Here are the major takeaways from Sacramento Kings players’ exit interviews on 2025-26 season
Me? Hey, Russ, how you doing? What’s up, Jack, um, I, I imagine this is ***, ***, *** little dramatic difference from what you thought the season could be to where it ended up as you just kind of reflect back, how, how do you kind of look at this season overall for, for you individually what this team was and how do you kind of see what the future could be? Yeah, um, I mean, honestly, I didn’t have *** job until *** couple of days before the season, so I had no expectations of what could be. I was just blessed and thankful to have an opportunity to be able to. Um, start another NBA season, um, and obviously as things unfolded here, trying to figure out the best way to, uh, compete, be competitive, um, you know, given the late arrival for myself, but, um, I feel good about how the year went, at least for me personally, um. Made it through healthy, so I’m blessed to be able to do that and get through *** season healthy, um, especially at this age and. Years in the league, so grateful for that, um. Yeah. Um, as far as with myself, yeah, I mean, I, it’s been great for me here. Um, if I’m welcome back, then I’ll be back, uh, but that’s not up to me. Um, it’s kind of how it’s been for me the last couple. Summers and seasons unfortunately, but um kind of see what happens at that point. Hey Ross, good morning. When you kind of look at this season, like you were saying, you, you were brought in *** few days before the season starts. And then the entire season kind of plays out how it does, but for you, personally, I mean, you had *** really bright spot, one of the highest 3 point percentage shooting, um, in your, in your career, one of the highest, I mean, then one of the parts that really stood out was just kind of your, your veteran leadership and how you really took on that role. When you kind of assess everything from this season and then. Kinda looking at what your future may be. When you think about Sacramento and kind of what you’ve been able to bring up for those young guys, how important or how much, I mean, I know it’s not in your control, but how much of that goes into like your process and wanting to be here and things like that? Um, I think leadership is probably for me one of my best traits, um, that I really enjoy the most because it. Um, you can see it, you know, from year to year from young players *** year down the line. I’ve had many. Players that I’ve been with come to me, you know, 5 or 10 years later and tell me moments that helped them throughout the process. So anytime I’m able to have an opportunity to be able to do that, um, I look forward to it, um, and if that’s here, uh, I embrace it and look forward to doing that, especially with, um, the young guys we have here, proud of how they ended the season, how they improved, um, given the time they were given, uh, and I’m grateful for that. Hey Russ, how are you? Good, man. Thank you. Uh, earlier this year we asked you to maybe explain the celebration you have after you hit *** 3 end of the season, you said. So I’m here to ask you, can you, can you explain to me the celebration? Yeah, yeah, media day. I got you. Excited for next year for that. Second one is this. You have, uh, you’ve had an illustrious career, played with *** lot of great players, playing with DeMar DeRozan. Is that special this year? Yeah, definitely, man. Demar is like *** brother, you know. I’ve been knowing, uh, we call him Debo, but, uh, I’ve been knowing, uh, Demar since we were little, you know, um, so it was definitely, uh, *** grateful experience on many levels, not just on the court, but getting an opportunity to be able to bond and. Um, talk off the floor, um, more than normal, which was great for me, uh, kind of made it, obviously, as you mentioned, uh, memorable, memorable experience for myself, and, um, you know, that’s my brother for life, so we, we always locked in, so nothing, nothing changes there. Well, Russ, I got two questions. Uh. Do do you want to come back? You just said something about media day. Do you, is it OK? I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t mind coming back. Yeah, like I mean, I’m always anywhere I want, um, I’m, I’m there, you know. I wanna be able to be helpful, be productive, um, but also I understand it’s *** business I’ve been around *** long time, so I understand. *** lot of different moving variables for that and that’s out of my control. My job is to be ready, be prepared, um, you know, and be ready to go. And going back to, you know, what Marcus talked about, you know, with the, uh, young players because they did show some segments last night of you, you know, coaching up the, uh, young players on, on, on the sidelines and things like that is just, you know, not trying to jump out, you know, too far ahead. It’s just something that, you know, you may be interested in the future as far as, uh, coaching. No, man, listen, people every day always telling me I’m gonna be *** coach, but