1966–67 Cincinnati Royals season

NBA professional basketball team season March 2026 August 2023 Cincinnati Royals 1967 39 42 Eastern 3 Jack McMahon Louis Jacobs Cincinnati Gardens WKRC-TV WLW Division semifinals(lost to 76ers 1–3) CIN The 1966–67 season was the 22nd overall, tenth for the Royals in Cincinnati and was marred by precipitous drops in performance and home attendance, a combination that did much to shape the future of the franchise. The Royals finished the regular season with a 39-42 record, six games worse than the 1965-66 campaign. Attendance fell to an average of 4,755 per game at Cincinnati Gardens, a 25 percent decline from the most recent season.1966–67 Cincinnati Royals The Royals opened the campaign in the glare of a disappointing loss to the Boston Celtics in the 1966 playoffs. First Team All-Pros Jerry Lucas and Oscar Robertson remained the core of the team, but long-time fixtures Jack Twyman and Wayne Embry announced their retirements, dissatisfied with their roles in the previous season. Veteran Tom Hawkins also left the club to rejoin the Los Angeles Lakers in the off-season. Local college star Connie Dierking was promoted to starting center with promising rookie Walt Wesley as his backup. Happy Hairston and rookie Bob Love split minutes at forward next to Lucas, while holdover Adrian Smith and rookie Flynn Robinson held down the spot opposite Robertson in the backcourt. The end result was a more athletic but also far younger, less experienced group, one that had little hope of competing against the playoff-savvy Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Division. True to the pre-season consensus, the Royals were never a factor in the playoff race and finished a distant third. The off-court activities by Robertson and Lucas affected their performances on the court and served as no small distractions for the team as a whole. As the head of the NBA Players Union, Robertson led the fight for the advancement of rights on a number of issues. Meanwhile, he posted another All-Star-caliber season as the most dominant guard in the game. Lucas was involved in several off-court business ventures, including his own fast-food chain, Jerry Lucas Beef-N-Shakes. A spate of injuries did him no favors, especially at the offensive end, where he was noticeably less active, although he remained one of the best rebounders in the league. The twosome continued to play considerable minutes for a club that suffered from a shortage of established options. Art Modell, head of the NFL Cleveland Browns, 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 Cincinnati Royals 1966–67 17 Len Chappell C 6 8 240 Wake Forest 1941–01–31 24 Connie Dierking C 6 9 222 Cincinnati 1936–10–02 22 Happy Hairston SF 6 7 225 NYU 1942–05–31 19 Freddie Lewis PG 6 0 175 Arizona State 1943–07–01 21 Bob Love PF 6 8 215 Southern 1942–12–08 16 Jerry Lucas PF 6 8 230 Ohio State 1940–03–30 11 Jon McGlocklin SF 6 5 205 Indiana 1943–06–10 14 Oscar Robertson PG 6 5 205 Cincinnati 1938–11–24 20 Flynn Robinson PG 6 1 185 Wyoming 1941–04–28 10 Adrian Smith basketball SG 6 1 180 Kentucky 1936–10–05 18 Jim Ware basketball PF 6 7 210 Oklahoma City 1944–05–02 13 Walt Wesley C 6 11 220 Kansas 1945–01–25 17 George Wilson basketball, born 1942 C 6 8 225 Cincinnati 1942–05–09 *Jack McMahon https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/CIN/1967.html Regular season Season