SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ Kings guard Buddy Hield apologized to teammates at practice Friday after making some controversial comments following a double-overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday night at Golden 1 Center.
Hield was not made available to the media after practice, but coach Luke Walton and teammate Harrison Barnes said his apology was well received.
"He showed maturity and responsibility and addressed his teammates before we started, and I was happy to see that," Walton said.
Hield referred to "trust issues" within the team following the loss to the Timberwolves, Sacramento's fifth in a row. Hield, mired in the most prolonged shooting slump of his career, said being benched during key stretches in recent games shows coaches lack confidence in him.
"Seems like we're all over the place _ coaches and everybody. Trust issues going on, I guess," Hield said. "Guys stop believing in players. It is what it is. They have who they have playing out there and I just have to be supportive. ... I like to be on the court. That's why I'm on the court, right? I want to make plays, make shots. I feel like I wasn't trusted the past two games to be on the court."
Hield, the only player in NBA history to make 600 3-pointers in his first three seasons, has made just 7 of 39 (.179) from beyond the arc over the past four games. He had a five-game stretch in late November and early December in which he made 15 of 61 (.246) from 3-point range.
Making matters worse, point guard De'Aaron Fox and forward Marvin Bagley III were hurt again in the loss to Minnesota, and Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Friday that center Dewayne Dedmon wants to be traded.
Walton said he understands Hield's frustrations, but he should not have expressed them publicly.
"To me, all that stuff should be kept in house," Walton said. "You've got to always understand, this is an emotional game and I get that ... but we've got to do a better job of keeping that in house."
Barnes expressed similar sentiments.
"Anytime you have losses that add up, you have games in which individually and collectively we don't feel like we're playing at our best, there's a lot of emotion that comes with that, a lot of frustration, a lot of anger. ... This is an emotional game. We ask teammates, players and coaches, to have that passion and sometimes it boils over, but I think we all know everyone is locked in and committed toward making this team and this franchise the best that it can possibly be."
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