The Kings have been an historically awful NBA franchise, but they did have one era of relative greatness that deserves recognition.
Sacramento appeared in the playoffs for eight straight seasons from 1999-2006 under head coach Rick Adelman, and played an exciting style of basketball centered around the passing of big men Chris Webber and Vlade Divac, and around the stellar shooting of Peja Stojakovic.
Webber and Divac already have their numbers retired in Sacramento, and a decision by incoming rookie Ben McLemore to change his jersey number from 16 to 17 has many wondering if Stojakovic might be next.
From The Sacramento Bee:Rookie Ben McLemore must be a little prescient. A short while ago on Twitter, he alerted Kings fans that he was changing his jersey from No.16 to No.17 “for a good reason.” Like the fact the organization plans to retire Peja Stojakovic’s No.16 jersey in the near future? No confirmation yet - and nothing is imminent - but that’s very likely the plan.
Meantime, McLemore will stick with No.16 at least for the upcoming season.
“We have considered retiring Peja’s number,” said team president Chris Granger, “and he certainly deserves that honor. (But) at this time, that’s all I will say.”Stojakovic was there for the first seven years of Sacramento’s quality run, before being dealt to Indiana midway through the 2006 season in exchange for Ron Artest.