The 1966–67 season was the Royals 22nd overall, and their tenth in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

.1966–67 Cincinnati Royals
/ref> The season opened in the glare of their disappointing loss to Boston in the previous season's playoffs. It was considered a rebuilding season with some key roster changes. Long-time stars

Jack Twyman John Kennedy Twyman (May 21, 1934 – May 30, 2012) was an American professional basketball player and sports broadcaster. Twyman is a namesake of the NBA's Twyman–Stokes Teammate of the Year Award. Twyman was inducted into the Naismith Basketb ...

and

Wayne Embry Wayne Richard Embry (born March 26, 1937) is a retired American basketball player and basketball executive. Embry's 11-year playing career as a center spanned from 1958 to 1969 playing for the Cincinnati Royals, Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Buck ...

had both retired, both unhappy with their roles on the team the previous year. Tom Hawkins had rejoined the contending

Los Angeles Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...

. Local college star Conrad 'Connie' Dierking was promoted to starting center, with promising rookie

Walt Wesley Walter Wesley (born January 25, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player. Early life Wesley grew up in Fort Myers, Florida, the son of Leroy and Josie Wesley. He attended Dunbar High School in Fort Myers. College career The to ...

his backup. First Team All-Pros Jerry Lucas and Oscar Robertson were again the focus of the team.

Happy Hairston Harold "Happy" Hairston (May 31, 1942 – May 1, 2001) was an American professional basketball player. A 6'7" (200 cm) 225 lb (102 kg) forward, he was best remembered for playing with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National B ...

and Bobby Love saw minutes at forward next to Lucas, while Adrian Smith and

Flynn Robinson Flynn James Robinson (April 28, 1941 – May 23, 2013) was an American professional basketball player. Early life Flynn was born April 28, 1941, from the union of Sam Hopkins and Dorothy Mae Robinson. Later Flynn's mother married Johnnie Hodg ...

saw minutes at guard next to Robertson. Clearly rebuilding, the Royals had little hope of matching rivals Boston and Philadelphia this season, as they had a season ago. The team finished third in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

's Eastern Division. Individual performances and off-court activities by Robertson and Lucas marked the season. Robertson was head of the NBA's Player Union and fought for the advancement of players' rights on a number of issues. He also posted another

Hall Of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

-caliber season as a scorer, accurate shooter, passer and free thrower. Lucas was involved in several off-court business ventures, including his own fast-food chain, Jerry Lucas Beef-N-Shakes. While injuries affected him this season, he remained one of the best rebounders in NBA history. He also continued to see time at center for the team as well as at forward. Both he and Robertson continued to play huge minutes for the team, rarely leaving the court during games. Art Modell, head of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

, agreed to sponsor nine home games at the Cleveland Arena over the course of the season. The Cleveland crowds were consistently among the largest the Royals were cheered by that season. The Royals made the playoffs for their last time while based in Cincinnati. They drew 68–13 record-setting Philadelphia as their opponent. With a victory on their own court in Game One, the Royals were then routed over the remaining games of the series to conclude their transitional season.

Roster

Regular season

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Game log

Playoffs

, - align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" , 1 , March 21 , @

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

W 120–116
, Oscar Robertson (33) , Dierking,

Lucas Lucas or LUCAS may refer to: People * Lucas (surname) * Lucas (given name) Arts and entertainment * Luca Family Singers, also known as "lucas ligner en torsk" * ''Lucas'' (album) (2007), an album by Skeletons and the Kings of All Cities * ''L ...

(18) , Oscar Robertson (16) ,

Philadelphia Convention Hall The Philadelphia Convention Hall and Civic Center – more commonly known simply as the Philadelphia Civic Center – was a convention center complex located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It developed out of a series of buildings dedicated to ...

5,097 , 1–0 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 2 , March 22 ,

L 102–123
, Oscar Robertson (29) ,

Connie Dierking Conrad William Dierking (October 2, 1936 – December 29, 2013) was an American professional basketball player from 1958 to 1971. Early life Connie Dierking was born in Brooklyn, New York and grew up on Long Island, where he starred in basketbal ...

(17) , Oscar Robertson (9) , Cincinnati Gardens
5,276 , 1–1 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 3 , March 24 , @

L 106–121
, Oscar Robertson (25) , Jerry Lucas (23) , Oscar Robertson (13) ,

8,987 , 1–2 , - align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" , 4 , March 25 ,

L 94–112
,

(26) , Jerry Lucas (25) , Oscar Robertson (7) , Cincinnati Gardens
2,624 , 1–3 , -

Player statistics

Season

Playoffs

Awards and records

* Oscar Robertson, All-NBA First Team * Jerry Lucas,

All-NBA Second Team The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sele ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1966-67 Cincinnati Royals season Sacramento Kings seasons