SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Today's Why Guy question is: Why do the Kings have purple as their main color?
There has been much said about the Sacramento Kings in the past year, so let's add more.
The team color scheme of purple, black and white. What's the history here?
Let's walk it back.
The Rochester Royals were the original franchise team and they started a long trend in the 1950s of light blue and red colors.
That color palate continued all the way into the team's move to Sacramento in 1985 with the baby blue and white uniforms fashioned by the likes of the stylish Reggie Theus as the club looked good but wins were few.
Because the baby blues got associated with losing, the Kings management in 1993 wanted to change up the look, feeling new clothes would create a winning vibe.
So, the NBA sent new color suggestions to the Kings that ended up looking a lot like the Cavaliers burgundy uniforms, so no, that look was already well-worn.
It's also a color scheme that the NFL 49ers already rocked, so the Kings said no, let's get away from anything reddish/burgundy.
So, it all changed in 1994 when the Kings decided after much testing to make purple their primary color.
Was it because purple was a royal color? Yes... and no.
Truth be told, the Kings liked the color of the then-expansion baseball Colorado Rockies uniforms and that purple seemed to be a fan favorite for merchandise sales.
So, believe it true, Colorado’s purple baseball uniforms sold the Kings on their current look!
But some people just think the Kings need to pick something and stay with it.
Ex-coach Jerry Reynolds, who had a long run as the team’s color TV analyst said; "I wish they'd quit evolving. I may be a bit of a curmudgeon as you can tell but you know at some point, pick your colors and stay with them, you know?"
Watch more from ABC10: Why Guy: What should you do with your old license plates?
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