The franchise began in 1923 as the Rochester Seagrams, a semi-professional team named for the Seagrams distillery in Rochester, New York.

The renamed Rochester Royals joined the National Basketball League in 1945 and then the Basketball Association of America (forerunner of the NBA) in 1948. In 1951, the Royals won their first NBA championship, defeating the New York Knicks 4-3 in the first NBA Finals that went to 7 games.

The longest NBA game in history occurred on January 6, 1951 between the Indianapolis Olympians and the Rochester Royals. Indianapolis beat Rochester 75-73 after 6 overtimes.

In 1991-92, Duane Causwell had a career-high 215 blocked shots. That same year, he also had career highs in rebounds (580) and points (636).

The Kings moved to Sacramento, California for the 1985-86 NBA season, with their first Sacramento season ending in the first round of the Western Conference 1986 NBA Playoffs. The starting lineup was Reggie Theus, LaSalle Thompson, Mark Olberding, Terry Tyler, and Mike Woodson.

In 1972-73, Nate "Tiny" Archibald's scoring average of 34.0 points per game broke the NBA record for a guard. His 910 assists that season (11.4 assists per game) was also an NBA record at the time, breaking Guy Rodgers' mark of 908.

On March 12, 1958, in the last game of the 1957-58 NBA regular season, Maurice Stokes was knocked unconscious after he drove to the basket, drew contact, and struck his head as he fell to the court. He was revived with smelling salts and returned to the game. Three days later, after recording 12 points and 15 rebounds in an opening-round playoff game against the Detroit Pistons, he became ill on the team's flight back to Cincinnati. Stokes later suffered a seizure and was left permanently paralyzed. He was diagnosed with post-traumatic encephalopathy, a brain injury that damaged his motor-control center.

Jack Twyman became the legal guardian of his teammate and friend Maurice Stokes, a Hall of Fame player who was paralyzed due to a head injury he suffered after a fall during a game. Although permanently paralyzed, Stokes was mentally alert and communicated by blinking his eyes. Stokes' life, injury, and relationship with Twyman inspired the 1973 film Maurie.

Slamson the Lion is the official mascot of the Sacramento Kings. His name is a play on the name Samson, in reference to the biblical hero. He was born in South Africa with his mother Slamet and father Sir Slam the Lion.

At 7 ft 5 in, Sim Bhullar is one of the tallest players in NBA history. In 2014-15, he played 3 games for the Kings, averaging 0.3 rebounds, 0.3 assists, 0.3 blocks, and 0.7 points per game.