I don’t see, I don’t wanna coach. I coach my kids, so that’s it, man. I don’t wanna coach Amanda. I don’t know. I don’t, I don’t, I don’t think so. I’m gonna say no right now, um, but. You know. My answer is no though, you know what I mean, but that’s not it that can change, I think. Parent to everybody else. Russ, uh, you’re 18 this year. You and Demar were kind of like dueling banjos, passing people on the all-time scoring list. You had the rebound moment. You had the assist moment. Have you had time to reflect on all of the accomplishments that you’ve, you’ve done, not just for your career, but even in this season alone? No, not yet, um, but like I said, during those moments I’m always extremely blessed and, and grateful to be able to do that, um. Um, being healthy, being able to have an opportunity to be able to go out and, and break some of those records or being mentioned with some of the great players, always, I’m always grateful for that. Hey Russ, Obviously *** challenging season, but what are some things that maybe brought you joy this year around this team? Um, just being able to, um, I think any time you ever have ***, *** new group of guys for me it’s always *** new challenge. I, I like it because you, I’m have an opportunity to be able to learn. About different players, learn about their journeys, learn about uh what pushes them, uh, learn about, um, you know, what inspires them and to me that is the best part of the journey and being in this league you get *** chance to be able to meet coaches, players, personnel, staff members and of all different facets of life and you have an opportunity to be able to impact them positively and, uh, that to me is the best part about being, you know, an organization and obviously this year too. Russ, you’ve been around long enough. You’ve seen guys come and go in this league. I’m curious what you thought about Max’s development this year. I thought Max did *** great job. I thought he, uh, did *** great job of listening, um, learning, watching, um, and, um, you guys seeing how talented he is and. His challenge now is just getting better each year. That’s the, that’s the, the goal in this league is to be able to try to be consistent and be better each and every year and, and find the ways to be able to fine tune his, his game, um, but I’m not worried about Max. He works on this game. He’s, um, diligent in his work and, um, and I’m looking forward to great things from him. What was this year like for you, uh, front row here on your left, uh, interacting and being led by Doug Christie and Scott Perry? What was your impressions of being around them this year? Uh, they were fine, man. They were great, you know, like I told you, man, it was *** little different. This is the first time for me where I, I’m missing training camp and differences of that nature, so I, I had to kind of catch up on that aspect. But as far as relationship goes, um, relationship was fine. I’ve, I’ve known Scott. Some time and obviously getting *** chance to know Doug was was great and having *** relationship with both of them was uh was good for me so. I’m curious for you, like, you know, realizing the clear career accomplishments and obviously continuing to play at *** high level, but also maybe the pull of and maybe the hunger of wanting to do so on ***, *** winning team or someone, *** team that can go deep into the playoffs. What’s that kind of balance for you as you look for potentially your next opportunity? Yeah, I mean. I mean, the balance is to me is simple. I think it’s just. Given the opportunity, I’ll go out and compete if that’s when trying to go on *** winning team, then cool, but I also think. It’s something that you know I think as as you get older, at least for myself, people pay too much attention to or trying to get on with teams and try to like winning the championship is not guaranteed it’s not like. And it’s not up to me if things have to align. There’s so many different things that have to align for you to better win *** championship in this league, and I think you guys all understand that as well. And I think we just don’t talk about it enough. And personally for me, I just think it’s *** lot of pressure putting on, you know, decisions you make and how you make them and where you go to try to win the championship, give yourself the best opportunity, but sometimes you can be in that position and don’t work out and. That’s it. So for me it’s just been in *** place where I’m on, um, having fun, enjoying the game, um, and to me that’s most important. Hey Russ, uh, throughout your career, the thing that has been synonymous with you is playing hard, never taking *** playoff, enjoying what you do. In year 18, it was the same thing this year, you know, you, uh, definitely played with *** lot of enthusiasm, joy, um, passion. Where does that come from and what keeps you inspired even after your 18th year to continue playing out there with that youthful energy? Yeah, I mean, I, um. I learned at *** young age like I don’t take