Some Reporters Got Caught On A Hot Mic During The Kings Media Day Calling Ben Simmons Cringe And Zach LaVine A Prick, But Acknowledged They're Both "Hella Fine"

For the most part, Media Day in the NBA is a day for PR answers, players talking about how they're in the best shape of their lives, pandering, and is generally a time for fans to allow their brains to go to dangerous places. For those who are itching for basketball to return, it's a great day for all those reasons.

Then of course, there are always a few instances of the unexpected. For example, maybe you're a media member in between interviews, and you get caught on a hot mic shitting all over some of the players. If I were to ask you to guess which team this happened with, who would be your guess?

Of course it was the Kings! There really couldn't have been any other choice. Every other team in the NBA is having a pretty normal Media Day, and here come the KANGZ doing KANGZ things. I guess technically it was the media there to cover the Kings, but same thing. You just know whoever those people are in that clip are sick to their stomachs upon learning that not only were they on a hot mic, but the internet already caught it. They can delete the streams all they want, once it's on the internet, everyone's seen it. It feels like now that we're in 2026, if you are in any type of situation with cameras or mics present, you should probably just assume that things are on and recording at all times. Especially when the whole point of the day is to get video and audio of interviews for Media Day. Hell, even if the session is over you should still probably assume things are recording until you leave the room completely. It's easy for us to say on the outside, but that feels like Day 1 stuff.

Now in terms of what was said, if we're being honest it's not really that big of a deal. Sure it's not the best look for media members to be openly shitting on the players they're covering, but they did say both Ben Simmons and Zach LaVine were "hella fine" so in a way you can chalk that up to a win. It's very easy to just ignore the cringey part and focus on the " you're hot as shit part if you ask me. I'm sure Zach LaVine may not love to hear that his personality is annoying and he's a prick, but my guess is he'll survive. Again, just focus on the good parts and you're fine.

In terms of Ben Simmons, is stuff like this cringey?

I mean kind of, but that's also part of Media Day. Every player in the NBA is giving cringey answers during their media sessions. That's the whole point. And while I certainly don't know Zach LaVine personally, he seems like an OK guy

Again, even if you think those things are true, you have to find a way to keep that shit to yourself, or at least until you're out of the practice facility. 

In a way, this whole thing sums up the Kings perfectly. They're a dumpster fire. Sorry if that offends, but it's the truth. Their roster makes little sense, their coaching is a disaster, their owner and front office doesn't seem to have any idea what they're doing, the media is talking shit about the players while on a hot mic, how else would you describe it? They went 22-60 last year! Who knows, maybe Darius Acuff Jr hits and is a budding superstar, but do you really trust the Kings to not fuck up another franchise point guard situation? How'd that go with Tyrese Haliburton and De'Aaron Fox? So even if he works out, Kings fans can't even enjoy it because there's a real possibility the team just trades the player on day anyway.

Given this is how the 2026-27 Kings season is starting, it's hard to imagine things get better from here.