Zach LaVine responds to quote, offensive inconsistencies in rough Kings season
Zach LaVine said he wasn’t aware of a quote attributed to him that made the rounds on social media over the weekend.
“Whatever he paraphrased, he might have taken it out of context,” LaVine said Monday after the Sacramento Kings’ 116-105 loss to the Indiana Pacers.
LaVine was being asked about a quote attributed to him on X by Cyro Asseo, a contributor to Hoops Hype who was covering Sacramento’s win over the Miami Heat on Saturday: “I can do that any night if they give me the damn ball enough.”
The context: LaVine had just scored 42 points in Sacramento’s most lopsided victory of an otherwise dreary season. It came after he scored just 2 points three nights earlier in a blowout loss to the Houston Rockets.
LaVine’s quote, accurate or not, was discussed widely on social media and local radio shows throughout Sacramento on Monday. And it certainly didn’t favor the Kings’ shooting guard given how he’s often criticized as the highest paid player on a team that fell to 6-18 Monday against the Pacers.
LaVine is on a five-year, $215 million contract he signed with the Chicago Bulls in 2022, but has never won a playoff series or been All-NBA. He’s made two All-Star teams over his 12 seasons, but none since signing the contract.
LaVine was the target of an angry fan’s rant during a game on Nov. 26.
Regarding the X post from Asseo, the 30-year-old shooting guard said “I didn’t say that” when the portion of the quote about his teammates not passing to him was relayed back. He also said he didn’t know he was talking to a reporter who would share what he said on social media. As Asseo reported it, it was said while LaVine was on his way to the team bus, not in the locker room during a normal interview session.
“Sometimes you talk a little mess to people,” LaVine said. “I’m a confident guy, so I’m gonna go out there and talk a little mess sometimes. ... I think when you have a good game like that, you’re very excited. For me, I know I can get it going at any time regardless of any situation I’m in. I just it take as a thing (with) my confidence.”
LaVine scored 16 points on Wednesday while going scoreless in the fourth quarter. The Kings managed just two points over the final 5:59 while the Pacers came back to win after blowing a 19-point third-quarter lead.
LaVine’s inconsistencies have been part of a broad trend throughout Sacramento’s miserable season. He set a high bar to begin the year, scoring at least 30 points in five of his first six games. He’s scored 30 or more just twice in the 15 games since, which have included five in single digits. His 20.6 points per game this season would be his lowest since 2017-18, his fourth year in the league.
“Every game is different,” LaVine said. “You’re not going to go out there and average 35 a game. You gotta read the game, sometimes it’s somebody (else’s) night, sometimes it’s your night. You know, we’re working through a lot of growing pains ... from players, coaches, top to bottom.
“We’re working through some growing pains. None of us in here are quitters. We’re very competitive, and we’re going to stick with that, and we’re going to continue to do what we got to do as professionals. At least, I can speak for myself and some of my teammates, we’re going to do it in the right way. You’re going to deal with some growing pains. It sucks, but it’s what we have to deal with.”
Kings coach Doug Christie before Monday’s game said he hadn’t seen the quote and therefore didn’t have a conversation with LaVine about the sentiment.
“I don’t really worry about Zach,” Christie said, “because when you are a scorer, and probably to his quote is like, listen, let me touch the basketball. Because every time he shoots it, as you’re standing there, it really actually looks like it’s going in.”
Christie has noted throughout the season that Sacramento needs LaVine’s aggressiveness. The Kings offense came into Monday’s loss ranked 27th in efficiency, which has frustrated Kings fans given the scoring talent on the roster, highlighted by LaVine.
What Christie saw in Miami during the 42-point performance was what Sacramento needs more often.
“But there was an aggressiveness, an assertiveness in his aggressiveness, that was one of the highest ones of the year,” Christie said. “When he caught the basketball, his gravity, you could feel it. He was looking to score the basketball. And I don’t think in a selfish way at all, he was just looking to score.
“... Which is what we need him to do,” Christie continued, “because that changes the complexity of how they have to guard, what they have to do.”
This story was originally published December 8, 2025 at 8:35 PM.
