Sacramento Kings
1923–1944: Rochester Seagrams
### 1923–1944: Rochester Seagrams

The basis of a purely\-professional team in [Rochester, New York](/wiki/Rochester%2C_New_York "Rochester, New York"), which came into existence in 1945, was two decades of a sponsored [semi\-professional](/wiki/Semi-professional_sports "Semi-professional sports") team, the Rochester Seagrams. Canadian distiller [Seagram](/wiki/Seagram "Seagram") was the team's main sponsor and received the bulk of what monies were made. One of the team's early stars was [Lester Harrison](/wiki/Les_Harrison_%28basketball%29 "Les Harrison (basketball)"), a local high school star of some publicity before joining the team. Harrison later became the team's captain, coach, manager, and chief scout over the next two decades. Among visitors to Rochester to play the team were the [Original Celtics](/wiki/Original_Celtics "Original Celtics"), the [New York Rens](/wiki/New_York_Rens "New York Rens"), and the [Harlem Globetrotters](/wiki/Harlem_Globetrotters "Harlem Globetrotters").


In what year did the professional team in Rochester come into existence?