Anjali Ranadive
Vivek Ranadive's daughter, Anjali Ranadive, and her boyfriend, Jeremy Lamb (yes, that Jeremy Lamb), appeared to have influence over Mike Brown's job status with the Kings, according to Sam Amick and Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Per Amick and Slater: Anjali drove ownership's hesitancy to offer Brown an extension last summer. Vivek [made/approved/choose your word] the call to fire Brown while vacationing with Anjali and Lamb in Mexico. The Athletic relays this fantastic quote/joke (joke?) from a Kings employee earlier this season: "We’re all going to be working for Jeremy Lamb soon enough."
Anjali, now 32, was a singer when she became the minor-league Stockton Kings' assistant general manager. She spent a year in that role then less than a year as Stockton's general manager before resigning last year, she said, to focus on a Ph.D. and her animal non-profit. Lamb finished his 10-year NBA career with the Kings in 2022 then played for Stockton while Anjali was there.
Lamb "no longer appears to be in the loop" but there is concern Anjali could someday become the Kings' primary owner, according to Amick and Slater.
I don't know whether or not Anjali Ranadive and Jeremy Lamb are providing sage insight. But the Kings' decision-making under Vivek Ranadive, whomever he has empowered, has left a lot to be desired.
Domantas Sabonis
Domantas Sabonis is "expected to seek clarity" this offseason about the Kings' plan, according to Sam Amick and Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
That sounds a lot like where De'Aaron Fox's exit escalated.
If it comes to it, there'd be a lot of curiosity around these parts on the trade value of Sabonis, a 28-year-old three-time All-Star with clear limitations and due $140 million over the next three years.
To me, Sacramento's plan looks clear. Getting Zach LaVine in the De'Aaron Fox trade signaled a clear intent to remain competitive. The Kings might not pull that off in the Western Conference with haphazard management, but they appear set to try – with Sabonis an anchor.
Perhaps, he has higher ambitions or other questions. If he does, it shouldn't be hard to get answers.
He just has to sit down with Vivek Ranadive/Monte McNair/Wes Wilcox/Matina Kolokotronis/John Rhinehart/Alvin Gentry/Anjali Ranadive/Jeremy Lamb.
Sacramento Kings
In fairness to Anjali Ranadive, she wasn't the only one in Sacramento who didn't want to give Mike Brown an extension last offseason. De'Aaron Fox, via Michael C. Wright of ESPN:
"During Mike's extension talks, some guys in the locker room didn't want Mike," Fox said. "Some guys wanted him to be fired during the summer. ... But I'm not going to say [who]."
That was such a tough circumstance for Brown to walk back into. Makes it less surprising he got fired early in the season.
De'Aaron Fox-Mike Brown
De'Aaron Fox continues to fight the narrative he got Mike Brown fired. Fox on his offseason message to the Kings, via Michael C. Wright of ESPN:
"I was like, 'Yo, I've been here for going on my eighth year. If Mike gets fired, I'll be going on my fifth coach,'" Fox told ESPN. "And I told them, 'I'm not going to play for another coach. I'm going to play for another team.'"
Fox indicated, when the Kings actually fired Brown, Fox didn't need to tell them what he thought because he already had. But that silence made it less clear where Fox actually stood when Brown came under fire during the season.
Fox didn't tell the Kings to fire Brown. Fox might have even not wanted the Kings to fire Brown. But Fox absolutely did not take the actions necessary to dissuade the Kings from firing Brown.
Compare Fox's conduct before the firing to that of another star who got into a tiff with his coach. Kevin Durant just had a public run-in with Mike Budenholzer. Durant's response? Playing hard and focused to lead the Suns to a big comeback win then lavishing praise on the coach. As Brown harshly criticized the Kings, Fox refused to take accountability and fit into Sacramento's on-court malaise.
That set the stage for the Kings to fire Brown.
Draymond Green/Karl-Anthony Towns
Draymond Green on Karl-Anthony Towns missing the Warriors-Knicks game, via The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis:
"Some would say he didn’t play because Jimmy was in the building. I don't know. … They said KAT ain’t play because Jimmy came into town."
Towns later revealed he missed the game due to the death of someone close to him or at least his family.
Green, via Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press:
“That’s unfortunate, I’m sorry to hear that. That sucks,” Green said. “But my comments that I made were what I heard was this. That’s what I heard. So I do send my well wishes to him and his family.
“So it’s unfortunate, you never wish that on anybody, but the ‘Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis’ must go on.”
Remember when Green said he was the "new media" – media that would uplift and protect players and be truthful? Cool, cool, cool.
Jalen Brunson
Jalen Brunson will miss at least two weeks with a sprained right ankle, the Knicks announced. Eye of the beholder whether this qualifies as good news or bad news.
Mark Cuban
Mark Cuban, via WFAA:
"If the Mavs are going to trade Luka, that's one thing," Cuban said. "Just get a better deal. I still firmly believe if we had gotten four unprotected number ones and Anthony Davis and Max Christie, this would be a different conversation."
I'm with Cuban. The Mavericks weren't necessarily wrong to be concerned by Doncic's habits. But the return for a 25-year-old superstar was paltry. And if they couldn't have gotten more, the Mavericks should have just kept Doncic and hoped he matured. He led them to the Finals just last year! He wasn't that far off.
Payton Pritchard-Derrick White
Payton Pritchard (43 points in the Celtics' win over the Trail Blazers on Wednesday) and Derrick White (41 points) became the first non-All-Star teammates to score more than 40 points in a game.
Karl-Anthony Towns (40 points in the Timberwolves' third-to-last game in 2016-17) and Andrew Wiggins (40 points) are the only other teammates who weren't already established All-Stars to score 40 in a game. But both Towns and Wiggins became All-Stars.
Pritchard and White will likely never become All-Stars (though it's not impossible). This was just one special night for two high-level role players.
3-1 lead
To fill in the details of a discussion on the most-disastrous-team pod, the only teams to blow a 3-1 lead with home-court advantage:
- Warriors to Cavaliers in 2016 NBA Finals
- Suns to Rockets in 1995 second round
- 76ers to Celtics in 1968 Eastern Division finals – ending what Nate deemed the third-most-disastrous season ever
2005-06 SuperSonics
Another curiosity that emerged during the most-disastrous teams pod: Did the 2005-06 SuperSonics – who allowed 8.2 more points per 100 possessions than league average that season – have the worst relative defensive rating of all-time?
Yes, tied with the 1999 Nuggets.
Highest relative Basketball-Reference defensive ratings since the NBA began tracking turnovers in 1973-74:
The most recent team on that "leaderboard" is the 2018-19 Cavaliers. It's been a while since we've seen a truly disastrous defense. The Jazz this year – 5.4 points above league average – are the worst since those first-year-post-LeBron Cavs.
-Dan Feldman