anything, anything this game is giving me God has put me. In *** position to to be here this long and um I don’t take the game for granted. I don’t take being in this position for granted like it’s it’s hard to to get in this league it’s hard to be in this league *** good amount of time and um I like to cherish and enjoy those moments and um given this platform I try to use the way I play use um my energy and and and passion to be able to help inspire other people in walks of life and if that sport’s cool if this. Other jobs that people may have and and and kids I wanna be able to do that uh by the way I play, um, and I, I definitely take it personally to be able to make sure that my body and my mind is prepared to be able to do that every night and, um, you know, and as far as where does it come from I mean I just probably just how I grew up in my neighborhood where I’m from, it allows me to be able to understand that. Um, it’s things that’s bigger than the game, um, and the game is just *** stepping stone to be able to, uh, allow me to be able to, uh, use *** part of this journey, so. What? Uh, Russ, um, I’ve come to learn that Dylan Cardwell’s locker right next to yours, maybe by design though, but just want to know, you know, what that experience like, you know, playing with him, knowing, you know, how he came through as *** free agent. Yeah, man, um, it was, it was, it was, it’s fun. I, I love Dylan. Um, he reminds me *** lot of just myself as far as energy goes and. Been able to do that, so I always challenge him um to use it. He, he has *** gift and You know, for some people they may look at it and don’t know what the hell’s going on or they may be like I don’t know what’s wrong with this kid or what’s happening, but I see it and I see it, it makes sense to me like this is what he does and this is because um he has *** unique talent that. People can’t, you can’t teach it and you can’t like put *** finger on it or try to tame it, um, and I really enjoyed talking to him and, and enjoying that process so my hope is that he can continue to, to dial into that and the rest of his game will develop but keep dialing into that energy and effort and and making sure that his mind is, is right. This is *** two-part question, um. Russ, to kind of looking back at your 18 year career, I mean, you’ve kind of done almost about everything in this league, right, from, from perennial All-Star MVP, you name it, to where you see yourself now as this, um, vocal leader from veterans, um, from *** veteran’s point of view. From someone who’s just kind of done everything, and I know you previously said it’s not really in your control, but what really keeps you going at at this point, um, that’s one thing, and two, do you see yourself playing another, you know, to the 20 year milestone? Uh, one, I think. Um, you know, I have *** bunch of people, um, around the world that support me, support me my entire career, um. And I also have *** bunch of people that don’t, so I think the combination of both of those keeps me going, um, and most importantly my family, uh, because those are the ones that have been with me since day one and been in my corner, uh, regardless of what has happened throughout my career, um, so that allows me to be able to keep going until, um, I can’t no more and then. As far as 20th season, um, like I said, man, I, uh, God’s willing, opportunity presents itself. I’ll play until then, but, um, I’ll take it year by year and hopefully, uh, I’m still playing in 2020, 2028, I think that is. So appreciate it, yeah, yes sir.
Here are the major takeaways from Sacramento Kings players’ exit interviews on 2025-26 season
Updated: 11:20 PM PDT Apr 13, 2026
The disappointing 2025-26 season for the Kings concluded on Sunday in Portland, fittingly with a 122-110 loss to the Trail Blazers to lock in a 22-60 overall record for Sacramento, tying them with the Utah Jazz for the fourth worst record in the NBA.By Monday morning, 12 members of the roster individually took their turns stepping up to a podium in the team’s practice facility inside Golden 1 Center to speak to reporters about their observations of the injury-riddled season, reflect on the good and bad experiences, as well as look to the future with the hope to improve the team’s overall success, or even their own.