standings CIN Game log 1966–67 game log # Date Opponent Score High points Record 1 October 15 Detroit 99–103 Oscar Robertson (37) 1–0 2 October 18 @ Detroit 112–114 Oscar Robertson (28) 1–1 3 October 22 @ St. Louis 123–133 (OT) Oscar Robertson (30) 1–2 4 October 26 @ Baltimore 116–122 Oscar Robertson (37) 1–3 5 October 27 St. Louis 118–121 Oscar Robertson (22) 2–3 6 October 29 San Francisco 127–115 Adrian Smith (27) 2–4 7 November 2 New York 129–131 Jerry Lucas (35) 3–4 8 November 4 @ Detroit 120–115 Oscar Robertson (36) 4–4 9 November 5 Chicago 113–99 Oscar Robertson (33) 4–5 10 November 10 Boston 113–112 (OT) Oscar Robertson (48) 4–6 11 November 11 @ Baltimore 119–104 Oscar Robertson (39) 5–6 12 November 12 Philadelphia 112–98 Oscar Robertson (22) 5–7 13 November 16 N Los Angeles 124–112 Hairston, Robertson (24) 5–8 14 November 19 @ Philadelphia 110–134 Oscar Robertson (25) 5–9 15 November 20 Baltimore 123–125 Oscar Robertson (40) 6–9 16 November 22 @ New York 121–118 Oscar Robertson (34) 7–9 17 November 23 Philadelphia 106–111 Oscar Robertson (28) 8–9 18 November 25 N New York 109–115 Oscar Robertson (27) 9–9 19 November 26 @ Boston 87–118 Adrian Smith (15) 9–10 20 November 30 New York 119–115 Oscar Robertson (26) 9–11 21 December 3 Los Angeles 130–118 Adrian Smith (28) 9–12 22 December 7 @ Boston 91–119 Flynn Robinson (22) 9–13 23 December 9 Boston 117–99 Oscar Robertson (22) 9–14 24 December 10 @ San Francisco 120–123 (OT) Dierking, Love (26) 9–15 25 December 11 @ Los Angeles 118–119 Oscar Robertson (33) 9–16 26 December 13 @ San Francisco 126–112 Oscar Robertson (36) 10–16 27 December 14 @ Los Angeles 126–124 Jerry Lucas (29) 11–16 28 December 16 N Chicago 120–128 Oscar Robertson (23) 11–17 29 December 18 Baltimore 114–138 Happy Hairston (30) 12–17 30 December 25 San Francisco 124–112 Oscar Robertson (38) 12–18 31 December 26 @ Philadelphia 118–134 Hairston, Robertson (24) 12–19 32 December 27 Detroit 123–131 Oscar Robertson (33) 13–19 33 December 29 Los Angeles 125–114 Oscar Robertson (30) 13–20 34 December 30 N San Francisco 107–102 Oscar Robertson (25) 13–21 35 December 31 @ New York 103–107 Oscar Robertson (32) 13–22 36 January 3 @ Chicago 111–116 Oscar Robertson (40) 13–23 37 January 7 Chicago 112–125 Oscar Robertson (43) 14–23 38 January 8 @ Baltimore 126–94 Happy Hairston (22) 15–23 39 January 11 @ Chicago 106–102 Oscar Robertson (36) 16–23 40 January 13 N Los Angeles 115–125 Oscar Robertson (41) 17–23 41 January 14 St. Louis 105–116 Oscar Robertson (27) 18–23 42 January 18 Boston 119–106 Oscar Robertson (36) 18–24 43 January 19 @ Baltimore 118–122 Oscar Robertson (36) 18–25 44 January 21 Detroit 108–122 Oscar Robertson (35) 19–25 45 January 24 @ New York 126–118 Oscar Robertson (37) 20–25 46 January 25 New York 125–132 Oscar Robertson (37) 21–25 47 January 26 N Detroit 118–110 Oscar Robertson (35) 21–26 48 January 27 @ Philadelphia 107–110 Oscar Robertson (39) 21–27 49 January 28 St. Louis 112–113 Oscar Robertson (30) 22–27 50 January 29 San Francisco 118–121 Oscar Robertson (35) 23–27 51 February 2 N Baltimore 131–125 Adrian Smith (29) 24–27 52 February 3 @ Chicago 113–118 Oscar Robertson (35) 24–28 53 February 4 @ Baltimore 99–109 Oscar Robertson (34) 24–29 54 February 5 @ Boston 121–137 Lucas, McGlocklin, Smith (19) 24–30 55 February 7 N Boston 123–138 Oscar Robertson (35) 24–31 56 February 8 Philadelphia 118–106 Jerry Lucas (25) 24–32 57 