All-ARCO Arena Teams

Sleep Train Arena, formerly known as ARCO Arena and Power Balance Pavillion, has served as the home venue of Sacramento's lone top flight professional team since 1988. It's tenure in that position came to an end on Saturday with the Kings pulling out a 114-112 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Over the arena's 28 years as Home of the Kings, I'm sure many fans and rivals alike have their share of memories and moments about this building. Today, I want to look at the best players to have played inside ARCO Arena. I'm sure a lot of the players that Kings fans remember fondly will find their way onto this list.

The two teams below are the best players - by Game Score - to have played for and against the Kings in all games at Sleep Train Arena. I'll call them All-ARCO teams for nostalgia's sake.

All-ARCO Home Team

Starters

C - DeMarcus Cousins (203 games, 15.2)

PF - Chris Webber (213 games, 18.1)

SF - Metta World Peace (86 games, 14.7)

SG - Mitch Richmond (262 games, 16.4)

PG - Danny Ainge (55 games, 15.4)

Bench

SF - Rudy Gay (94 games, 14.1)

PF/C - Antoine Carr (53 games, 13.6)

PG - Rajon Rondo (36 games, 13.6)

PG - Mike Bibby (261 games, 13.5)

PG - Kenny Smith (65 games, 13.4)

SF - Peja Stojakovic (296 games, 13.2)

SG - Tyreke Evans (136 games, 13.0)

SF - Rodney McCray (77 games, 12.9)

All-ARCO Rivals

Starters

C - Shaquille O'Neal (30 games, 19.2)

PF - Karl Malone (38 games, 17.8)

SF - LeBron James (11 games, 24.5)

SG - Kobe Bryant (42 games, 18.9)

PG - Chris Paul (19 games, 20.8)

Bench

SG - Dwyane Wade (8 games, 24.3)

C - Hakeem Olajuwon (20 games, 21.3)

SF - Kevin Durant (16 games, 20.5)

SG - Michael Jordan (10 games, 19.9)

SG - James Harden (13 games, 19.1)

PG - Magic Johnson (7 games, 18.8)

SF - Dominique Wilkins (7 games, 17.9)

PG - Allen Iverson (14 games, 17.8)

Four Cities. Two Teams. One Game.

Over the extensive history of the NBA, teams have set out to represent the city they are based in. Each franchise intends to weave itself into the fabric of that metropolitan area through winning and community involvement. However, there have been isolated incidents where a team has gone regional out of desire for a wider reach or out of necessity. Today, we spotlight two of these teams: the Kansas City-Omaha Kings and the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets. These are the two teams that took a regional approach to franchising for two separate reasons.

In 1972, the Cincinnati Royals shipped off for America's Heartland after declining performance on the court and in the stands. Instead of going with one city, the newly-christened Kings (since there was already a 3 year-old Royals baseball team in KC) split their home games between 7,500-seat Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City and 9,300-seat Civic Auditorium in Omaha. The Kings moved into Kemper Arena in 1974 and dropped the "Omaha" from their name the following season. They stopped playing games in Omaha after the 1977-78 season, and moved from Kansas City to Sacramento in 1985.

The New Orleans Hornets had arrived from Charlotte in 2002 after owner George Shinn could not get a new taxpayer-funded arena there. In the summer of 2005, Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast and flooded much of New Orleans, temporarily displacing the city's sports teams. The Saints played games in Baton Rouge and San Antonio, while the Hornets elected to play most of its games in Oklahoma City. The Hornets would eventually return to New Orleans full-time for the 2007-2008 season.

I decided to run a simulation between the best editions of these two franchises: the 1975 Kings (44-38) that made the playoffs in their final year as Kansas City-Omaha, and the 2007 Hornets (39-43) who missed the playoffs as they were slowly making their way back to New Orleans full time. The Kings were designated the home team by virtue of having the better record. Here're the results:

This game was a close one down to the final minutes. Devin Brown hit a contested jumper to make it 94-93 with 2:13 left in the 4th. From there the Hornets held off the Kings at the free throw line.

Chris Paul had a monster game, logging a double-double in points and assists as well as 5 steals. Not to be outdone, Nate "Tiny" Archibald had a double-double of his own, but was done it by his 7 turnovers on the night. NOK overcame their deficiencies from three-point range by getting to the line for 33 free throw attempts and forcing 19 turnovers.

What do you think of the results? If you have anything to say about a young Chris Paul, the greatness of Tiny Archibald's career, the presence of future head coach Mike D'Antoni, or anything else, be sure to let me know in the comments below!

Looking Back at LeBron's 1st Game

LeBron dunk's during the first quarter of his 2003 NBA regular season debut. Photo courtesy Washington Post

Times are scressful in Cleveland. The team is underperforming despite sitting atop the Eastern Conference at 31-12, and the front office fired the head coach in favor of the assistant that was more popular among the players. The Cavs are trying to find some cohesion so that they can make a title run and compete against the likes of the Warriors and Spurs.

The other night I was thinking about the current state of the Cavaliers and eventually started getting nostalgic. With all of the controversy happening right now, have you taken time out recently to remember where it all started?

October 29, 2003, Sacramento, California. I still remember this commercial coming out ahead of his regular season debut. I got a good laugh out of it back then, but I also noticed at the time that he's standing there for more than 24 seconds. I don't care if it is just an advert: that's a shot clock violation, refs! You gotta call that!

But yes, Sacramento, against the Kings. The Cavs weren't all that great, winning only 17 games the previous season. The Kings were all that great, winning a Pacific Division championship in '03.

With all the hype that came with LeBron since high school, he lived up to it in his first game: 25 points on 12 of 20 shooting, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, and 4 steals in a 92-106 loss. He lived up to the hype that season: 20.9 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.9 assists and Rookie of the Year honors on a not-so-great team that went 35-47 and missed the playoffs. And LeBron has lived up to the hype ever since.

Video is courtesy of SCGoal. Enjoy!