(Video above: Russell Westbrook reflects on losing Kings season, possibility of remaining in Sacramento.)A commonality shared by nearly every member of the team is looking back on the season and asking, “what if,” as in what if this Kings team had remained healthy. Three projected starters for this year’s roster, Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray and Zach LaVine each appeared in under 40 games due to significant injuries. Sabonis appeared in only 19 games due to a left knee injury; Murray was hampered by a thumb and two ankle injuries, limiting him to just 23 contests, while LaVine played in 39 games, but tore a tendon in his right pinky finger that required season-ending surgery.De’Andre Hunter, who was acquired at the trade deadline from Cleveland that sent Dennis Schröder and Keon Ellis to the Cavaliers, appeared in just two games with Sacramento after suffering an injury to his eye.”It’s definitely been a really tough season for me personally,” Sabonis admitted. “All I want to do is be on the court and I wasn’t able to do that…The whole team hasn’t played together all year. It’s tough to evaluate because (we) now have pieces we could use but we haven’t seen them (together) on the court.”Sacramento, under head coach Doug Christie for his first full season, never had its full complement of players on the roster available for the 55-year-old head coach, who replaced Mike Brown a season before after he was fired after a 13-18 start to the 2024-25 season.Christie led the Kings to a 27-24 record and was rewarded by the organization with a three-year contract following last season to remain as the Kings head coach.Multiple sources tell KCRA 3, confirming an initial report on Sunday from The Athletic, that despite the 60-losses from this season, Christie will be given the opportunity to coach for the 2026-27 campaign. It will be the final guaranteed season under his deal with Sacramento, as the third year is not guaranteed. The team, sources say, is wanting to see what Christie can do with a healthy roster next season, especially since that is likely to feature a high lottery pick in June’s NBA Draft.Those sources spoke to KCRA 3 on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.As part of their exit interviews, multiple players spoke highly of the job Christie did over the past year in dealing with the roster and praised him on his flexibility in managing the team.”He definitely grew a lot,” Malik Monk told reporters on Monday. “Just him being a (former) player. He kinda’ seen where we were coming from and he kinda’ adjusted his schedule and his way of thinking.”Among the other key takeaways from Monday’s exit interviews: Russell Westbrook, who concluded his 18th NBA season, is hopeful to not only play next season, but the 37-year-old future Hall-of Famer says he’d like to return to Sacramento. “It’s been great for me here,” he said. “If I’m welcomed back, I’ll be here.”LaVine, who has a player option for the 2026-27 season worth just under $49 million dollars, is expected to be picked up, paving his way to return to Sacramento. While that may largely be considered a no-brainer, LaVine said he’s considering his options. “I will go back and look at the best course of action and ask what is most important to me right now,” he said.After seeing the Kings commit a five-year deal worth $140 million last summer, Keegan Murray was more than disappointed to only be able to play in 23 games because of injuries. He’s hopeful to return the Kings to the postseason and get that feeling back that he was able to experience in his rookie year back in 2023, when he competed for Sacramento in a seven-game playoff series against the Golden State Warriors. “I feel like I’m hooked on the memory of Golden 1 Center in the playoffs and that’s kind of the feeling I chase, and I’m one of the few guys on this team that knows that feeling,” Murray said.It was well documented that last year’s Kings team, which experienced the firing of head coach Mike Brown and the trading of franchise centerpiece De’Aaron Fox led to a lot of turmoil internally that, coupled with the losing season, took a toll on the roster.DeMar DeRozan, who spoke passionately about his disgust of last year, was asked to compare that 2024-25 season to the 60 losses experienced this year and admitted this year was much worse.Sacramento turns its attention to the NBA Draft, which will take place on June 24-25. The Kings will find out what draft position they will hold next month, when the Draft Lottery is held on May 10 in Chicago.Weeks before the lottery, a tiebreaker will be conducted by the league in the form of a coin flip to break the tie between Sacramento and Utah who both finished with the fourth worst record in the NBA.If the Kings remain with the fourth worst record, they will have a 11.5% chance of winning the top pick in the Draft Lottery, while dropping to fifth place gives Sacramento a 10.5% chance to winning the number one pick. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
The disappointing 2025-26 season for the Kings concluded on Sunday in Portland, fittingly with a 122-110 loss to the Trail Blazers to lock in a 22-60 overall record for Sacramento, tying them with the Utah Jazz for the fourth worst record in the NBA.
By Monday morning, 12 members of the roster individually took their turns stepping up to a podium in the team’s practice facility inside Golden 1 Center to speak to reporters about their observations of the injury-riddled season, reflect on the good and bad experiences, as well as look to the future with the hope to improve the team’s overall success, or even their own.
(Video above: Russell Westbrook reflects on losing Kings season, possibility of remaining in Sacramento.)
