You could say it started 40 years ago with tipoff inside a warehouse-looking arena in a city that was celebrating its first-ever professional sports team.The reality, though, is that the celebration of the beginning of the Sacramento Kings spanned an entire year in 1985 for a city that has had to fight for a pro sports team more than once. In 1985, standing in front of what would become the “temporary” Arco Arena, then-mayor Anne Rudin threw out a little bit of shade: “Eat your heart out, Dick Berkley, my friend, the mayor of Kansas City!” The Capitol City was celebrating the arrival of their first NBA team, one that left Kansas City, to become the Sacramento Kings.While the negotiations, news, and information were already in a constant stream, however, the team’s arrival needed NBA approval. In April of 1985, KCRA sat in the Kings’ temporary offices as the vote was counted, with the announcement coming on the TV “just heard it now from our sports director Bob Hogue — the Kings unanimously approved to come to Sacramento.”The staff was ready at that point. T-shirts with the Sacramento Kings logo were trotted out, light blue, the crown on the basketball, all staff properly attired with the uniform.The move was instant. Within days, three trucks pulled into the Kings complex in Natomas with more than 35 tons of equipment. All the office furniture had been removed from Kansas City’s Kemper Arena and moved. The training facility and the team’s equipment were inside. Everything was moving into either the offices or the temporary arena itself.There was one exception: the general manager’s desk from Kansas City was so big it wouldn’t fit through the door. It took a place of honor in the warehouse.The city took to calling it a “mini” stadium, more warehouse or office building than arena-sized building. In fact, the building still stands, used as an office for the department of Consumer Affairs. Still, even before the first game, as a celebration, city leaders and business executives filled the place for a luncheon welcoming the team, scoreboard above their heads and all.All the excitement led to the first tipoff at 7:45 p.m. on Oct. 25, 1985. The Kings would face off against the Los Angeles Clippers. KCRA, along with fans, arrived hours before the game. The news coverage said, “The tailgaters were out a full three and a half hours before the 7:45 game time. Barbecuing, and just warming up in general and savoring the moment Sacramento sports fans have long waited for: major league sports.” One man stated, “We’ve been waiting for 25 years for pro sports in Sacramento!”The groundswell of support did not go unnoticed by Commissioner David Stern. “When you have good management, that’s enthusiastic, and a team that hustles, there’s no reason why the NBA won’t continue to thrive in Sacramento indefinitely,” he said prior to the first home game.It would turn out to be an ominous statement. In 2013, unbeknownst to the city of Sacramento, another city would be within weeks of taking the Kings for their own. Much like Kansas City, Seattle lost their team to Oklahoma, and they wanted their Sonics back. Still, the fight to keep the Kings is another story, one chronicled by KCRA 3 in our documentary “Game On: Fight for the Kings.”The Kings lost that home opener to the Clippers 40 years ago. It didn’t matter. The first Kings basket created a roar inside that tiny, temporary arena that some might say resonated to today, as the Kings face their next season in the third arena, this one in downtown Sacramento.The city fought to get the team and fought even harder to keep it, cementing a decades-long sports legacy in Sacramento.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel

SACRAMENTO, Calif. —

You could say it started 40 years ago with tipoff inside a warehouse-looking arena in a city that was celebrating its first-ever professional sports team.

The reality, though, is that the celebration of the beginning of the Sacramento Kings spanned an entire year in 1985 for a city that has had to fight for a pro sports team more than once.

In 1985, standing in front of what would become the “temporary” Arco Arena, then-mayor Anne Rudin threw out a little bit of shade: “Eat your heart out, Dick Berkley, my friend, the mayor of Kansas City!” The Capitol City was celebrating the arrival of their first NBA team, one that left Kansas City, to become the Sacramento Kings.

While the negotiations, news, and information were already in a constant stream, however, the team’s arrival needed NBA approval. In April of 1985, KCRA sat in the Kings’ temporary offices as the vote was counted, with the announcement coming on the TV “just heard it now from our sports director Bob Hogue — the Kings unanimously approved to come to Sacramento.”

The staff was ready at that point. T-shirts with the Sacramento Kings logo were trotted out, light blue, the crown on the basketball, all staff properly attired with the uniform.

The move was instant. Within days, three trucks pulled into the Kings complex in Natomas with more than 35 tons of equipment. All the office furniture had been removed from Kansas City’s Kemper Arena and moved. The training facility and the team’s equipment were inside. Everything was moving into either the offices or the temporary arena itself.

There was one exception: the general manager’s desk from Kansas City was so big it wouldn’t fit through the door. It took a place of honor in the warehouse.

The city took to calling it a “mini” stadium, more warehouse or office building than arena-sized building. In fact, the building still stands, used as an office for the department of Consumer Affairs.

Still, even before the first game, as a celebration, city leaders and business executives filled the place for a luncheon welcoming the team, scoreboard above their heads and all.

All the excitement led to the first tipoff at 7:45 p.m. on Oct. 25, 1985. The Kings would face off against the Los Angeles Clippers.

KCRA, along with fans, arrived hours before the game. The news coverage said, “The tailgaters were out a full three and a half hours before the 7:45 game time. Barbecuing, and just warming up in general and savoring the moment Sacramento sports fans have long waited for: major league sports.”

One man stated, “We’ve been waiting for 25 years for pro sports in Sacramento!”

The groundswell of support did not go unnoticed by Commissioner David Stern.

“When you have good management, that’s enthusiastic, and a team that hustles, there’s no reason why the NBA won’t continue to thrive in Sacramento indefinitely,” he said prior to the first home game.

It would turn out to be an ominous statement. In 2013, unbeknownst to the city of Sacramento, another city would be within weeks of taking the Kings for their own. Much like Kansas City, Seattle lost their team to Oklahoma, and they wanted their Sonics back. Still, the fight to keep the Kings is another story, one chronicled by KCRA 3 in our documentary “Game On: Fight for the Kings.”

The Kings lost that home opener to the Clippers 40 years ago. It didn’t matter. The first Kings basket created a roar inside that tiny, temporary arena that some might say resonated to today, as the Kings face their next season in the third arena, this one in downtown Sacramento.

The city fought to get the team and fought even harder to keep it, cementing a decades-long sports legacy in Sacramento.

See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel