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For one brief season in 2022-2023, the Sacramento Kings were dangerously close to being good. They made it to the playoffs in what is now called the 'Beam Team Era.' The goal for this rebuild can't be that one season. It has to be the sustained success of the Adelman Era for this to work. Using the word 'era' to describe one season of basketball feels odd. The Chicago Bulls dominated an entire decade in the 1990s. That's an era. One successful season out of 20 is a blip. It was a slight aberration from the norm the Kings had been installing since the end of their 2005-2006 season. That was the last season the late Rick Adelman coached. His time as the bench boss for the Kings from 1998 to 2006 was the best for the franchise by far since moving to Sacramento in 1985. Adelman led the Kings to eight straight postseason appearances. It was also the last time anyone was head coach of the Kings for more than three consecutive seasons. That was a true era of success. Yes, Mike Brown managed to get Sacramento back to the playoffs for the first time in 16 years. That's great. It's also not healthy to be too obsessed with it. Look to the success of the Adelman Era The reason everyone refers to it as the Beam Team Era is because that's when they started lighting the beam for every victory. Their signature purple beam went off for the first time when they defeated the Heat on October 29, 2022. That was the season the Kings finally made it back to the playoffs. Since then, Sacramento has been an absolute train wreck of a franchise, somehow worse than usual. There have been bright points along the way, but the last couple of seasons in particular have been utter duds. That's likely why that brief moment of success has been a source of some comfort. If the Kings' organization is going to look to the past for inspiration, they should be focusing on the Adelman Era. That was real, consistent success that lasted the better part of a decade. The Kings even made it as far as the Western Conference Finals, which remains a sore point for many fans. Winning the championship is the dream goal for every player and every team in the league. In reality, the Kings should aspire to make regular postseason appearances, have winning seasons, and keep pushing for the next level. That's the Adelman Era mentality that will change this franchise.