It’s a new day for the Sacramento Kings, who are hoping the 2026-2027 NBA season can be about renewal and positive momentum.
For some local media members, it’s also about how many of the players are “hella fine.”
On Monday, the Kings held their annual media day, giving the local media up-close-and-personal access to returning stars like Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine, as well as a chance to meet newly signed Ben Simmons, who hopes to rejuvenate his NBA career after several injuries and ongoing narratives about his motivation.
Several local outlets livestreamed the event, including Sacramento NBC affiliate KCRA, giving fans at home a chance to hear from the players in real time. However, between those interviews, the mics also picked up the media members in the room, making it easy to hear their thoughts in real time, too.
For several media members, those thoughts were about how some of the players were attractive, even if they didn’t have personalities to match.
Some of the media members not realizing they’re on a hot mic. Calling Ben Simmons cringe but “hella fine”, one also says LaVine is “hella fine” before one interjects saying his personality is annoying and a prick. pic.twitter.com/FIsoqgnUYC
— Austin (@kings_muse) September 28, 2026
The mics appeared to pick up a conversation among several media members about Sara Hodges, a former sports anchor and reporter for Sacramento’s KOVR, who now works in a similar capacity for KGO-TV in San Francisco. The conversation then turned to Simmons, who, according to one person, was “cringe,” while another said he was “lucky he’s so fine.”
“He’s a good-looking dude,” replied the first media member. “His skin’s like so smooth, I was like, damn, no tattoos?”
A third person then asked the second whether Jordan Poole was more their type, and someone replied, “Allegedly, I like light-skinned, I guess.”
“What about Zach LaVine, then?” asked the third person.
“Hella fine,” the second replied, while the first offered an “ehhh.”
“I think his personality annoys the sh*t out of me, so that’s what makes him [inaudible],” said the first person. “Zach’s cute. His personality f*cking annoys me. He just seems like hella like a prick.”
“He’s a f*cking UCLA guy,” replied the third media member. “Just all of them are.”
Another person chimed in, adding that they found LaVine “hella fine, too.”
When asked how they would rank the Kings players by hotness, the first person put Simmons ahead of LaVine, as the conversation returned to his youthful looks and admiration for “his skincare routine.”
The conversation became harder to hear beyond that before the clip posted on X by Kings Muse ended. According to that account, someone apparently realized the mic was picking up unintended voices, so the KCRA livestream was stopped, deleted, and replaced with a new one, though that new livestream was promptly deleted as well.
We don’t know who these intrepid media members are, but we hope for their sake that they get the chance to make amends, ideally in the form of having to talk directly to Simmons and LaVine about their attractiveness and personality deficiencies.
About Sean Keeley
Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.