The Sacramento Kings aren’t just the NBA’s worst team — they’re the worst team despite a veteran roster that has been trying to win every game. Lost in the rampant discussion about “tanking” this season is that several of the league’s bottom-feeders are just plain bad, and aren’t doing anything to manipulate their record for more ping-pong balls in the draft lottery. At 14-50 with 18 games left to play, Sacramento has been a disaster from the start because of poor roster construction and spotty coaching, but the real problems start at the top of the organization.
This Kings season has taken a toll on everyone involved, and it spilled over into Russell Westbrook’s press conference following a loss to the lowly New Orleans Pelicans (another NBA tanker that isn’t actually tanking without control of their draft pick) on Thursday night. Westbrook used his press conference to call out media for making assumptions about players’ motivations as the team plays out the string. The presser started off hostile but eventually turned into a good discussion with a few questions left unanswered. Watch the whole thing here:
Westbrook said he understands that media will analyze the games, but he doesn’t appreciate those covering the team trying to make assumptions about what’s going on in players’ heads. Westbrook raised some fair points, but he also refused to say exactly what was said that upset him, which made the whole thing more confusing.
It seems like Westbrook didn’t like certain comments made on Kings podcasts. One of the reporters he appeared to call out, Matt George, issued a response to Westbrook on YouTube after the game.
Several people that Westbrook gave the George the opportunity to respond during the press conference, and instead he did it on his podcast. As someone who has been in hostile press conferences before, I’ll say that sometimes you need a minute to gather your thoughts, especially when you’re not expecting to be pressed like that. I don’t mind George saving his response for his show, and I don’t mind Westbrook calling out any of the Sacramento media members, either. I just wish Westbrook wouldn’t have been so vague in his criticisms so that it was easier to understand his point.
Here’s a clip from George’s response:
The Kings’ problems aren’t because of Westbrook or the media. It all starts at the top with owner Vivek Ranadivé who seemingly means well but constantly shoots himself in the foot whenever he tries insert himself into the team’s decision-making. Trading Tyrese Haliburton for Domantas Sabonis was a disaster (which we called at the time). Letting De’Aaron Fox’s relationship with the team fracture that led to trading him to San Antonio for pennies on the dollar was also a mistake. Reuniting DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine never made any sense.
The Kings are pretty much the worst run franchise in the NBA. Maybe lottery luck will save Sacramento for once, because just about nothing else can.
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