The NBA Finals are underway this week, and Cincinnati’s geographically closest team in the Indiana Pacers are competing this year.The Pacers won Game 1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday in a 111-110 upset that saw Indiana trail for the entirety of the game, with the exception of the final 0.3 seconds.This continues the Pacers’ unlikely postseason story, after having only the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference at the end of the regular season. It’s an unlikely run seeing support across the entirety of Indiana in its finals run this week, as well as parts of southwestern Ohio that do not feel loyalty towards Ohio’s lone NBA team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.However, once upon a time, Cincinnatians interested in following professional basketball did not have to choose an out-of-town team to support. They instead had one of their own: the Cincinnati Royals.The Cincinnati Royals were a team that existed between 1957 and 1972, in the early years of the NBA, which was founded in 1949. The franchise still lives on today in the Sacramento Kings. The Royals left for Kansas City in 1972, before changing their name to the Kansas City Kings to avoid confusion with the better-known Kansas City Royals of MLB baseball fame. They then later relocated to Sacramento, California, in 1985, where they have remained ever since.Prior to that, the Royals were based in Rochester, New York. They relocated to Cincinnati in 1957, where they felt the Royals name would continue to be a good fit with the city’s nickname of the “Queen City.”Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Rochester have all been without NBA teams ever since. However, change has been very common throughout the NBA’s history, even more so than most other American professional sports leagues. Only two of the league’s 30 franchises—the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks—remain completely unchanged, with the same host city and team that have been around since the NBA’s founding in 1949.The Cincinnati Royals had a mixed run during its time in Cincinnati. It’s best season came in 1963-64, where the team finished with a 55-25 regular season record and were Eastern Division finals runner-ups to the Boston Celtics.Meanwhile, its worst came in the 1959-60 season, where the team finished with a 19-56 regular season record and finished last in the Western Division. Cincinnati switched from the Western Division to the Eastern Division in 1962 as the Philadelphia Warriors moved west to become the San Francisco Warriors, which is where the team remains today. The San Francisco Warriors later rebranded as the Golden State Warriors in 1971 in a nod to the nearby Golden Gate Bridge and California’s nickname as the “Golden State.” More frequently, however, the Cincinnati Royals remained a mid-tier NBA contender in their 15 seasons as part of the NBA. The team never won a division final (later known as a conference final) in any of its seasons, let alone an NBA championship.Unfortunately, the present-day Sacramento Kings, as well as the various other previous iterations of the team, have not done much better in the franchise’s history.The Kings/Royals lone franchise NBA title to date came in 1951, when they were still the Rochester Royals. It’s been a pretty rocky ride ever since. They have never even once played in an NBA final since 1951. More recently, the Kings finished 9th out of the 15 teams in the NBA’s Western Conference in the 2024-25 regular season, and lost in their play-in game to qualify for the NBA’s postseason. They have also only qualified for the postseason one time in the past 19 seasons since 2006.However, the Cincinnati Royals had a very profound impact on at least one recognizable part of the modern-day Sacramento Kings: the team’s logo.The Royals changed their logo in 1971 during their last season in Cincinnati, where it later became the modern-day framework for the current Sacramento Kings logo. It features a red king’s crown sitting on top of the bottom half of a blue basketball.These days, the logo remains mostly the same, with the colors of purple and grey serving as the most notable change. The “Royals/Kings” font is also different, and the city name of “Sacramento” has been included in the mid-section of the logo, whereas the city name was previously in the uppermost part of the logo.So, in the future, is it ever possible that the Royals or a similar team franchise could make its way back to Cincinnati? If recent headlines are anything to go by, never say never. At the moment, the NBA is exploring the idea of expansion again for the first time since 2004, according to ESPN. The league currently has 30 teams, and is exploring the idea of expansion to be more in line with football’s NFL and hockey’s NHL at 32 teams. The other two biggest sports leagues in the U.S., baseball’s MLB and soccer’s MLS, also each have 30 teams apiece.The city of Cincinnati is not at the moment considered a frontrunner, according to ESPN’s reporting, but the idea of a possible expansion still remains in its very, very early stages, and multiple bids would likely be expected if the idea were to ever come to fruition. According to ESPN, current city frontrunners are widely regarded as Seattle and Las Vegas if the idea were to go forward. Seattle most recently lost their NBA team, the Seattle SuperSonics, in 2008, while Las Vegas has had a very rapidly growing array of professional sports teams over the past decade, including the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces.Whether or not the city’s reign on the basketball court ever comes back around to the Queen City in the future, it at least forever remains a team that forms a formidable part of the NBA’s early history, with a significant lingering influence on the league to this day.
The NBA Finals are underway this week, and Cincinnati’s geographically closest team in the Indiana Pacers are competing this year.
The Pacers won Game 1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday in a 111-110 upset that saw Indiana trail for the entirety of the game, with the exception of the final 0.3 seconds.
This continues the Pacers’ unlikely postseason story, after having only the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference at the end of the regular season.
