Sacramento Kings ended the longest playoff drought in NBA history and the longest current drought in the four major American sports leagues on Wednesday night with a 120-80 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
With a record of 46 wins and 30 losses, the Kings are currently in third place in the NBA’s Western Conference, with six games remaining in the regular season. The team needs to be among the top six to qualify for the playoffs and is currently ahead of the seventh-place Minnesota Timberwolves, who have 39 wins and 38 losses. This is the first time the Kings have made the playoffs since the 2005-2006 season when they had players like Mike Bibby, Ron Artest (Metta World Peace), Brad Miller, and Peja Stojakovic, and the last time the team had more wins than losses in the regular season.
For 17 years, the Sacramento team had failed to reach the NBA playoffs, going through 12 different coaches, making mistakes in player selection, such as betting on talent without leadership, like DeMarcus Cousins and Isaiah Thomas, and still risking having the franchise removed from the city. Now, the Charlotte Hornets have taken over as the NBA team with the longest playoff drought, with seven seasons of absence. In American football, the New York Jets lead the list, with a 12-year drought. In the NHL, it is the Buffalo Sabres who have gone 11 seasons without making the playoffs. In baseball, both the Detroit Tigers and the Los Angeles Angels have gone nine years without qualifying.
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