"It's a horse**** rule" Sacramento Kings Coach Fuming After Close Loss To Los Angeles Lakers

Tuesday evening's matchup between the Sacramento Kings and the Los Angeles Lakers was a close game that saw the Lakers prevail in the final minutes for their 4th straight victory. The game was close, with 23 lead changes and no team leading by more than 8 in the entire game. LeBron James (31 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast) was spectacular, particularly in the 4th quarter when he scored 14 points, and his recent play at center should impress even the most bull-headed LeBron critics. The Kings answered back with the 1-2 combo of Buddy Hield (26 pts, 5 reb) and De'Aaron Fox (30 pts, 6 ast) but ultimately fell short 122-114 to surging Lakers.

The big story coming out of the game, however, is about a late-game call by the officials, that while correct - ended up costing the Sacramento Kings a key possession and arguably, the game. With under 30 seconds left in the game, after a missed free throw from the Lakers' Malik Monk (24 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast), the game clock started running despite the King's De'Aaron Fox not touching the ball. He immediately notified the closest official who whistled the play dead, and they proceeded to review the play, assumingly to determine how much time to put on the clock before giving possession to the Kings. What happened instead was baffling, and interim head coach Alvin Gentry, who took over after Luke Walton was fired in November, was absolutely furious on the bench.

Alvin Gentry is fired up after the refs call this play a jump ball 😠 pic.twitter.com/S38KD1qoCI
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) January 5, 2022

Gentry's reaction is understandable, as everyone in the building knew that De'Aaron Fox was going to take possession of the ball, but in accordance with the rules - if a play is blown dead while neither team has possession, then a jump ball is will commence. It's frustrating of course because the only reason Fox didn't touch the ball was due to someone else's error, and kudos to Gentry for directing his tirade at the rule itself and not the officials who enforced it.

Before you ask me about that play, it's a horse**** rule in the NBA. The referees did exactly what they were supposed to do, it is the rule - they enforced the rule the way that it is. If anthing needs to be changed the rule needs to be changed.

He went on further to explain that it wasn't just the call, but his teams play in general that led to the loss and he didn't use it as an excuse. Check out the entire video below: