Sacramento Kings get roasted in ‘Saturday Night Live’ sketch on NBA replacement players
The Kings got some national television exposure Saturday, but not because they made the highlight reels for one of the top 10 plays of the night.
“Saturday Night Live” had some fun at Sacramento’s expense, spoofing the Kings in a sketch about NBA replacement players and the league’s recent COVID-19 outbreak. Teams across the league have been hit hard by the virus, including the Kings, who have had 11 players enter NBA health and safety protocols since mid-December, along with numerous coaches, executives and staff.
SNL featured an “NBA on TNT” halftime report starring Alex Moffat as Ernie Johnson, Kenan Thompson as Charles Barkley, Chris Redd as Kenny Smith, Ariana DeBose as Candace Parker and Bowen Yang as Yao Ming.
“Well, speaking of COVID, before the game the entire Kings team tested positive and also most of their coaching staff and trainers,” Johnson said. “They were forced to find replacements pretty quick, but they did and at the half it’s Nets lead the Kings 268-1. Charles, why can’t Sacramento get anything going tonight?”
“Well, in my opinion, the biggest thing to me is that the Kings don’t have any NBA players on their team,” Barkley said.
Johnson agreed with Barkley’s analysis.
“Yup, the Kings players tonight are all fans or arena support staff,” Johnson said. “Any thoughts, Yao?”
“They are tiny people,” Ming said. “Too small.”
The sketch featured a graphic comparing Brooklyn Nets star James Harden to Dougie McCormick, a fictitious assistant equipment manager who was pressed into service for the Kings. Harden had an astounding 83 points and 59 assists in the first half. McCormick was held scoreless while suffering two asthma attacks.
The SNL halftime report also included interviews with replacement players Riley Beckwith and Alicia Miller, who was asked to play after going to the game with friends.
“This is like the craziest girls’ night ever,” she said.
The Kings were led by a temporary coach who was recruited based on his work at the Little Dunkers Day Camp.
“That’s correct,” he said. “I coach my son’s team. He was actually drafted, too. He’s been guarding Kyrie Irving.”
This story was originally published January 16, 2022 at 12:12 PM.
