When the Kings fired coach Mike Malone last month, one report suggested owner Vivek Ranadive wanted Malone to try innovative approaches to the game, including a 4-on-5 cherry-pick defense.
Looks like at least one Kings player — and interim coach Tyrone Corbin — is willing to give it a shot, though perhaps unintentionally.
In the middle of a play in the second quarter Monday night against the Brooklyn Nets, Kings forward Reggie Evans ran to the bench and sat down instead of playing defense. Watch at the very beginning, as Evans casually strolls to the bench, unbeknownst to the Nets.
Then, when the ball came back the other way, Evans hopped up off the bench, tried to throw down an open dunk, and missed it.
Evans, a former Net, is known for trying unique ways to win games, and it’s not clear if he thought he legitimately had been taken out of the game, or was trying to pull a fast one on Brooklyn a la Ranadive’s wishes. The Kings also had DeMarcus Cousins at the scorer’s table, which is either more proof it wasn’t intentional, or a cunning act of subterfuge. Evans isn’t the most talented offensive player in the first place, so it would be odd to even give him that attempt.
Either way, it didn’t work out so well for him.