February 10 Detroit 104–133 Oscar Robertson (28) 25–32 58 February 11 @ Detroit 132–117 Jerry Lucas (31) 26–32 59 February 12 @ St. Louis 115–118 Oscar Robertson (36) 26–33 60 February 13 @ Philadelphia 123–131 Jerry Lucas (29) 26–34 61 February 15 New York 118–127 Oscar Robertson (46) 27–34 62 February 16 N Detroit 110–122 Oscar Robertson (34) 28–34 63 February 17 N Philadelphia 127–118 Oscar Robertson (27) 28–35 64 February 18 @ New York 123–124 Happy Hairston (33) 28–36 65 February 20 N St. Louis 104–112 Oscar Robertson (36) 29–36 66 February 22 @ Los Angeles 102–103 Flynn Robinson (29) 29–37 67 February 24 @ San Francisco 137–122 Oscar Robertson (35) 30–37 68 February 25 @ San Francisco 129–116 Oscar Robertson (36) 31–37 69 February 26 @ Los Angeles 127–141 Oscar Robertson (40) 31–38 70 February 28 N Philadelphia 127–107 Oscar Robertson (24) 31–39 71 March 1 Los Angeles 116–122 Oscar Robertson (25) 32–39 72 March 3 @ Boston 104–111 Oscar Robertson (26) 32–40 73 March 4 Baltimore 102–109 Oscar Robertson (43) 33–40 74 March 5 @ Chicago 106–113 Oscar Robertson (37) 33–41 75 March 6 N St. Louis 122–129 Oscar Robertson (27) 34–41 76 March 11 Chicago 119–147 Happy Hairston (30) 35–41 77 March 12 @ St. Louis 119–120 Oscar Robertson (30) 35–42 78 March 13 @ Chicago 133–117 Oscar Robertson (43) 36–42 79 March 15 Boston 108–112 Oscar Robertson (31) 37–42 80 March 16 N St. Louis 111–114 Oscar Robertson (32) 38–42 81 March 18 San Francisco 112–127 Adrian Smith (23) 39–42 Playoffs Cincinnati Royals 1967 yes Cincinnati Royals Division semifinals yes yes no 0 2 1 1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 1 | March 21 | @ Philadelphia | W 120–116 | Oscar Robertson (33) | Dierking, Lucas (18) | Oscar Robertson (16) | Philadelphia Convention Hall5,097 | 1–0 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 2 | March 22 | Philadelphia | L 102–123 | Oscar Robertson (29) | Connie Dierking (17) | Oscar Robertson (9) | Cincinnati Gardens5,276 | 1–1 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 3 | March 24 | @ Philadelphia | L 106–121 | Oscar Robertson (25) | Jerry Lucas (23) | Oscar Robertson (13) | Philadelphia Convention Hall8,987 | 1–2 |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 4 | March 25 | Philadelphia | L 94–112 | Happy Hairston (26) | Jerry Lucas (25) | Oscar Robertson (7) | Cincinnati Gardens2,624 | 1–3 |- CIN yes 1967 Player statistics Season Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG Chappell, Len Len Chappell Dierking, Connie Connie Dierking Hairston, Happy Happy Hairston Lewis, Freddie Freddie Lewis Love, Bob Bob Love Lucas, Jerry Jerry Lucas McGlocklin, Jon Jon McGlocklin Robertson, Oscar Oscar Robertson Robinson, Flynn Flynn Robinson Smith, Adrian Adrian Smith Ware, Jim Jim Ware Wesley, Walt Walt Wesley Wilson, George George Wilson Playoffs Player GP GS MPG FG% 3FG% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG Chappell, Len Len Chappell Dierking, Connie Connie Dierking Hairston, Happy Happy Hairston Lewis, Freddie Freddie Lewis Lucas, Jerry Jerry Lucas Robertson, Oscar Oscar Robertson Robinson, Flynn Flynn Robinson Smith, Adrian Adrian Smith Ware, Jim Jim Ware Wesley, Walt Walt Wesley Awards and records Oscar Robertson, All-NBA First Team Jerry Lucas, All-NBA Second Team References Category:Sacramento Kings seasons Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati Category:1960s in Cincinnati