The Sacramento Kings’ offense made NBA history in 2023-24, reaching one of the highest point totals in a regular season game. However, the Kings’ go-to guy for defending shifty guards on opposing teams, Kings’ guard Keon Ellis, is often tasked with guarding some of the most challenging backcourt assignments in the NBA. When you take on that role, things don’t always go your way on a nightly basis, which was undoubtedly the case when the Kings hosted the New York Knicks, and All-Star point guard Jalen Brunson was at the top of Ellis’ scouting report.
Brunson caught Ellis on a pass-fake before blowing past a stunned Keon, who said he was doing a stellar job defending Jalen before the Knicks guard with the quickest handles got him one time on a play that went viral.
He spoke on it while appearing on the “Big Knick Energy” podcast.
“I’m not mad at it, [but] the whole Jalen Brunson thing: people don’t realize I was on his a**. I was on his a** until that play,” Ellis said. “That’s the one that everyone remembers. I think I blocked him like twice. I got his number right now, and then that happened, and I’m just like, bro, that is sick.”
After the play, Ellis admitted he was furious and thought the worst about himself.
“I’m terrible, I f***ing suck. I suck. I’m trash,” Ellis said, remembering how he felt then before recalling how it happened so quickly. “I’m looking like, okay, if he calls the screen, I’m going to force him to the screen. So that way, we can get the switch. I’m just looking around just to make sure when the screen comes I send him that way.
“He kind of pointed, and I look, and I see nothing at all, and I’m like, ‘Oh, s**t,’ yeah, it was crazy. Yeah, I was mad. I was really just mad more at [it] because I was really just on him, and then, he got that one.”
Keon Ellis still thought about Jalen Brunson’s move after the game
In today’s world, being on the wrong end of an NBA highlight that’s gone viral can last well beyond a 24-hour news cycle. Keon Ellis admits while he and the Kings got into their routine of lifting weights after a game, he still couldn’t get Brunson’s fake out of his mind.
“That night, though, because we usually lift after the games, as well. And I’m just sitting there like, what the h**l did I just do? Everyone has a moment where they wish they could have back. So, I’m not really tripping on it,” Ellis added. “Yeah, he’s Jalen Brunson at the end of the day, too.”
Sacramento’s DeMar DeRozan signing topped a busy offseason for the Kings, who will open their preseason schedule against the Golden State Warriors on October 9.
