Sacramento Kings coach Luke Walton addressed a recent report that fourth-year forward Marvin Bagley III refused to check into Sacramento's recent game against the Phoenix Suns after Walton asked him to do so. Walton didn't specifically confirm or deny the report, opting instead to keep his focus looking forward.
"Marvin and I are constantly in communication, and today was about San Antonio. Today was a very good shootaround and we're going into tonight," Walton said. "He and everyone else knows, we need everyone this year and everyone has to be ready... Anything that happens within our group, that's between our group. So the thing that matters is people know what's expected and we continue to move forward tonight."
You can see Walton's full comments on the matter below:
Luke Walton responds to the reports that Marvin Bagley III refused to check in to the game on Monday pic.twitter.com/Za9sOjaN7n
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) November 11, 2021
Bagley's unhappiness with his situation in Sacramento is no secret. He's been out of the team's rotation so far this season, as he has appeared in just one game for a total of 10 minutes. Bagley's agent, Jeff Schwartz, recently called out the Kings for their handling of the former lottery pick.
"Sacramento has informed Marvin Bagley he is not in the opening night rotation, which is completely baffling," Schwartz said in a statement. "It's clear they have no plans for him in the future, and yet, passed on potential deals at last year's deadline and this summer based on 'value.' Instead, they chose to bring him back but not play him, a move completely contradictory to their 'value' argument. This is a case study in mismanagement by the Kings organization."
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Bagley has a right to be upset with the situation, but refusing to check into a game isn't going to help. If anything, you'd think he'd want to take advantage of any on-court opportunity that he's afforded in order to demonstrate his value to the Kings -- or the league's 29 other teams, because at this point in time it appears as though a fresh start might be best for Bagley.