Sam Amick: Kings are becoming the team to avoid in the playoffs

Sam Amick: Kings are becoming the team to avoid in the playoffs

Uh joining us right now from the athletic uh he’s got a pretty awesome piece coming out probably within the hour of the next two hours on the Sacramento Kings it’s a deep dive on something because he does it every week I’m just assuming that he’s got something coming out on the Kings later

Today that we didn’t know about that we didn’t talk about during the show because that’s what happened last week from the athletic the one and only Sam good morning Sam I was wondering where you were going so I I see you uh like every other week that happens like we’ll be talking and

Then later that day it’s like exclusive Sam am talks to the guy about the thing with the Kings and I’m like why why didn’t we preview this and Jay you like how he’s basically just telling me like you’re just you’re not bringing the goods AMC like let’s go look we pay you

Good dollars good dollar good dollar for your appearances every week we want the exclusivity I’m assuming I I’m I’m wrong and uh and he’s got a buck feature oh you got a buck feature is it about they got their asses beat yeah I thought you

Were about to like you know help me out with a few more readers and pump up the Giannis interview uh Yannis Anor kmo exclusive was published about 45 minutes ago at the athletic I will say I know the king’s audience doesn’t care but anybody who uh remembers the classic The Matrix which I

Would hope most of I did not expect Giannis to discuss the MVP race uh in depth in the context of the Matrix and and how he is Neo so look out for that wow the king stuff uh to my defense uh David I uh did not

Know when we talked last week I did not know that I was going to be writing what I wrote I initially uh was gonna write about the West playoff race and and kind of the king’s part in it uh but then uh things kind of went haywire that night

If you remember and they reminded us that they you know they beat good teams they they either lose to bad teams or or almost lose to bad teams and and they’re up and down but it’s a good couple of games for your your team right now buddy

Yeah it’s uh it’s it’s a good time to be a Kings fan yeah and and Sam you were there you so you obviously had the Bucks story but you were there for Milwaukee you were there saw you there last night um you can’t have two games you know

Totally change your mind but you know the way the league works it does move quickly and and opinions do kind of change uh what you’ve seen from the Kings most recently uh any different thought on them going forward yeah I mean honestly to you know to talk about

It in the context of of what I did WR last week um you know for the many folks who probably missed it like my thing that I triying to analyze with the story last week was the idea that even with all the frustration the fans were

Feeling with all the bad losses and you know I counted it’s an unofficial you know tally but I counted uh roughly 11 um bad losses the ones that had the fans going crazy throughout the season so I’m I’m looking at that and thinking to myself like man if they would have won

Half of those um they’d be a lot higher in the standings and and I understand that causes frustration but they were also at that time eight and five against the top four teams in the west and that’s a pretty good sample size showing that you can compete with the better

Teams in the west um the point being that if you looked at it it was like man they’re on the same track as they were last season when The Vibes were pretty Immaculate around the team um they are perceived as having taken a step back uh

My point was I don’t think it would be that hard to finish strong and actually be in a pretty good spot going into the playoffs now it could swing the other way but these last two games kind of confirm that premise that as inconsistent as they are they’re a

Talented team that is capable of of beating almost anybody I’m not going to give it to them against Boston or Denver um but beyond that you know no the Pelicans of course uh they’re just apparently never gonna beat but you know they’re Dynamic three and one against

Denver Sam I don’t care okay uh by the way I just noticed this because I want to build on what you just said but I I just noticed this uh while you were answering the question I I I think Sam and I have the same haircut I took off

My hat like I think I think we have the same he Styles it a little bit different if you’re on YouTube I think we have the same Sam is that a two around the edges it do I think we have the same haircut Great Clips uh yes sir of course of

Course for real we just become best friends I think that’s what’s I think great CPS has standard haircut for middle-aged men and Sam and I have the same one first of all I mean we getting a free a couple free cuts out of this if we’re given great point right there

Wow uh that being said I’m kind of on this bandwagon now that Sam if the Kings continue what they’ve done all year hopefully with a few more wins but showing out against the better teams having the occasional clunky loss are they not most likely especially with your your National narratives I

Feel like this is very much shaping up for about 10,000 nobody wants to face the Kings they may be the most undercover dangerous team in the Western Conference playoffs yeah you’re saying the idea that that’ll be the narrative that I I I think that’s where every year you see

There’s some X Factor team there’s some no one want I feel like the kings are trending there they are no question uh you know and if you do what you did last night on the ESPN stage where there’s you know uh kind of more high-profile media Personalities in town and and

You’re get getting that Spotlight and you’re getting uh you know by the way a pretty adorable postgame moment with deonas his family lighting the beam um very different vibe than when they you know barely beat the Spurs and Malik monk checked the entire F I personally kind of love that um you

Know and as a quick aside guys within that I I I laugh pretty hard today when I looked at an Instagram video of the domas lighting of the beam he’s got son he’s got his wife and and the you already know where I’m going Dave the

Were like well where’s his other son the the one with the unibrow know I saw the one where somebody had photoshopped Anthony Davis’s face on his kid he’s holding him I don’t I don’t I don’t agree with any of that you just liked it

I liked it I I I hit Hearts but just just to save it yeah and I know I’m rambling domas I love this dude’s like kind of he’s pretty ferocious he’s very very strong and shape He he’ll bust you in the mouth and and make you bleed and then he and then

He’s like a non-confrontational personality so then he goes to the media after the game and and basically says can you please stop telling people that I’m 10 and0 against you know you’re making my job harder for me right yeah to your question though um that’ll be the narrative which is fine it’s funny

Man I feel like it’s not my place but I’ve been in this town so long and I keep saying this every couple weeks with you guys it’s like to the fans I would say like yeah just try to enjoy it like don’t forget like 16 years man that uh

That they weren’t I mean you guys it’s not just not in the playoffs it’s most seasons you could stop paying attention in December you know what I mean yeah and last year around this time for me as as the kind of the non Affiliated uh you

Know guy doing this one of my favorite Parts as a member of the community was all the businesses in in doco that were finally making money because of what the team was doing postco and all the benefits from a city standpoint that came with the team being relevant so

It’s like I get it they were third in the west last year U they creeped up to six now um but all in all they’re in a decent spot they’re an entertaining team and and we’ll see what they can do Sam you’re so right I think Dave and I would

Have been doing the like the draft generator and talking lottery pick tournaments here um you know this might be a question Sam for when you were actually the Kings beat Rider something I’m sure you would have been covering but you do watch this team and you do

Know the league and talk to other people um Keon Ellis has really played well and look six and0 as a starter is impressive I I don’t know your thoughts on him and how Mike Brown may approach that but just what do you think of what Keon has

Done and and maybe if in fact he he might keep him in that lineup yeah I mean you know Mike’s especially at this time of year when you have the type of I think pressure and and angst that has come from all that inconsistency uh you know it’s the right move to try

To Tinker a little more and to try to find Solutions and you know and Keon’s a guy that you got to cut through the politics of Mike’s locker room to take some of those minutes away from elsewhere um what does that mean Sam I’m sorry to interrupt but what what what do

You mean by the politics of of Mike’s locker room Keon’s just not somebody who when they went into the season was from a front office organizational planning standpoint who was prioritized and so you know whether it’s Kevin herder um I’m talking like it’s everything from the contract to status to you know you

Have a game plan going every team does going into the season of here’s how the minutes will look and then but it’s like if if certain rotations certain guys are not making the kind of impact that you anticipated that they would make you got to be willing to just remember that that

You know it’s still a game a sport and you’re the coach and you you know you you got to look down the bench just like you did when you were you know playing youth basketball and like which kid’s going to bring it which kid can help me

Out and and Keon Ellis that is kind of the it’s always fun to see guys like that make their way because you know that’s how it should be um that’s all I mean is this team you know from Fox to sabonis to you know Barnes and herder

