NBA Reddit reacts to Bill Kennedy bamboozling Kings with unusual review delivery vs Lakers - "He knows what he's doing"
During the Sacramento Kings' home showdown with the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, veteran referee Bill Kennedy left fans completely bamboozled when he announced the results of a Coach's Challenge. Initially, Kings player Keon Tyrese Ellis was called for a foul, however, once coach Mike Brown challenged the call, the foul was switched to Kevin Huerter.
The way Kennedy announced the news to Kings fans in attendance sent fans on a rollercoaster ride given how he delivered the news. Initially, the official made it sound like he was about to deliver good news to fans, however, he then bamboozled them, announcing that the foul was still on a Sacramento player.
"After reviewing the play, the defensive foul that was called on number 23 has been overturned. Unfortunately, the foul is now on number nine, and the Lakers will retain possession of the ball on the side. The coach's challenge is successful."
Immediately, fans began to weigh in on the situation, with many of the mindset that Kennedy was well aware of the fact that he added some flair to the announcement.
"Oh he knows what he’s doing this ain’t the first time he’s done this lol," one fan said.
"You can hear him sort of giggle as well, he knows what he's doing," another fan said.
"This ref gets it: Sports are entertainment!" one fan said.
Others kept the jokes coming, with many of the mindset that Kennedy played up the announcement for Sacramento's home crowd:
"This man is pure theater like Shakespeare of basketball," one fan said.
"I wonder if he would have still said “unfortunately” if the game was in LA or if he would have switched it to “fortunately”. He’s pretending he’s just reading from a script but i feel he’s definitely dog whistling to the crowd with his word choice and I love it," another fan said.
"I felt like he was trying not to smile delivering the news," one fan said.
Thursday's Lakers-Kings game saw LeBron James break another NBA record
More than 21 years ago, on Oct. 29, 2003, LeBron James played his first career NBA game against the Sacramento Kings. On Thursday, in LA's 113-100 win over Sacramento, which saw the future Hall of Famer log 19 points, six rebounds and seven assists over 34 minutes, James broke another NBA record.
After previously breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record back in 2023, James surpassed the Hall of Famer on Thursday on the all-time minutes played list.
Abdul-Jabbar's record of 57,446 minutes played lasted all the way from his retirement in April 1989 up until Thursday's game, where James pushed his career minutes total to 57,471.
Following the game, the four-time NBA champ spoke with media members about the career accomplishment, as relayed by the LA Times:
“I just think it’s just a commitment to the craft and to the passion and love I have for the game. ... I’ve been able to do this at a high level over two decades, and to continue to put myself in record books in this game of basketball that I love so much and in the best league in the world is pretty cool and it’s very humbling.”
While James was celebrating another career milestone, Kings coach Mike Brown was lamenting the efforts of his players, saying that his team knew what they have to do.
Despite that, he put the blame on himself for the team's struggles, saying that he needs to find a way to get his team to play to the best of their abilities.
The two teams will run things back again on Saturday, before then wrapping up their season series with a game in LA on Saturday, Dec. 28.