NO.7 SACRAMENTO KINGS

After watching his team's first six practice sessions during
training camp, managing general partner Jim Thomas declared 50
victories to be a reasonable goal for this season. "I don't
think that's out of the question," he said. "That's where we
should be." It's a measure of coach Eddie Jordan's boundless
optimism that he didn't immediately begin scanning the want ads
upon learning of his boss's expectations. The Kings, who haven't
finished better than .500 since Reagan's first term, won 34
games last year and will be hard-pressed to equal that total.
Their best player, guard Mitch Richmond, is underpaid and
unhappy about it; their most talented forward, Brian Grant, left
for Portland as a free agent; and their starting point guard,
Bobby Hurley, has career averages of 3.8 points and 3.4 assists.

If Jordan can guide Sacramento to 50 wins, he should not only be
Coach of the Year but should also have a statue in his honor
erected outside Arco Arena, one just like that other Jordan has
in Chicago. Still, he chose to react to Thomas's statement
diplomatically. "That tells me the team and the coaching staff
must be doing a great job if he can say that after six
practices," said Jordan, who replaced Garry St. Jean for the
final 15 games last season. "It's good for us to have high
expectations."

No one knows quite what to expect from Richmond, 32, a five-time
All-Star. He has been a paragon of professionalism during six
years with the Kings that have included only one playoff
appearance, but there are indications that his long-standing
dissatisfaction with his contract--he will earn $3 million this
season and $2.5 million next--has finally started to affect his
attitude. He not only didn't play in Sacramento's first three
preseason games, but he also didn't even bother to attend two of
them. While he blamed his failure to go on the road with the
team on a sore Achilles tendon, he was no doubt sending a
message to management with his absences.

Richmond isn't the only player causing Jordan to cross his
fingers and hope for the best. Forward Corliss Williamson,
limited his first two seasons by back problems, will move into
the starting lineup. At 6'7" and 245 pounds Williamson has been
branded an "in-between" player: too short to line up at power
forward and not quick enough for the small forward slot. Jordan
hopes Williamson's performance over last season's final eight
games, when he averaged 17.6 points and 5.6 rebounds at small
forward, was a sneak preview of what he will produce this season.

But the most intriguing King this season will be Hurley, who was
nearly killed in a car accident in 1993, during his rookie
season. He returned to action 11 months later, but his career
never took off--at least not until Jordan, upon his promotion
from assistant coach, inserted Hurley into the starting lineup.
The 6-foot, 165-pound Hurley responded with an average of 8.1
assists over the final nine games.

That earned him the point job this season and the chance to
prove that he is an NBA-caliber player. His passing skills have
never been questioned, but his defense and his jumper have--he's
a career 34.1% shooter. In the off-season he fired 300 to 500
shots a day and intentionally turned himself into a gunner on
his summer league team in New Jersey, shooting off
pick-and-rolls and working on his three-point shot. "I don't
think I've ever had the thought that this could be my last
shot," he says. "I want to be calm on offense but play with
abandon on defense. I want to see if a big guy can really knock
me on my face with an elbow when I set a pick. Some people may
think that's crazy, but that's how I hope to play--very
aggressively."

Jordan is confident that Hurley will be one of the league's
pleasant surprises. "He had great success with Duke [where he
won NCAA titles in 1991 and '92], and he's seen the lowest of
times as a professional," Jordan says. "And he's still there
working every day. That shows a lot of strong fabric, and that's
what this team needs." Unfortunately for Jordan and the Kings,
they need far more than that. --P.T.

COLOR PHOTO: ROCKY WIDNER SETTLED AT SMALL FORWARD, WILLIAMSON (4) HOPES TO PICK UP WHERE HE LEFT OFF [Corliss Williamson and opposing player in game]

COLOR PHOTO: ROCKY WIDNER [Billy Owens]

BY THE NUMBERS

1996-97 TEAM STATISTICS
Record: 34-48 (sixth in Pacific)

SEASON AVERAGES
Points Rebounds Turnovers
per game FG pct. per game per game
(rank) (rank) (rank) (rank)

Kings 96.4 (16) .454 (16) 41.5 (11) 16.2 (20)
Opponents 99.8 (23) .462 (18) 41.5 (18) 15.3 (20)

THE ROYALTY OF FUTILITY

The 1996-97 season marked the 14th straight year in which the
Kings finished under .500--a streak that began in the club's
next-to-last season in Kansas City. Unless Sacramento puts
together a winning record this season, the franchise will set an
NBA record for consecutive losing seasons. (Among the teams on
the list below, the Cavaliers and the Bullets are the only ones
that did not relocate during their losing streaks.)

MOST CONSECUTIVE SEASONS WITH A LOSING RECORD

LOSING SEASONS SPAN OF STREAK BEST RECORD DURING STREAK
Pistons 14 1956-57 to 1969-70 40-42 (1967-68)
Kings 14 1983-84 to 1996-97 39-43 (1994-95, '95-96)
Clippers 12 1979-80 to 1990-91 36-46 (1980-81)
Jazz 9 1974-75 to 1982-83 39-43 (1977-78)
Cavaliers 9 1978-79 to 1986-87 37-45 (1979-80)
Bullets 9 1987-88 to 1995-96 40-42 (1988-89)

NOTE FROM THE UNDERGROUND

No player in the NBA has seen his stock plummet more than 6'9"
forward-guard Billy Owens (right), and some observers say that
it's because Owens is lazy. "He's one of those guys who has
never improved from the day he came into the league," says a
Western Conference coach. "He hasn't worked on his jump shot, he
gained weight, and he coasted. It's too bad because he could
have been one of the great all-purpose players, like Penny
Hardaway or Scottie Pippen." Owens, the third pick of the 1991
draft, will be a free agent at season's end, and he may find
that his reputation as a slacker will cost him millions.

PROJECTED LINEUP WITH 1996-97 STATS
Coach: Eddie Jordan (second season with Sacramento)

STARTERS G PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% FT% 3FG%

PG Bobby Hurley 49 2.9 0.8 3.0 0.55 0.06 .368 .698 .311
SG Mitch Richmond 81 25.9 3.9 4.2 1.46 0.30 .454 .861 .428
SF Corliss Williamson 79 11.6 4.1 1.6 0.76 0.62 .498 .689 .000
PF Michael Smith 81 6.6 9.5 2.4 1.01 0.74 .539 .496 0 att.
C Olden Polynice 82 12.5 9.4 2.2 0.56 0.98 .457 .562 .000

RESERVES

F-G Billy Owens 66 11.0 5.9 2.8 0.94 0.38 .467 .697 .347
G Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf 75 13.7 1.6 2.5 0.75 0.08 .445 .846 .382
F-G Olivier
Saint-Jean (R)[*] 26 23.8 8.8 1.1 1.50 0.73 .492 .730 .366
G Terry Dehere[*] 73 6.4 1.3 2.2 0.37 0.04 .386 .824 .325
F Lawrence
Funderburke (R)*[*]20 22.1 7.8 1.9 0.70 1.40 .652 .720 .167

[*] New acquisition (R) Rookie (college stats)
*1996-97 stats with Pau-Orthez in France.