Since being drafted just ahead of Luka Doncic, Kings fans have held a little resentment towards Marvin Bagley. It’s the kind of resentment that reveals more and more of itself as the fans slowly lose grasp of any concept of patience. Although it wasn’t really his choice as to where he’d be drafted, Bagley has received much of the fan ire for the blunders made by a knucklehead GM.
While Bagley played well in his first year and even made the All-Rookie First Team for a then-up and coming Kings team, the gap in career trajectory began to chasm shortly thereafter. It didn’t provide Bagley any coverage that Doncic went on to win Rookie of the Year and became a bonafide star one season later.
Since then, Bagley has struggled with injuries mightily, missing most of his sophomore season with a broken thumb and foot problems.
As Doncic blossomed into a star, Bagley rode the bench with a boot on his foot. It was only natural that Kings fans took their frustration out on Bagley with one fan going so far as to make death threats towards the big man.
Anyone that tweeted Bagley a 20 year old kid, personal attacks regarding race or death threats you should be ashamed of yourself. This is a game. A GAME pic.twitter.com/s5JZxz8VDY
— Jillian Adge (@JillAdge) February 5, 2020
At the start of his third season, Bagley came into the year healthy but saw his role limited in close games due to his defensive shortcomings. Not pleased with his son’s lack of playing time, Bagley’s dad posted and then quickly deleted a tweet demanding his son be traded.
With Bagley choosing not to speak on the matter, it almost felt like he concurred with his dad’s statement, building only more displeasure in the fanbase.
At the trade deadline, Monte McNair made Bagley available in trade talks and even offered him to the Pistons for Saddiq Bey straight up, to which Detroit declined.
As no surprise to anyone, Bagley finished off the year mostly on the sideline, playing in just 6 of the team’s final 32 games.
Sacramento missed the playoffs yet again while Kings fans have had to watch other members of the 2018 draft shine in the postseason in such a fashion that the class was granted some recognition as possibly one of the best ever.
With Trae Young, Luka Doncic, and other players passed up by Sacramento showing that they’re the upcoming faces of the NBA with dazzling playoff performances, Bagley only sticks out even more like a sore thumb while his classification as a bust gains only more merit.
Last Wednesday night, Bagley may have laid down his final straw in Sacramento as he liked a tweet suggesting he should leave the Kings in addition to also removing “Sacramento King” from his Twitter and Instagram bios.
Unfortunately for Bagley, he won’t be traded for nothing as he still has some value to his stock. The Kings will probably be better off holding until the trade deadline to deal the big man in hopes his trade worth increases by then.
But for now, Bagley is making it known that he is over playing in Sacramento, and the way he’s played the past three seasons, it’s hard to imagine the front office thinks of him as a key piece of the Kings’ future.
Bagley doesn’t deserve all the hate he receives, and fans — like some fans do — have been excessive in their animosity of the big man at some points. Of course, it’s expected to view Bagley’s antics as immature and annoying, but beyond that basic disgruntlement, the bounds by which some have expressed frustration have been extreme.
Most will agree that Bagley’s time in Sacramento may not come to a screeching halt, but the ground has been laid for quite some time and we are approaching the inevitable end. One can only hope for the best for both Bagley and Sacramento, and sometimes that means it is just better for both parties to go their separate ways.
Honestly whoever wrote this article should be ashamed of themselves. Not only are Kings fans painted in an incorrect light, but whomever wrote this is claiming to be something they are not… A writer for the Sacramento Kings
Kings fans are not upset that Bagley isn’t Doncic. A quick glance at the subreddit or a walk around Sacramento would show you it’s not Bagley, it’s Vlade. Something somebody should do if they want to represent Sacramento.
A 16 year playoff drought and horrible mismanagement has shown us that you can’t get mad at players for not living up to their standards, cause a lot of the time it’s not their fault. Kings fans know that better than any fanbase. Something a writer for the Kings should know.
As a child I went to many Kings games and I continue to do so. Our fan base is unique is the sense that we are arguably the most forgiving fan base in the entire NBA. Sacramento citizens are hard working, blue collar, and passionate. Something I expect a writer who claims to represent me to know.
That being said, there is no fan base like us, and it’s proven year after year we fall short. 16 straight seasons of failure and we still show up and cheer for our guys. Many of us have jerseys of past high 1st round draft picks that were busts. NONE of them had a hard a time as bagley, yet will still cheer for them and give them standing ovations when they come home. Something a writer who claims to represent my fan base should know.
