Sunday marked the first time the Sacramento Kings have hosted the Detroit Pistons since a four-team trade sent Marvin Bagley III from the Kings to the Pistons in February. Given the former Duke basketball one-and-done’s past public beef with the franchise that drafted him No. 2 overall in 2018, the chilly reception was no surprise.
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Bagley, whose inner circle often turned to social media to voice his displeasure with the Kings’ usage, or sometimes the lack thereof, of the big man during his four years in Sacramento, received a chorus of boos from the Kings faithful.
Across the 24 hours leading up to the game, they spread the word on Twitter for fans to boo him repeatedly, mixing in less-than-flattering facts about Bagley’s pro career, such as the decrease in his scoring average from one year to the next since he entered the league (from 14.9 points per game as a rookie to 10.0 so far this season).
They booed the Duke basketball product before the game.
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And then they booed him seemingly every time he touched the ball during the game.
So did Marvin Bagley III respond to the reverberating ill will with a brilliant performance against his former team? Well, not quite. That said, his box score was far from embarrassing as the lowly Pistons (3-15) left with a 137-129 loss at the hands of the Kings (9-6), winners of six straight.
As a starter in his fifth game back since missing Detroit’s first 13 games this season with a sprained MCL that he sustained in a preseason contest, the 23-year-old Bagley totaled 15 points, six boards, one steal, and one block against Sacramento. . But his fifth foul midway through the third quarter limited him to only 21 minutes on the night.
The Pistons face the Kings only once more this season, in Detroit on Dec. 16.
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