Tales from the Sacramento Kings Locker Room

Jerry Reynolds was country before country was cool. He also was part of the Sacramento Kings before that was cool. 2015 marks the team’s 30th season in California’s capital, and Jerry has been there from the start. Quietly, he has been instrumental in the team’s growth from a shoestring operation that couldn’t compete to a model NBA franchise that is always on the short list of title contenders. He has been a firsthand witness of the league’s evolution, from Bird and Magic, to Jordan, to LeBron and Yao Ming. Jerry Reynolds has been a human Swiss Army knife, serving the Kings as a scout, assistant coach, head coach, player personnel director, general manager, and television analyst. Because he has held so many positions in the Kings’ front office the last two decades, Jerry has a unique perspective on how the Kings have evolved, and he offers that perspective in Tales from the Sacramento Kings Locker Room. For those who’ve been on the Kings bandwagon only the last decade, it wasn’t always C-Webb, Peja, and Bibby. In this reissue of Reynolds Remembers, Jerry recounts the hollow feeling of putting a CBA-quality lineup on the floor for an exhibition game against the Lakers: set for the tip-off, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and . . . Randy Allen? He remembers being left to explain the Kings’ latest defeat to the media while Bill Russell snuck out the side door. But there were victories, too. He also still has a spark in his eye from trading draft rights to Billy Owens for superstar Mitch Richmond. Whether the Kings were stuck in the mud or winning 50-plus games, Jerry Reynolds remained the same—colorful, outspoken, engaging, and insightful. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Sports Publishing imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in sports—books about baseball, pro football, college football, pro and college basketball, hockey, or soccer, we have a book about your sport or your team. Whether you are a New York Yankees fan or hail from Red Sox nation; whether you are a die-hard Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys fan; whether you root for the Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, UCLA Bruins, or Kansas Jayhawks; whether you route for the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Montreal Canadiens, or Los Angeles Kings; we have a book for you. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to publishing books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked by other publishers and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Jerry Reynolds, in his 30th season with the Kings, serves as a television color analyst. A longtime college coach, Jerry joined the team’s staff in 1985 as an assistant coach to Phil Johnson. After coaching the team himself for a year, he served as an assistant to Bill Russell. He replaced Russell as head coach before moving into the Kings’ front office in 1988. Jerry also served as general manager of the WNBA Sacramento Monarchs for six seasons. Jerry and his wife, Dodie, reside in Roseville, California. They have a son, Jay, and a daughter, Danielle. Don Drysdale covered the Sacramento Kings from their arrival in Sacramento in 1985 until 1994 for the Sacramento Union. He also worked for the Marin Independent Journal and the Oakland Tribune and has written about basketball for numerous magazines.