A commonality shared by nearly every member of the team is looking back on the season and asking, “what if,” as in what if this Kings team had remained healthy.
Three projected starters for this year’s roster, Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray and Zach LaVine each appeared in under 40 games due to significant injuries.
Sabonis appeared in only 19 games due to a left knee injury; Murray was hampered by a thumb and two ankle injuries, limiting him to just 23 contests, while LaVine played in 39 games, but tore a tendon in his right pinky finger that required season-ending surgery.
De’Andre Hunter, who was acquired at the trade deadline from Cleveland that sent Dennis Schröder and Keon Ellis to the Cavaliers, appeared in just two games with Sacramento after suffering an injury to his eye.
“It’s definitely been a really tough season for me personally,” Sabonis admitted. “All I want to do is be on the court and I wasn’t able to do that…The whole team hasn’t played together all year. It’s tough to evaluate because (we) now have pieces we could use but we haven’t seen them (together) on the court.”
Sacramento, under head coach Doug Christie for his first full season, never had its full complement of players on the roster available for the 55-year-old head coach, who replaced Mike Brown a season before after he was fired after a 13-18 start to the 2024-25 season.
Christie led the Kings to a 27-24 record and was rewarded by the organization with a three-year contract following last season to remain as the Kings head coach.
Multiple sources tell KCRA 3, confirming an initial report on Sunday from The Athletic, that despite the 60-losses from this season, Christie will be given the opportunity to coach for the 2026-27 campaign.
It will be the final guaranteed season under his deal with Sacramento, as the third year is not guaranteed.
The team, sources say, is wanting to see what Christie can do with a healthy roster next season, especially since that is likely to feature a high lottery pick in June’s NBA Draft.
Those sources spoke to KCRA 3 on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
As part of their exit interviews, multiple players spoke highly of the job Christie did over the past year in dealing with the roster and praised him on his flexibility in managing the team.
“He definitely grew a lot,” Malik Monk told reporters on Monday. “Just him being a (former) player. He kinda’ seen where we were coming from and he kinda’ adjusted his schedule and his way of thinking.”
Among the other key takeaways from Monday’s exit interviews:
Russell Westbrook, who concluded his 18th NBA season, is hopeful to not only play next season, but the 37-year-old future Hall-of Famer says he’d like to return to Sacramento. “It’s been great for me here,” he said. “If I’m welcomed back, I’ll be here.”LaVine, who has a player option for the 2026-27 season worth just under $49 million dollars, is expected to be picked up, paving his way to return to Sacramento. While that may largely be considered a no-brainer, LaVine said he’s considering his options. “I will go back and look at the best course of action and ask what is most important to me right now,” he said.
After seeing the Kings commit a five-year deal worth $140 million last summer, Keegan Murray was more than disappointed to only be able to play in 23 games because of injuries. He’s hopeful to return the Kings to the postseason and get that feeling back that he was able to experience in his rookie year back in 2023, when he competed for Sacramento in a seven-game playoff series against the Golden State Warriors.
“I feel like I’m hooked on the memory of Golden 1 Center in the playoffs and that’s kind of the feeling I chase, and I’m one of the few guys on this team that knows that feeling,” Murray said.
It was well documented that last year’s Kings team, which experienced the firing of head coach Mike Brown and the trading of franchise centerpiece De’Aaron Fox led to a lot of turmoil internally that, coupled with the losing season, took a toll on the roster.
DeMar DeRozan, who spoke passionately about his disgust of last year, was asked to compare that 2024-25 season to the 60 losses experienced this year and admitted this year was much worse.
Sacramento turns its attention to the NBA Draft, which will take place on June 24-25. The Kings will find out what draft position they will hold next month, when the Draft Lottery is held on May 10 in Chicago.
Weeks before the lottery, a tiebreaker will be conducted by the league in the form of a coin flip to break the tie between Sacramento and Utah who both finished with the fourth worst record in the NBA.
If the Kings remain with the fourth worst record, they will have a 11.5% chance of winning the top pick in the Draft Lottery, while dropping to fifth place gives Sacramento a 10.5% chance to winning the number one pick.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel