The Sacramento Kings slumped to their 50th loss of the season with a dismal 133-123 performance against the New Orleans Pelicans. The Kings are rooted to the bottom of the NBA standings this season, with things going from bad to worse on the court. This is definitely not the season that 18-year NBA veteran Russell Westbrook imagined when he joined them during the offseason.
Amid a tough season, Westbrook is averaging 15.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 6.4 assists for the Kings. His numbers haven’t translated to winning impact for a franchise that has just 14 wins on the season. With mounting criticism from local media, Westbrook decided to address reporters with a passionate rant against what he believes are ill-informed media comments about the team affecting players on the court.
“Go out and compete. It’s the game, be professional about it and play, that’s all you can do. But what y’all think though? Because y’all got the answers and always be talking. Oh, very interesting. You guys have a lot of opinions about what we’re doing. What about you? (points at media member) Because you make broad statements when you have no context. Where do you get your context from?”
“Are you at practice? Are you at our film session? Are you anywhere around the building? No, I haven’t seen you at practice. And actually, do you know me? No, you don’t know me. But you make a lot of comments as though you do know me. My intent. I see it. But I’m asking you now, that you don’t know anything about me.”
“Anybody else? Do you guys have any comments on how we play and what we’re doing? You guys are quiet today, but you guys have a lot of comments when the game is going on. What we’re doing, what we should be doing, how we should be doing it. I am confused.”
After a reporter pointed out their poor record, their poor stats on offense and defense, and other shortcomings, Westbrook responded.
“That’s been pointed out. What else has been pointed out? I’ve seen the things you say. It’s not just about our record or our offense and our defense; we’ve been the worst record in the NBA for a long time. I’m asking you. You have a lot of things to say, so this is the floor. This is the time.”
Westbrook had small conversations with multiple reporters as they politely tried to air their grievances about the season they’ve had this year. After a reporter made it clear that his frustrations aren’t because of Westbrook or the players, the 38-year-old guard spoke up.
“I don’t think anybody is blaming me. What I don’t like, I’ve been in the league a long time and around a lot of different organizations. Media, beat writers, and we’ve got a lot of young guys on the team who don’t know what’s happening… Your guys’ job is to talk about the game. Not stir up a bunch of, I don’t want to cuss here and get fined, but stir a bunch of stuff that’s not accurate. That’s my problem.”
“Being in the league a while, I’ve had experience where people outside of our building and film session, outside of what we do daily, how much work we put in, that’s not an easy jobto do. I think the respect level is that we respect y’all and what you do. You guys come in and make your comments, and nobody says nothing. I don’t have to sit back. The media’s been my thing, but as the leader of this team, it’s my job to speak up for the guys in the locker room. We talk about this year, I hear it.”
“But because of the comments you guys make, we’ve got guys thinking about a whole bunch of random things that have nothing to do with the game. You guys are making false comments about the team and what we’re doing here, and I don’t appreciate that. I ask you to respect what we do and we’ll respect what you do… It’s not about me, I’ve seen much worse. It’s about the team and the organization.”
“I came here a little late, but I feel like you guys expected that we were gonna win a championship. The conversation we’re hearing is that if we don’t win a championship, it’s a bust or something. That’s not the case. This is our job. Y’all have your job, you go to work. We could critique y’all, but we don’t. We have our job, and we come to do it the best way we know how to. Wins, losses, it’s all a part of it. After that, we go home. Y’all see your families, and we see ours, but don’t make false comments about us as individuals, what they do, how they are, what they’re thinking, why they’re doing this, how come they’re doing that? If you don’t know, don’t say nothing you don’t know nothing about.”
Russell Westbrook decided to go at the media tonight in postgame. pic.twitter.com/UOgmGhV5OH
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA) March 6, 2026
The Kings might have had hopes of being a bubble Playoff team when the season started, but they didn’t imagine things being this bad. While their status as the worst team in the NBA does guarantee them a top-five pick in the stacked 2026 NBA Draft and best odds to get the No. 1 pick, this is not what their preseason expectations would’ve been for a team of veterans.
It’s unclear if Russell Westbrook is referring to anything specific that was said, as he refused to address the same when the reporters asked him. However, it’s clear their general negative tone on the season hasn’t helped the locker room much, especially with the speculation on the futures of the veteran players on the team.
Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine will miss the rest of the season with injuries, while Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan are playing out the season with no winning expectations on them. This will be useful developmental time for young prospects such as Dylan Cardwell, Devin Carter, Maxine Raynaud and Nique Clifford. Westbrook understands that and clearly wants to protect the youngsters from fierce criticism amid a tough time for the franchise.
Their next game is against the Chicago Bulls on Sunday at 8:00 P.M. ET.
