Unless you were a reporter caught on a hot mic dissing both Ben Simmons and Zach LaVine, the conversation at the Sacramento Kings' media day was exactly what you'd expect. The real question is what did anyone actually learn from all of this, and is it any different from the 2025 media day.
Any reporter walking into this season's media day would have had a ton of questions for the Kings. Mostly, those questions seemed to either be about Simmons or to Simmons about Simmons. Fair enough. His return to the NBA is inevitably going to be one of the biggest stories this season.
For the Kings, Darius Acuff Jr. entering the chat as their new rookie point guard was another hot topic. The same was true for various players returning from injury, particularly Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis. There didn't seem to be as much talk about De'Andre Hunter or Keegan Murray.
While some of the faces and names have changes, the conversation felt largely the same. Veterans answered questions about the roster while rookies talked about how excited they are to get playing. And they all acknowledged the bleak outlook for the Kings this season. It all felt like deja vu.
We've had this conversation about the Kings before
A year ago, players like Sabonis, Murray, LaVine, and DeMar DeRozan stood in front of the media and talked about how the 2025-2026 season would be better. The Kings finished with the fifth worst record in the league at 22 wins and 60 losses amid an endless string of season-ending injuries.
Now, Simmons, Acuff, LaVine, and Sabonis are hitting a lot of the same talking points. To be fair, no one expects them to show up at media day and throw their own team under the bus. Part of their jobs as players is to stay optimistic about the Kings, then communicate that to the public.
That doesn't change the fact that a similar conversation has happened before training camp basically every year since Rick Adelman's departure in 2006. The 2022-2023 season was the one time the Kings came close to success as it was their only playoff appearance in two decades.
Again, no one is asking players to slam their own team in public. That's a good way to get fired. At the same time, the Kings have to start delivering on their big pre-season talk at some point. Even the most forgiving and supportive fan base in the NBA can only be pushed so far.
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