All the way down um Keon just wasn’t part of the plan and and to his credit you know this is the kind of stuff that careers are made of when when you find a way to to to provide value and then and take it from there Sam am joining us Sam

I I want to I want to grab you by the hand and with our similar haircuts skip on down the the the rabbit Hol as we go I I alluded to this in the last segment then we’ll get back to the Kings I’m about to do what I hate people doing

Which is change a king’s conversation to LeBron and his legacy but here we go I thought you just grabbing random people’s hands without no just yours just like at our Easter egg hunt same thing um you know I was was thinking about last night how LeBron James is

Still very good top 20 player not just for a 40-year old 39 year old but he’s still very very good he has a 50-some million dollar player option as you well know coming up next year and Jason and I were talking about how as currently constructed and with the new cap rules

You know it just doesn’t seem like the Lakers are in a position to win a title this just doesn’t look like a title team and Father Time undefeated and LeBron James uh is eventually going to uh you know end his career it will happen we’re on the precipice I feel like

Sam of something really unprecedented in the NBA somebody’s going to get teed up with a question in the media as you well know uh when LeBron the season’s over LeBron’s going into possible free agency be possibly opts out and someone’s gonna ask him how important is it to play uh

With your son and let’s just assume LeBron James says it’s at or it’s it’s it’s at the top like that’s very important to me which he’s alluded to before now of a sudden you have a situation Sam perhaps where you have a player coming out of college after his

Freshman year that is on I haven’t seen once him projected as a first round pick but you’re GNA put perhaps general managers in a position where their their first round pick they’re spending on a a a deep Prospect who he is at this point with a great pedigree and bronnie James

But also that very well could bring you LeBron James to help you over the top we mentioned Sacramento as a as a as a team that could be in that situation late first round pick hey maybe we don’t like anybody uh we we we’ll take a flyer on this do you

Anticipate that developing into that type of story this summer with LeBron I feel like we are gravitating away from that being the case Okay a couple a couple of reasons um bronnie in terms of his NBA draft prospects is going in the wrong direction um you know

He’s not an impact player for USC um you know his from playing time to to Stats across the board and just impact he’s not there he’s not even a second round player at this point sure so uh and you’re seeing different messaging coming from LeBron and his Camp so his agent

Rich Paul had recently told ESPN that uh it kind of Chang changed the framing of that the discussion where rich basically said that you know LeBron is I’m paraphrasing but that he is wants bronnie to go wherever it’s best for him and to do whatever is best for him and I

Will say I had this talk yesterday with somebody actually uh my cousin uh Scott who was in town and we talked about fatherhood and we talked about LeBron and I I was saying that it’s wild to me how you have these situations covering Pro Sports where you get reminded that

Obviously just because a guy makes 50 or100 million doar a year it doesn’t change you know some of their problems are the same as ours so as a dad I do think that LeBron would probably admit that he put too much pressure on bronnie too early with the way he framed the

Conversation um now he’s you know the whole thing where LeBron tweeted in defensiveness about the media talking about bronnie and he got checked by a lot of people for that because it’s like okay you’re the one who’s been talking brought it yeah yeah and I saw think

He’s recalibrating um and let’s also not forget that this young man you know had a a really serious heart situation um not that long ago and didn’t know you know if he’d even be playing basketball again so I think we’re moving away from that I hope we’re moving away from that

Um I hope that he’s enjoying his journey basketball-wise because he deserves to have one and not just be you know constantly compared to his dad Ju Just to put a quick bow on that you you know discounting the other stuff you said about LeBron changing the narrative and

Maybe that’s not important to him but just specifically dealing with the the bronny factor and and where he may you know he’s not even a barely a second round pick but from a GM’s point of view though wouldn’t that be negated by the fact that you could just justify it as

If somebody asked you to trade a first round pick for the uh privilege to sign LeBron James like I I I feel like that wouldn’t be the factor even if even if Brony is even if Brony is no disrespect but the NASA DMO that you’re in effect costing

