Kings general manager Scott Perry says the now-infamous team dinner involving owner Vivek Ranadivé was not what some reports made it out to be.
In fact, Perry was pretty emphatic.
“There was no roast,” Perry said during an appearance on the Deuce & Mo podcast.
The discussion followed a report from Zach Lowe that Ranadivé had turned a training-camp dinner into a roast of players, coaches and executives, prompting some people in attendance to wonder whether the message had gone sideways.
The Kings pushed back on that characterization Friday. Perry did the same, while offering more context.
“I asked Vivek to say a couple words to the team,” Perry said. “One of the things that he did when he started his conversation, the first thing he did, was really light-heartedly, was talked about himself and how he’s been viewed or treated in the media for a number of years.”
From there, Perry said Ranadivé began talking about how players and the organization have also been criticized or counted out. The point, Perry said, was motivation.
“Let’s all use that as a collective to prove people wrong,” Perry said. “That was the clear messaging in the whole meeting from him.”
Perry added that he disliked seeing the dinner portrayed negatively because that did not match either the intent or, in his view, how the message was received.
“It was really delivered from a lighthearted perspective,” Perry said.
So, the Kings’ position remains unchanged. Awkward roast? No. Attempt to rally a team that has heard plenty of criticism? Absolutely.
How it actually landed, though, could be a different story altogether.
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