Kings rookie Justin James gets moment in the New York spotlight

The New York media throngs are always a scene. A dozen reporters, cameras and recording gear in tow, crowded into the Brooklyn locker room Friday night to talk to the Kings’ star of the night.

What was unusual was that they were crowded around Justin James.

Rookie second-round draft picks don’t usually garner much attention, on the road or at home. Welcome to a weird night in the Kings’ season.

With Bogdan Bogdanovic and De’Aaron Fox sidelined, and with Cory Joseph clearly hobbled by a heel injury, James was called on for 33 minutes during the Kings’ 116-97 loss to the Nets. That’s about five times as much play as James has had all season. It was more than double the 15 minutes he played total in his previous four games.

In a quiet moment after the crowd dissipated, James just shrugged when asked about the media throng. He was kind of expecting it. He had a good night and there wasn’t much else to talk about.

Coach Luke Walton certainly liked what he saw.

“Really impressed with him,” Walton said. “He’s come a long way in the short time we’ve had him. To see him out there the way he was competing, but he was playing smart as far as the play calls, reading the game, taking on the defensive challenge. It was a bright spot on a bad night, Justin was very good for us.”

His stats certainly weren’t eye-popping. James had 14 points, three rebounds and three assists. He had a couple of turnovers but was pretty solid for a guy taken with the 40th overall pick playing his fifth NBA game.

What really got the media’s attention was James’ vertical leap. He went up for a massive dunk over Brooklyn’s 6-foot-11 center, DeAndre Jordan, that was narrowly denied.

James handled the media throng’s questions about the attempt quickly and professionally. “Good defense by him,” was all James really said about the play.

‘He never shuts up, really.’

That he was able to give concise answers must be a little surprising to Walton, who said James is a chatterbox. Not that he’s complaining.

“He’s one of the most talkative players I’ve been around,” Walton said. “But I think that’s helping him. Every practice, he never shuts up, really. And I think because of that, he knows the offense, he knows the play calls. ...

“He knows what an amazing opportunity this is for him and he’s doing everything in his power to make it work. He made a nice case for himself tonight.”

The Kings are used to having chatty players. They got a reminder when Brooklyn’s Iman Shumpert started going back and forth with Kings assistant Bobby Jackson during warmups. Jackson said something to get Shumpert off his shooting rhythm and Shumpert, who started 40 games in a brief stint with the Kings last year, complained loudly about it.

During the game, the chatter continued. James smiled broadly when asked about the talk.

“Yeah, I did hear him a little bit,” he said. “I’m not really sure what he was saying, but I definitely heard his voice. He always is that type of competitor and it just makes you play harder.”

Kings’ shooting woes

Playing harder on defense and working for rebounds was a theme for the Kings after the loss, but the key was their shooting, or lack thereof. Sacramento hit just 4 of 26 3-point tries, earning a special mention from Walton after the game. The Kings also gave up 31 foul shots, compared to 19 they earned.

The offense looked out of sync immediately, where the Kings had a missed shot, a turnover and an offensive foul on their first three possessions. You’ll have that when Bogdanovic and Fox aren’t playing. While Fox is out for at least a couple more weeks with an ankle sprain, Bogdanovic participated in pregame warmups and looked like he might be ready to play Sunday against the Wizards.

The Kings could use the help. James’ moment in the spotlight was nice, but it would be better if the team made some shots. Buddy Hield went 1-for-8 from behind the line and started driving inside to get different looks. It was that kind of night.

“I feel like we had a rough shooting night because guys forced it. We were just out of whack tonight,” Hield said.

It was a weird night. Just look at the crowd around James’ locker.

Sacramento Kings upcoming schedule

Nov. 24 at Washington Wizards

Nov. 25 at Boston Celtics

Nov. 27 at Philadelphia 76ers

Nov. 30 vs. Denver Nuggets

Dec. 2 vs. Chicago Bulls