Sacramento Kings honor David Stern by naming a street after him

The Kings are filing an application with the City of Sacramento on Tuesday in order to get the address change approved.

Stern played a significant role with the Kings franchise before retiring as commissioner in 2014. Shortly after he took the job in 1984, the Kings moved to Sacramento and ARCO Arena I for the 1985-86 season. The team then moved into a new ARCO Arena (now Sleep Train Arena) in 1988, and that was the Kings’ home through this past season.

Sacramento was recently in danger of losing the Kings to Seattle, but Stern presided over the negotiation and sale of the Kings from the Maloof family to current owner Vivek Ranadive to keep the team in place. A significant component of this deal included the construction of the Golden 1 Center, which is being described as the “world’s most technologically advanced and environmentally friendly arena.”

While Stern was a key player in moving the Kings to Sacramento and also keeping them there, not all the memories are warm and fuzzy. Most notably, the 2002 Western Conference Finals featuring the Kings and Los Angeles Lakers will go down in infamy thanks to the conspiracy theories that suggest the NBA rigged the series for the Lakers as they attempted to three-peat as champions.

The Kings led the series 3-2 as they sought out the first professional title in Sacramento history, but a controversial Game 6 that included numerous suspect calls against the Kings helped force a Game 7 that was ultimately won by Los Angeles. Many believe Game 6 was one of the games former referee Tim Donaghy was referring to when he alleged improper officiating during his trial in 2008, although a review set up by the league couldn’t find evidence the game was actually fixed.

Nevertheless, it appears the Kings have put those bad feelings well behind them thanks to the job Stern did to help keep the team in Sacramento.