Yourself a first round pick to sign LeBron James which I think most GMS would do yeah I hear you there and and I you know I think the other component that is obviously massively important is where is LeBron’s relationship with the Lakers and um you know that moment that

He had and the point being that if he if he decides he doesn’t want to go anywhere then all those other GMS are are disincentivized to even think about kind of you know doing something that otherwise they wouldn’t do and drafting bronny way higher um the moment that

LeBron had with Janie bus last week where he was injured and he goes and visits her during the game and obviously social media you know had a field day with that I there that was a substantive moment I thought when it comes to where LeBron’s head is at it it seemed pretty

Clear to me that it was time to reconnect with Genie in a very public way um and it’s like oh by the way you know he is hoping to get U you know a and I’m I keep forgetting if it’s two or three year Max for his age on what they

Can give him but uh you know he’s trying to get one more contract from the Lakers um and it feels like that is what he wants to do that he doesn’t want to go anywhere uh even though we’ve been wondering if he was trying to get out of

Town so that for right now that’s kind of where my head’s at and and I think all those things combined will quiet down the uh the story that you’re talking about Sam one of the things I felt watching the game last night with the two teams the Kings and the Lakers

Was for you know one of the narratives I think Lakers wise for a while has been well they want it to be ad’s team with LeBron as like the the 1B the guy that’s kind of the you know Superstar support guy for ad but it’s still LeBron to me

Is their best player and on the heels of a night like last night going back to the of the joke and the reference we talked earlier about sabonis and AD and I mean 10 and0 uh you know is there a frustration for LeBron that ad hasn’t really taken that mantle and honestly in

The head-to-head matchup that sabonis has really dominated uh Anthony Davis I mean I can only go by what LeBron says publicly and he’s always like super defensive for ad and talks about how ad doesn’t care what we think you know what I mean um I’ll be honest you know I’m

Watching that game last night I’m watching the interview with ad I was at shootaround for the Lakers yesterday in Sacramento and ad was asked at that time about the nine and0 or 0 and9 record against sabonis you know and he had given a stock answer about how it’s a

Team game and and it’s not a one-on-one game it just all those vibes combined with the way he played last night those are that’s the kind of stuff that would drive me crazy if I was LeBron um but you know he I think his form of leadership is if that’s how he feels

He’s not ever going to let it on you know he’s had times when he might if we’re being real like he might throw a role player under the bus and and make passive aggressive comments you know publicly about a teammate um but with ad he’s incredibly loyal and he’s

Incredibly supportive um but you know LeBron needs to stay at this level for the next two or three years if they’re going to be relevant and winning games because I don’t you know like you said ad is not he’s not that guy he’s an incredible two-way player um but he’s

You know he’s not even I don’t think the guy that he was in New Orleans um so you know I you guys know I know I’m rambling but like I took a beating on social media around All-Star time for saying that you know I thought domas should

Have gotten that pick over ad and Laker Nation kind of came from my neck but you know the evidence since then is has only supported that even more yeah well they’re also kind of stupid uh here’s here’s the quote you were talking about matter me um

About want to get win you know that’s terrible audio but I was gonna follow up with ad saying that just echoing what you said now we’re we’re moving back into sabonis which which is great and where we should be going uh not just 10 and0 against Davis but that that that’s

You just look at how he is such a terrible matchup and I think it’s a little bit unfair to ad it is a team game and Anthony Davis doesn’t suck he’s a fantastic player this is just a Ric matchup uh for him but when it comes to

Domas sabonis he’s I think four games away uh from tying Kevin Love’s record for consecutive double doubles five away from uh breaking it he leaves the league since January 1 in uh in in assists and in rebounds he leads the league in triple doubles he leads the league in

Double doubles but we were looking yesterday uh Sam with uh with Luca with Tatum with Shay gilis Alexander with joic and uh I think one more I’m forgetting I I I feel like even with all that being said sabonis breaking into the top five in MVP voting is going to

