missed the entire regular season.
Regular season
Season standings
z - clinched division title y - clinched division title x - clinched playoff spot
Game log Regular season
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 5 | November 15, 19945:30p.m. PST | @ Houston | L 99–105 | Richmond (31) | Polynice (11) | Webb (6) | The Summit14,656 | 3–2
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 45 | February 8, 19957:30p.m. PST | Houston | L 86–97 | Richmond (28) | Smith (8) | Webb (5) | ARCO Arena17,317 | 25–20 |- align="center" |colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff"|All-Star Break |- style="background:#cfc;" |- bgcolor="#bbffbb"
|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 72 | April 4, 19957:30p.m. PDT | Houston | W 109–105 | Williams (30) | Smith (11) | Webb (6) | ARCO Arena17,317 | 35–37 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 78 | April 15, 19955:30p.m. PDT | @ Houston | L 84–98 | Richmond, Williams (19) | Grant (9) | Brown, Williams (6) | The Summit16,611 | 46–32
Player statistics
Regular season PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG 82 82 38.7 .446 .368 .843 4.4 3.8 1.1 .4 22.8 82 0 21.2 .542 .000 .485 5.9 .8 .7 .6 6.9 81 81 31.3 .544 1.000 .639 9.0 .8 .6 .6 10.8 80 59 28.6 .511 .250 .636 7.5 1.2 .6 1.5 13.2 77 77 35.6 .446 .348 .731 4.5 4.1 1.6 .8 16.4 76 76 32.3 .438 .331 .934 2.3 6.2 1.0 .1 11.6 68 6 16.3 .363 .276 .763 1.0 3.3 .4 .0 4.2 67 2 16.2 .432 .298 .671 1.6 2.0 1.5 .3 4.7 58 24 14.1 .517 .000 .582 3.0 .3 .2 1.4 3.6 58 3 18.3 .420 .375 .702 3.4 1.5 .5 .4 5.6† 51 0 9.3 .532 .000 .571 2.1 .3 .3 .2 5.0 30 0 5.0 .404 .400 .571 .9 .2 .3 .0 2.3 22 0 3.4 .360 .389 .857 .2 .2 .3 .1 2.0 15 0 9.8 .450 .786 1.7 .8 .3 .1 3.1 3 0 1.7 .000 .000 .0 .3 .0 .0 .0
Player statistics citation:
Awards and records Mitch Richmond, All-NBA Second Team Brian Grant, NBA All-Rookie Team 1st Team
Transactions The Kings were involved in the following transactions during the 1994–95 season.
Trades The Kings were not involved in any trades during the 1994–95 season.
Free agents
Additions Player Signed Former team Alaa Abdelnaby July 26 Boston Celtics Frank Brickowski August 19 Charlotte Hornets Doug Lee October 31 KK Cibona (Croatia) Derrick Phelps April 20 Chicago Rockers (CBA)
Subtractions Player Left New team Wayman Tisdale released, August 19 Phoenix Suns LaBradford Smith waived, October 31 Rapid City Thrillers (CBA) Mike Peplowski waived, November 3 Detroit Pistons Trevor Wilson waived, January 9 CB Peñas Huesca (LEB Oro) Alaa Abdelnaby waived, March 21 Philadelphia 76ers
Player Transactions Citation:
References
See also 1994-95 NBA season