» KINGS’ HOLMES LEFT BUBBLE FOR WINGS
Kings center Richaun Holmes addressed the media Wednesday for the first time since being placed under mandatory 10-day quarantine for leaving the NBA bubble to pick up a food delivery.
There were questions about his mental health, his physical conditioning and his readiness to resume the NBA season after 240 hours of confinement. Holmes was even asked if this was all Phoenix Suns forward Kelly Oubre Jr.’s fault, but first everyone wanted to know what he ordered.
Holmes, speaking hours before the Kings were scheduled to scrimmage the Miami Heat, said he had a hankering for some chicken wings.
“Ordered some wings and went to grab the wings, but I really wasn’t too aware of the borders,” Holmes said. “I kind of knew what was going on, but the specific area I was in, I wasn’t aware. So, yeah, I stepped out and grabbed the food and came back, and they just let me know they wanted to be as safe as possible. They had to enforce the rules and I completely understand that, so I won’t make that mistake again.”
Many social media users pointed the finger at Oubre, Holmes’ former teammate with the Suns. In a tweet that was later deleted, Oubre said: “To all my @NBA Bro’s. Postmates delivers to the hotel !!! You just have to go out and meet the delivery person at the hotel entrance. Security will not hold the food for you or help you. Yeah the food wack but we here for a bigger purpose, hope that helps... #Shhh”
Oubre posted a follow-up tweet after deleting the first one: “Nevermind lol.”
Holmes laughed when asked if Oubre was to blame.
“I actually saw Kelly the other day. He told me he felt bad, but honestly I didn’t see his tweet before,” Holmes said. “I think that’s something we all kind of thought, and I had to take the fall for it, but it’s all good.”
‘Greenleaf ’ and the punching bag — Caught red-handed after securing the bag of lemon pepper and barbecue wings, Holmes was confined to his room at Walt Disney World’s Yacht Club Resort for 10 long days. The Kings sent exercise equipment to his room to help him stay fit, but Holmes said he passed much of the time watching every episode of “Greenleaf,” a hit show on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
“I’ve been watching Greenleaf from Season 1 all the way to Season 5,”
Holmes said. “I’m caught up now . ... Great, great show. I recommend it for anyone in quarantine. Go check out Greenleaf. Give them a shoutout. I’m a preacher’s kid so I was into it.”
Kings coach Luke Walton revealed Tuesday the team hung a punching bag in Holmes’ room during his quarantine period. Holmes said that helped him burn off excess energy.
“The punching bag definitely helped — got to take out a lot of aggression while staying in shape, the best shape I can, so the punching bag was definitely a big thing,” Holmes said.
“I tore that room up, doing defensive slides, doing little quick sprints as much as I can, jumping rope. We had an exercise bike in there. I was doing a lot to stay busy, doing a lot to keep myself in shape, and I always ended with the punching bag, so it was a good cardio session.”
Holmes said teammates, trainers and relatives helped him stay sane in isolation.
“My parents were checking in on me, my family,” Holmes said. “I was able to talk to my son, my teammates, so all the support I got from everybody checking in on me made it a lot easier.”
Back in action — Holmes returned to practice Tuesday after completing quarantine, but was not expected to participate in Wednesday’s scrimmage against the Heat.
Walton said the team will gradually increase Holmes’ workload in hopes of having him “hitting on all cylinders” when the Kings begin seeding games July 31.
“He looked good,” Walton said. “We’re going to ease him back in just because now, with that first quarantine as well, it’s pretty much 12 of the last 13 days without playing basketball. So even though he’s looking great and he’s getting up and down a little bit, we’re going to take our time, ease him back into it.”
Holmes is enjoying a breakout season with the Kings, averaging career highs of 12.8 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots per game. The Kings need Holmes desperately right now given some of their other frontcourt issues.
The team announced Tuesday Marvin Bagley III will miss the rest of the season due to a lateral right foot sprain. Alex Len is still trying to improve his conditioning following his 24-day battle with the coronavirus and Harrison Barnes was still in Sacramento trying to clear COVID-19 protocols as of Tuesday afternoon.