It’s an unlikely run seeing support across the entirety of Indiana in its finals run this week, as well as parts of southwestern Ohio that do not feel loyalty towards Ohio’s lone NBA team, the Cleveland Cavaliers.
However, once upon a time, Cincinnatians interested in following professional basketball did not have to choose an out-of-town team to support. They instead had one of their own: the Cincinnati Royals.
The Cincinnati Royals were a team that existed between 1957 and 1972, in the early years of the NBA, which was founded in 1949.
The franchise still lives on today in the Sacramento Kings. The Royals left for Kansas City in 1972, before changing their name to the Kansas City Kings to avoid confusion with the better-known Kansas City Royals of MLB baseball fame. They then later relocated to Sacramento, California, in 1985, where they have remained ever since.
Prior to that, the Royals were based in Rochester, New York. They relocated to Cincinnati in 1957, where they felt the Royals name would continue to be a good fit with the city’s nickname of the “Queen City.”
Cincinnati, Kansas City, and Rochester have all been without NBA teams ever since. However, change has been very common throughout the NBA’s history, even more so than most other American professional sports leagues. Only two of the league’s 30 franchises—the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks—remain completely unchanged, with the same host city and team that have been around since the NBA’s founding in 1949.
The Cincinnati Royals had a mixed run during its time in Cincinnati. It’s best season came in 1963-64, where the team finished with a 55-25 regular season record and were Eastern Division finals runner-ups to the Boston Celtics.
Meanwhile, its worst came in the 1959-60 season, where the team finished with a 19-56 regular season record and finished last in the Western Division. Cincinnati switched from the Western Division to the Eastern Division in 1962 as the Philadelphia Warriors moved west to become the San Francisco Warriors, which is where the team remains today. The San Francisco Warriors later rebranded as the Golden State Warriors in 1971 in a nod to the nearby Golden Gate Bridge and California’s nickname as the “Golden State.”
More frequently, however, the Cincinnati Royals remained a mid-tier NBA contender in their 15 seasons as part of the NBA. The team never won a division final (later known as a conference final) in any of its seasons, let alone an NBA championship.
Unfortunately, the present-day Sacramento Kings, as well as the various other previous iterations of the team, have not done much better in the franchise’s history.
The Kings/Royals lone franchise NBA title to date came in 1951, when they were still the Rochester Royals.
It’s been a pretty rocky ride ever since. They have never even once played in an NBA final since 1951. More recently, the Kings finished 9th out of the 15 teams in the NBA’s Western Conference in the 2024-25 regular season, and lost in their play-in game to qualify for the NBA’s postseason. They have also only qualified for the postseason one time in the past 19 seasons since 2006.
However, the Cincinnati Royals had a very profound impact on at least one recognizable part of the modern-day Sacramento Kings: the team’s logo.
The Royals changed their logo in 1971 during their last season in Cincinnati, where it later became the modern-day framework for the current Sacramento Kings logo. It features a red king’s crown sitting on top of the bottom half of a blue basketball.
Cincinnati Royals
The original logo of the Cincinnati Royals used between 1957 and 1971.
Cincinnati Royals
The logo of the Cincinnati Royals used between 1971 and 1972.
Kansas City Kings
The logo used by the Kansas City Kings during the entirety of the team’s stay in Kansas City between 1972 and 1985.
Sacramento Kings
The original logo of the Sacramento Kings used between 1985 and 1994.
Sacramento Kings
The modern-day logo of the Sacramento Kings which has been in use since 2016.
These days, the logo remains mostly the same, with the colors of purple and grey serving as the most notable change. The “Royals/Kings” font is also different, and the city name of “Sacramento” has been included in the mid-section of the logo, whereas the city name was previously in the uppermost part of the logo.
So, in the future, is it ever possible that the Royals or a similar team franchise could make its way back to Cincinnati? If recent headlines are anything to go by, never say never. At the moment, the NBA is exploring the idea of expansion again for the first time since 2004, according to ESPN. The league currently has 30 teams, and is exploring the idea of expansion to be more in line with football’s NFL and hockey’s NHL at 32 teams. The other two biggest sports leagues in the U.S., baseball’s MLB and soccer’s MLS, also each have 30 teams apiece.
The city of Cincinnati is not at the moment considered a frontrunner, according to ESPN’s reporting, but the idea of a possible expansion still remains in its very, very early stages, and multiple bids would likely be expected if the idea were to ever come to fruition. According to ESPN, current city frontrunners are widely regarded as Seattle and Las Vegas if the idea were to go forward. Seattle most recently lost their NBA team, the Seattle SuperSonics, in 2008, while Las Vegas has had a very rapidly growing array of professional sports teams over the past decade, including the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces.
Whether or not the city’s reign on the basketball court ever comes back around to the Queen City in the future, it at least forever remains a team that forms a formidable part of the NBA’s early history, with a significant lingering influence on the league to this day.