Alvin Gentry Says A ‘Horsesh*t Rule’ Led To The Kings’ Loss Against The Lakers

After trading baskets with the Los Angeles Lakers most of the evening on Tuesday, the Sacramento Kings faltered late and lost 122-114, dropping them to 16-23 on the season.

With just under 25 seconds remaining, Malik Monk missed a pair of free throws and Sacramento seemingly corralled the rebound, called timeout, and prepared to draw up a play. Yet the timeout was called before anyone actually secured possession, though after the clock began running, and officials deemed the play a jump ball, which Los Angeles ultimately won and put the game away for good.

Kings head coach Alvin Gentry was irate with the call as it unfolded and was even more frustrated post-game.

“It’s a horsesh*t rule in the NBA. The referees did exactly what they were supposed to do. It is the rule. They enforce the rule the way it is,” Gentry said. “If anything needs to be changed, the rule needs to be changed. I think there’s gotta be some common sense. We have the basketball right there. They started the clock. We didn’t start the clock. It wasn’t our error. And so, we got punished for a dumbass rule. That’s the bottom line.”

While Sacramento has played better basketball since Gentry took over in late November, the veteran head coach has expressed his fair share of post-game frustrations. Tuesday’s occurrence was another example, and it surely seems like the Kings were unjustifiably punished for someone else’s mistake, contributing to a tough loss on the road.