We don’t like Bagley because he isn’t Luca, we dislike him because he doesn’t try. All you have to do to win over this franchise is show up everyday and leave it all on the court. We go nuts for guys who work harder than the other team. We love it so much that we’ve become accustomed to rooting for that instead of winning. That’s all you have to do to be liked here, and Bagley can’t do it.
So no, stop giving Bagley credit for something he hasn’t earned. Bagley want benched for his defensive shortcomings, he was benched for his defensive EFFORT.
We don’t want a guy who will leave a road trip over a finger injury instead of staying with the team and offering moral support. We don’t want a guy who actively tries to leave our franchise on social media instead of helping the team chemistry. We don’t want a guy who likes tweets saying he should leave the franchise. This whole debacle is 100% in Bagley
But most importantly I think I speak for all fans when I say, we don’t write a writer representing Sacramento when he doesn’t understand what I’ve just outlined.
I don’t read much… but dafuq is this man… read more than a headline and stop trollin
Since you’re all in for keeping the facts straight allow me…
1- You wrote: “…whomever wrote this is claiming to be something they are not… A writer for the Sacramento Kings.” And then, in the same breath, you assume that role, writing declaratively: “Kings fans are not upset that Bagley isn’t Doncic. A quick glance at the subreddit…” So even though the writer of the above article never says anything about being the spokesperson for the Kings, you’re going to purport to be that? (With you’re trusty source for the real world: the internet?) Sounds like it— you pepper in things like “Kings fans know…” and refer to the fanbase collectively saying “We don’t like…” and “We love it so much…” So evidently, you’re the writer that represents Kings fans, right? You should get credit?
2- You also are assuming a lot about a writer that you don’t even know the name of, and yet you seem to know him/her very well. You write things like “As a child I went to many Kings games and I continue to do so” or “Many of us have jerseys of past high 1st round draft picks that were busts. NONE of them had a hard a time as bagley, yet will still cheer for them and give them standing ovations when they come home.” How the hell would you know if the writer of this article does or doesn’t do any of that?
3- You said: “Sacramento citizens are hard working, blue collar, and passionate.” Not equipped to judge work ethic or passion level of a whole city, but blue collar? All of Sacramento? What century are you in? Have you seen downtown? Do you pay rent there? Any idea about gentrification and revitalization and what that costs? That’s like saying San Francisco is gritty.
4- Now digging further into your thesis… what was it again? Let’s figure it out… so you said: “Kings fans are not upset that Bagley isn’t Doncic.” But you later say: “We [again that collective word connoting how in tuned you are with the whole fanbase] don’t like Bagley because he isn’t Luca, we dislike him because he doesn’t try. All you have to do to win over this franchise is show up everyday and leave it all on the court.” So Doncic and Bagley were both available and the Kings take Bagley…Bagley is, as you say, lethargic to say the least, and Doncic is one of the top players in the league (which, safe to assume, requires a lot of effort). And lo and behold, Kings fans are frustrated and dissatisfied with Bagley (you said that, the writer said that— you agree)… sounds to me like it’s safe to say kings fans wish they had Doncic. I don’t know what you’re quibbling about.
5- So throughout the whole thing, if one hasn’t noticed by now, you make a lot of effort to “correct” the writer without really correcting anything. The above point kinda classifies as that. Also, you wrote: “Bagley [wasn’t] benched for his defensive shortcomings, he was benched for his defensive EFFORT.” So you’re a bad defender in any level of basketball if you have poor effort. What are you clarifying on behalf of the fanbase? Is poor effort not a defensive shortcoming? Basically you’re being redundant in trying to correct the writer— which is, in the end, a waste of everyone’s time.
6- You wrote: “We don’t want a guy who actively tries to leave our franchise on social media instead of helping the team chemistry. We don’t want a guy who likes tweets saying he should leave the franchise. This whole debacle is 100% in Bagley” …Which prompts the question: did you even read the article you’re trying to correct?
7- And then at the end, after all this nonsense you have the gall to write: “But most importantly I think I speak for all fans when I say, we don’t write a writer representing Sacramento when he doesn’t understand what I’ve just outlined.”
All I can say is: C’mon man.