For the king, any good hope for the future could turn out to be a luxury. Because in their path forward, there will always be twists and turns of one kind or another.
After playing the first six games of the season, the Kings achieved a modest record of 3 wins and 3 losses. For a team like the Kings, even if they started the season with just 2 wins and 4 losses, or worse 1 wins and 5 losses, no one will be surprised. After all, their performance on the field is really not a bright spot.
Take, for example, their recent defeat to the Rockets, which was the second time the King lost to the Rockets in 3 days. The Kings played worse in this second game than the first time the two sides met, and the offensive efficiency was the worst so far of the season, shooting only 38.9 percent of the shots. And on the scene, too many dribbles, almost no one running and passing, all made the King look like a mess.
Just as the so-called "blessing is incomparable, the misfortune is not alone", the King's many problems on the court are enough to upset them, and someone outside the court shoots at them - just when the fourth quarter of the game with the Rockets is still 8 minutes and 31 seconds away, a Twitter account called "Bagley's Team" posted the following content: "@Sacramento King, please trade Marvin Bagley III, hurry up!" The last signature of the tweet was "Coach Bagley."
This Twitter account has always been managed and updated by Bagley's father, Bagley II, and it is obviously somewhat inappropriate for him to make such remarks at such moments. Perhaps also aware of the problem, this tweet was quickly deleted, but there are still netizens who are not afraid of big things, leaving screenshots as evidence, and also uploaded to Twitter. What is more interesting is that the account of "Bagley's Team" immediately forwarded the screenshot photo uploaded by a netizen and played with himself "matryoshka".
The Kings are no surprised by this situation, because this is not the first time that the "Bagley Team" has publicly expressed its dissatisfaction with the team. Just about 5 days ago, in the Game of the Kings winning the Nuggets, because Bagley III was pressed on the bench throughout the fourth quarter, the "Bagley Team" began to act wildly on Twitter, in addition to forwarding some fans' demands for more Bagley's playing time, but also forwarding a Lakers fan criticism of former coach Luke Walton, which was obviously "pointing at the mulberry".
Compared with the last time, in the battle with the Rockets, the "Bagley Team" attack on Twitter was obviously more excessive, and Walton had to stand up and explain. The Kings coach said after the game that his original plan was to let Bagley appear in the closing stages of game 2 with the Rockets, but he found holmes in the same position as him in good shape, so he only gave Bagley 1 minute and 41 seconds in the fourth quarter, thus leaving more playing time for Holmes. At the end, Walton added that if the position and situation of the two were reversed, Holmes was the player who played less than 2 minutes, and he would not have any complaints.
"My attitude has never changed, that is, we will not listen to those remarks," Wharton, who has not opened any social media until now, said firmly, "I think we should circle all the problems in the four walls of the locker room and solve them internally." We must unite, whether outsiders evaluate us as good or bad, what we have to do is not to be influenced by them, let alone let them disrupt our plans. ”
As for the other protagonist of this event, Bagley III, he is really caught in the middle. On one side is his own rice bowl, on the other side is his own family, so until now, he has not made any public statements. Previously, Bagley had repeatedly expressed his respect and respect for his family, especially his father. However, bagley, as a professional player, could not control his family very well and let them interfere with his team. In the long run, this may also have a negative impact on his career.
As the 2018 show, the Kings skipped Doncic and Trey Young in favor of Bagley, which in itself shows that they value the potential of this young man. After selecting him that year, the Kings management promised Bagley that he would be in the team's starting lineup after the 2018-19 All-Star Weekend. However, David Sorge, then head coach of the Kings, was a principled manager who insisted that Bagley could not be allowed to start for the purpose of developing new talents. Jorgy's decision infuriated Bagley's father.
After that, whenever he mentioned the head coach of his son's team, Bagley II would call him "Yogurt Coach", and spread the nickname through social media. Although coach Jorg left the team in the summer of 2019, that didn't make the old Bagley spare the Kings. From the new coach, Walton, to the team's management, almost no one has escaped his mean mouth.
However, Bagley's performance on the court is far less active than that of his boss on social media. In the first six games of the season, Bagley averaged just 11.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, shooting just 37.5 percent from the field. In those 6 games, he contributed 6 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks, while he also had 13 turnovers and 19 fouls.
Struggle, lack of continuity, this has almost become synonymous with Bagley on the field. Considering that he hadn't played an official NBA game in 11 months before the start of the season, such ups and downs make sense. But his father was angry with the coach and the team because his son couldn't play well, and shouted out slogans asking for a trade, which was really illogical.
Bagley III with father Bagley II.
"He's actually been learning and looking for a better way to understand the game, and he's doing a good job," said Coach Walton, speaking about Bagley's strengths. But as long as the players are willing to follow our guidance, they can learn from their mistakes. The best teacher in our alliance is always your own experience. While he's been through a lot, he's got a lot too. Like I've always said, he has a very bright future ahead of him. ”
However, Bagley and the current king seem to be a long way from what Wharton calls the "bright future." Since the beginning of the season, the problems they have exposed at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, as well as the gap with their opponents, are very obvious. "Look at our first six games and we didn't get into the rhythm we should have," said Harrison Barnes of the Kings, "and the whole team only had 11 assists in one game, which is simply not our characteristic." We should run on the pitch and pass and keep moving, and then on the defensive end, we have to build a wall. But our opponents, always easy to keep on the basket. ”
In the intervening words, the king could not be said to be unaware of his own problems, but it was one thing to understand, and it was another thing to correct them. Just as the so-called outside must be inside, the king wants to beat the opponent on the court, I am afraid that he should first calm the turmoil in the team. At the very least, the parents of the players should not be allowed to send this signal of "shaking the hearts of the army" again in the game. And to achieve this, obviously, it is not something that one or two people can do.
Looking back, Wharton, the young coach, is not the first time he has encountered such a strange player's family. When he was in charge of the Lakers' whip, Lonzo Ball's father, Raval Ball, always jumped out and pointed fingers at the team. Now that he is the King, Bagley II has begun to point out the country through social media and has become a "cloud" management. For Walton, in addition to lining up the troops, it is not easy to deal with such a "ball daddy", and life is not easy.