The Sacramento Kings returned to practice, and thus hosted their first media availability session over Zoom on Wednesday as the NBA continues to search for some sense of normalcy while the COVID-19 pandemic rages on. Luke Walton and De’Aaron Fox fielded questions for roughly 45 minutes about a variety of topics including Marvin Bagley’s health, De’Aaron Fox’s future in Sacramento, and Luke Walton’s strategy heading into Orlando.
Our own Blake Ellington was on the Zoom call, and covered some of the bigger takeaways from Fox and Walton’s availability in greater detail. Notably:
- De’Aaron Fox addressed how “disrespectful” the national media has been with regards to their chances at landing a playoff spot.
- Luke Walton talked about Marvin Bagley’s health and role on the team heading into Orlando.
- Luke Walton sheds some light on what the Kings are doing to adapt to the new norm during the coronavirus.
But if you’re like myself and wanted to watch the entire 45 minute session for yourself, the Sacramento Kings uploaded the presser to YouTube in its entirety.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCBqfE5ZrM0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3Scf0Qi3eg
Love De’Aaron and I get where he’s coming from, but I don’t see the media as disrespecting Sacramento. There’s really no reason to include them in the discussion as a playoff threat until they show that they can sniff the playoffs.
So that is why the Pelicans are on the list? I think the Kings record in relation to the other teams is a good reason to include them on the list. Sure you might not think they are as good as those teams but as far as games won they were in the ball park and should be included in the conversation even if they are an unpopular pick.
The truth is the Kings are in the conversation and no poll the Ringer puts out can change that. It is more about the Kings not being an interesting team to talk about for national media.
I do agree that their is a bit of media bias against the Kings. Though I don’t think that they go out of their way to disrespect them. It has largely occurred due to the fact that the Kings as a franchise has been pretty forgettable in the past decade+.
I think the media would happily jump on the bandwagon if the Kings were exciting and/or good. Their bias is entirely towards ratings.
Agreed
We are in the conversation? The whole issue is that we are excluded from the conversation!
We are being ignored and the only way to fight that is make loud noises!
Well not with the Ringer but I think many knowledgeable sports fans think the Kings have a chance. I would imagine many with the Ringer even thinks as much but did not put the Kings on the list because they did not want the poll to look dirty.
Of course people think they have a chance. There just aren’t many people that think they have the best chance. Personally, I’d say they have the 3rd or 4th best chance to make the playoffs behind the Grizzlies, Pelicans, and maybe the Blazers. I would put the Blazers above them if their SoS were equal, but the Kings have an easy road and the Blazers have a difficult one. Which means, if I were asked which team had THE BEST chance, the Kings wouldn’t appear.
The last 13/14 years, the best odds were betting against the Kings. I don’t see anything to change that perception yet.
People are crying about the media instead of taking ownership and the FO to task.
All good points but I guess we will never find out what people think when the poll did not even have the Kings as an option.
The Ringer was trying to save face for the Kings. If they listed the Kings and they got 0% it would have looked bad.
People in the ESPN survey could have chosen the Kings and didn’t. 538 gives the Kings a 7% chance. The Ringer one was silly. With 4 possible slots in a twitter poll, they were forced to choose between either including the Kings or the Spurs, or leaving both off. Personally, I would have added the Kings. I think the travesty is thinking the Kings don’t have a significantly better chance than the Spurs. But the Spurs are on the opposite end of the benefit of the doubt spectrum.
Hmmm…what IS different about the Pelicans?
Zion
Y’all see this yet? Some more disrespect thrown at Fox courtesy of Stephen A.
I am no Stephen A fan but I think he is about right. So is Perkins. Sac isn’t a destination city, IMO the Maloof’s were successful in adding players due to the Vegas Connection. Without that level of shine, we need homegrown talent to get better and we need to take larger financial risks. Long shot to play in finals ever. I don’t mind rooting for a long shot, if only we got our 3-5 seasons of getting close :<(. Maybe we need to get a GM that has the IT/opportunity factor? Maverick Carter like? can’t be any worse.
Yeah I’ve seen this “Stephen A. disrespects Fox!!!” Headline going around but then when I listened to it I think it’s probably right. I think Fox is a very good player who is probably better suited to being the second best player on a very good team. If he’s your best player you might compete for the playoffs and even get in a few times but you aren’t a championship contender. Does it mean we shouldn’t re-sign him or build around him? Of course not. We should keep him and build around him. It’s just that if he’s your best player you probably aren’t going to be a great team.
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