Be a pretty tall task oh yeah that’s not happening um although you just unintentionally confirmed the tone in my Yannis interview by leaving him out oh excuse me Yannis I knew I was forgetting something you’re right the Matrix right because he is it’s it’s wild you look at

Giannis’s season he’s he’s every bit as good as he was in his two MVP years but you know like we talked about about the Optics are not what they need to be for him to win the award sabonis won’t get there in terms of top five um but I do

Think you know for what it’s worth which uh is is maybe not much but in terms of respect level and the way that he gets discussed um I do think media wise fanwise you know beyond Kings fans by the end of this year like people are

Going to understand the type of year he had especially if he goes ahead and and breaks Kevin Love’s record um you know you are seeing kind of better late than never some of that shine come his way and again especially when you do it in Big Time matchups like against the

Lakers who as we all know and I’m as guilty of this as anybody get covered a disproportionate amount yeah in relation to all the other teams so guess what today uh you know never did I think I’d be plugging our competitor ESPN on your show but like if you if you watch NB

Today with Malika Andrews and Malika does do a great job like they’re gonna like sabonis is going to have all kinds of shine today yeah on the show because he did it against the Lakers if he did it against Zion they wouldn’t have cared um and that’s just the way the media machine

Works so it’s you know it’s a great year by him and even beyond the numbers man I I keep hearing nothing but fantastic things just about the the leadership stuff and the way that that he I mean he’s not this is a weird parallel but like like when Russell Westbrook had his

Triple double MVP year and he was getting accused of of you know hunting for stats and things like that and I didn’t necessarily agree with that but like there’s absolutely none of that with domas like the stats just come the numbers just come he just happens to

Play this you know really unique brand of basketball um but as a competitor you know he’s the guy who is you know seemingly among the most pissed off every time they’re dropping these games they shouldn’t drop trying to find the answers trying to get guys going being

More vocal um he’s he’s all in you know 10 toes down as they say and and and in all respects I think he’s had a great year that’s am am of the athletic check out his article on Giannis on DMO and uh the comparison between Giannis and Neo

Which by the way as a matrix fan when I think about Neo dodging bullets and contorting himself all kinds of crazy ways and doing things physically that you just absolutely can’t believe can be done that’s actually a pretty damn good comparison uh so yeah we’ll uh we we’ll

Look forward to that because I also think the Honis is one of the sneakiest best interviews in the league when he’s on as well so I can’t wait to read that make sure you grab your athletic subscription and if you’re going to share the article remember just share

Snippets don’t copy and paste please I hate that and Sam when I share your stuff I do keep that in mind by the way I might put a quote or two in there but we’re not copy pasting because you know listen you guys got to make a living and

Yeah you should get a subscription right I mean I’m being fair I appreciate you buddy yeah of course I don’t fight those fights like I used to but but yeah you know when people take the the best stuff and and the goods and uh and share it

With the masses you know that that does break the business model yeah can’t do that be fair support journalism and you and I look like we’re on the same track as well so maybe I don’t know what’ you say three weeks four weeks uh you’re uh I know you’re

Down south I’m little Northeast maybe we meet in the middle uh at a great clips and uh get it done I love it you got to keep those Grays at Bay buddy you know how that is I I don’t know what you’re talking about that’s athletic we’ll see

You next week buddy say hi to the kids and wife have a good one likewise thanks guys all right take care that’s Sam uh we will take a break when we get back hey afraid of 11

The Athletic’s Sam Amick joined “The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross” on Thursday morning to discuss the Sacramento Kings’ recent two-game win streak, potential playoff matchups and more.

A day removed from an impressive 35-point win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday, the Kings followed that up with a win over the Lakers, completing the season sweep of Los Angeles.

As of Thursday morning, the Sacramento Kings now sit in the sixth seed of the Western Conference, three and a half games behind the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers.

#sacramentokings #losangeleslakers #domantassabonis #lebronjames

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