The1997–98 Sacramento Kings season was the 49th season for theSacramento Kings in theNational Basketball Association, and their 13th season inSacramento, California.^[1] The Kings received the eleventh overall pick in the1997 NBA draft, and selected shooting guard, and French basketball starOlivier Saint Jean out ofSan Jose State University, and also selected point guardAnthony Johnson out of theCollege of Charleston with the 39th overall pick;^[2][3][4] Saint Jean would later on change his name toTariq Abdul-Wahad after converting toIslam the previous year.^[5]

During the off-season, the team signed free agentTerry Dehere,^[6][7] and undrafted rookie centerMichael Stewart from theUniversity of California. Rookie power forwardLawrence Funderburke out ofOhio State University, who was drafted by the Kings as the 51st overall pick in the1994 NBA draft, but went to play overseas inGreece andFrance, made his debut in the NBA this season.^[8][9]

The Kings got off to a slow start losing their first four games of the regular season, on their way to a 5–14 start, but later on won 8 of their 14 games in January, and held a 20–28 record at the All-Star break.^[10] At mid-season, the team tradedMichael Smith, andBobby Hurley to theVancouver Grizzlies in exchange for former Kings forwardOtis Thorpe, and second-year guardChris Robinson.^[11][12][13] However, with a 26–36 record as of March 6, 1998, the Kings struggled losing 19 of their final 20 games, including a 12-game losing streak and seven straight losses to end the regular season;^[14] the team finished in fifth place in thePacific Division with a 27–55 record, which was fourteen games behind the 8th-seededHouston Rockets.^[15]

Mitch Richmond averaged 23.2 points, 4.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game, led the Kings with 130 three-point field goals, and was named to theAll-NBA Third Team. In addition,Corliss Williamson showed improvement becoming the team's starting power forward, averaging 17.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, whileBilly Owens provided the team with 10.5 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, and Funderburke played a sixth man role off the bench, averaging 9.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, but only played 52 games due to injury.^[16] Meanwhile, Thorpe averaged 8.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in 27 games after the trade, Johnson contributed 7.5 points and 4.3 assists per game, andOlden Polynice provided with 7.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf contributed 7.3 points per game off the bench, but only played just 31 games, missing the final three months of the regular season due to the flu, and an corneal ulcer,^[17][18] while Dehere provided with 6.4 points and 2.5 assists per game, Abdul-Wahad contributed 6.4 points per game, and Stewart averaged 4.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game.^[19]

During theNBA All-Star weekend atMadison Square Garden inNew York City, New York, Richmond was selected for the1998 NBA All-Star Game, as a member of the Western Conference All-Star team; it was his sixth and final All-Star appearance.^[20][21][22] In addition, Richmond also participated in the inauguralNBA 2Ball Competition, along withRuthie Bolton-Holifield of theWNBA'sSacramento Monarchs,^[23][24] and Stewart was selected for theNBA Rookie Game, as a member of the Western Conference Rookie team.^[25][26] Richmond finished in 15th place inMost Valuable Player voting,^[27] while Williamson finished in second place inMost Improved Player voting, behindAlan Henderson of theAtlanta Hawks.^[28][27]

The Kings finished 25th in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 605,443 at theARCO Arena II during the regular season, which was the fifth-lowest in the league.^[19][29] For the first time since moving to Sacramento, the team failed to sell out a home game at the ARCO Arena II on November 6, 1997, ending their 497-game sellout streak.^[30] Following the season, Richmond was traded along with Thorpe to theWashington Wizards after seven seasons with the Kings,^[31][32][33] while Owens and Polynice both signed as free agents with theSeattle SuperSonics, whom Polynice used to play for,^[34][35][36] Johnson signed with theAtlanta Hawks,^[37] Stewart signed with theToronto Raptors,^[38] Abdul-Rauf left to play overseas inTurkey,^[17][18] and head coachEddie Jordan was fired.^[39][40]

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	College
1	11	Tariq Abdul-Wahad	SG/SF	France	San Jose State
2	39	Anthony Johnson	PG	United States	College of Charleston

• Small forwardKevin Gamble was waived on February 20, 1998.
• CenterKevin Salvadori was waived on February 20, 1998.

z - clinched division title

y - clinched division title

x - clinched playoff spot

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Player statistics citation:^[19]

• Mitch Richmond,All-NBA Third Team

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• 1997-98 NBA season

• Sacramento Kings seasons
• 1997 in sports in California
• 1998 in sports in California
• 1997–98 NBA season by team
• 1990s in Sacramento, California

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