New Kings head coach Alvin Gentry called out his players and apologized to fans after a disappointing collapse against the Lakers on Tuesday night, and was pleased with how the players responded against the Clippers on Wednesday, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. The Kings jumped out to a double-digit first-half lead for a second straight night — this time they held on for a victory.
“They’re a good bunch of players. They’re a good bunch of kids and I think they want to do the right thing,” Gentry said. “I just wanted to remind them that we have to do it on a consistent basis, but I thought the response was great.”
Here’s more on the Kings:
- Second-year guard Tyrese Haliburton said on Wednesday that the Kings’ players bear the responsibility for producing consistently and that former head coach Luke Walton shouldn’t have been blamed for their inability to do so. “We as players know we have to be better,” Haliburton said, per Anderson. “It seemed like Luke was a scapegoat at times when we weren’t playing well. People were blaming him, but at the end of the day it’s on us as basketball players and we have to be better. It’s not on any staffs. It’s not on any front office. It’s not on anybody except the guys on the court.”
- Chimezie Metu‘s $1,762,796 salary for 2021/22, which had been partially guaranteed for $881,398, was set to become fully guaranteed if he remained under contract through Wednesday, as Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. Teams and players sometimes agree to push those guarantee dates back, but there has been no indication that Metu and the Kings took that route, so we’re assuming for now that the big man’s salary for this season is fully guaranteed. His $1,910,860 salary for 2022/23 remains non-guaranteed.
- Harrison Barnes, who has missed the Kings’ past four games due to a right foot sprain, was sent to the Stockton Kings on Thursday to practice with the G League club, Anderson writes for The Sacramento Bee. Barnes’ NBAGL assignment will be brief, as he’ll be recalled in order to practice on Friday with the NBA squad, tweets Sean Cunningham of ABC 10 Sacramento.
A contender should go after Barnes. No reason for him to be there. Kings have to redo team. Once again !!!!!!
No they don’t players need to play better on a consistent basis
Exactly, should look for Warriors and Kuminga, Wiseman, Moody, Wiggins deal. They could offer Barnes, Holmes and Hield.
Halliburton talks like a real pro and plays like one too this franchise doesn’t deserve him.
In 2002 the Sacramento kings were jobbed by the NBA and the officiating crew. In 2018 they drafted Marvin bagley. Dig a hole in a landfill and shove this whole garbage franchise into it.