The Sacramento Kings had a very difficult end to their last season campaign and ended up with a nightmarish 22-60 record. The team definitely needed a boost of motivation coming into the new season after being ousted from playoff contention by the Charlotte Hornets.

However, Vivek Ranadive reportedly used a team dinner to confront players, coaches, and executives about the franchise's struggles.

The speech, however, left some attendees questioning whether his attempt to motivate the organization had gone as planned.

The Ringer's Zach Lowe shared the story Thursday on The Zach Lowe Show, explaining that Ranadive addressed the group during a training camp dinner attended by the team and staff.

“They went out to a fancy training [camp] dinner, team, the whole team, the staff, everything,” Lowe said. “And at the dinner, Vivek Ranadivé spoke, and he kind of turned the dinner into a roast of lots of people in the room, telling them all the ways in which they have been failing as players, coaches, executives, whatever.”

Vivek Ranadivé reportedly turned a dinner with Kings players, executives, and coaches into a roast where he poked fun at all the ways they’ve been failing, per @ZachLowe_NBA 😭

“They went out to fancy training dinner, team, the whole team, the staff, everything. And at the… pic.twitter.com/0j4rlDLTuu

— NBABase (@TheNBABase) October 9, 2026

According to Lowe, the reaction was split. Some people reportedly felt the approach was backfiring, while others believed Ranadive was trying to turn the criticism surrounding Sacramento into fuel for the upcoming season.

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Under that interpretation, he was presenting the negative opinions outsiders had about the franchise and challenging the organization to prove them wrong.

That strategy carries an obvious risk for a team whose reputation has become synonymous with dysfunction. The Kings ended a 16-year playoff drought in 2023, but they have not returned to the postseason since.

Sacramento was 46-36 in 2023-24, fell to 40-42 the following season, and finished 2025-26 with a 22-60 record.