I was in there for this whole thing. I cant help but think he was a little sped up but at the same time he was kind of doing workout type stuff.
The most concerning thing to me is that several of our guys including Miles, Dennis Smith Jr. (Nice guy), Buddy Hield, Deandre Ayton and like everyone in the chat were begging him to end the stream and he did not give a damn. Miles came in multiple times over the course of 2 hours. And Kai just didnt care, Dennis Smith was asking him to call him/answer his calls, etc. Wouldnt be surprised if thats why everyone unfollowed him they were all getting tagged by people last night from like 12:30-2:30 in the morning.
He calmed down later but I really hope he wasnt tweaking.
With that being said that live is being blown out of proportion by a decent amount and again I was in there trying to look out for the guy in my own mind I guess. He wasnt saying crazy things as much as he was just blabbing about nothing in particular, which typically started with “I am the goat” kind of talk.
But yeah whether he was on drugs on or not he is definitely going through some stuff currently.
He did keep bragging about yamming on Wemby which I thought was hilarious.
He also mentioned several times that he was high off of himself and not drugs FWIW.
Well, at least he’s not passed out drunk, packing a Glock, & eating Doritos. Odd behavior, Needs assistance…guess we’ll see how new regime deals.
Even only at about 20 million cap space room next year…felt 10/31 club option for 5 million contract next year a safe bet keep Kai, & not Bouknights 6 million. Now…
Biz still available? Only vets on roster are Rozier, Hayward & guess Cody now, turns 28 this month.
Other than Booknight, there is no other player on the roster who needs to show improvement in order to stay on the roster more than Kai.
Worrying, especially with the attempted player intervention. DSJ trying to call him and connect makes me the bit more sad that he isn’t back with us. But that’s his choice and we move on.
Thanks for the insight. I saw his earlier tweets with the goat emojis and all that, thought maybe he was just hyping himself up for the season. But that Israel guy on Twitter, or X or whatever, he closely follows Hornets players and had been mentioning something strange going on for a few weeks in his IG.
The video was seemed off to me, but I don’t really know his personality. It was the kind of jittery and incoherent speech and weird little ticks and laughs that made it seem like maybe something was going on.
And for his teammates to be concerned enough to keep reaching out and being ignored, especially Buddy and Ayton from the national team… just hope he has someone nearby he can confide in and get help if needed.
FWIW Kai has been silent on social for 3 days or so. So he seems to be (hopefully) getting help.
Also his dad losted to Facebook thanking everyone for the prayers and says that Kai is going to be alright.
At least Kai has not lost his self-confidence through this, if anything he gained some but we will see how it effects things.
Kai is still an investment worth pursuing in my mind, he has shown more promise than either Thor or Bouk to this point even though he has not had as much opportunity as Thor and maybe even Bouk.
Stated last summer, if draft Duren or Williams, one has to go Nick or Kai, cannot keep all three. At time stated Kai the keeper because of upside, guaranteed money,& frankly Nick not impressed me. Perhaps Kai still did have better upside, but Nick proven better player & we’re paying him 3/15 million to backup Mark Williams.
Ideally not pick #19 and not financial burden to keep around & not end up drafting Nnaji to be stashed overseas while learning to play basketball. Kai is going to be paid 3 million this year. Even before personal problems, picking up option for 5 million becoming doubtful. Best case for keeping, Bouknight is also club optioned 6 million for next, and we surely wouldn’t lame duck both…now? Not optioning both clears 11 million cap space next year.
He’d be a great pick up for us. I’d be thrilled if this happened. He’ll be a Laker though, as they get most of their guys for free pretty much. Not that I even heard they were interested. Hopefully we make the move it pick him up.
Surely Kai, and Bouknight to an even greater extent, are still here partially because they could be useful in a trade (thinking Dame to Heat). They can help with matching salary and serve as resurrection prospects where there’s controlled money if they happen to pan out, or can simply be let go if not. Bouknight is so, so far down the pecking order that he offers nothing positive to the franchise, other than his salary in a trade.
But disconnect & demeaning teammates
Miles an abusing idiot but apparently well liked considered an aw shucks foolish goofball.
Despite personal rant, hasn’t shown anything to barely be the #3 center.
Expect Kai waived unless big time locker room apology tour gets uncanceled by teammates.
The fact he’s now rubbishing his teammates … means he should be gone. Ownership can and should make a stand that locker room chemistry and trust is paramount, and Kai has talked (typed) himself off the roster as a result. The fact he doesn’t offer much of anything on the court, and we could do with a solid vet filling the third #5 role, simply adds fuel to it all.
It’s funny, this team is always in a damn soap opera every year. As the Hornet Planet Turns.
Best case, its an inside joke with all the centers because they’re super tight and love messing with us small people.
But if not, I think we should call on our old friend to bring maturity back. It’s time to bring back the Biz! Will take 3rd center role no problem, a lot of experience being a part of winning programs, brings a ton of maturity to the locker room, and not afraid to hold anybody accountable. Had a great impression on Melo his one year here, could do wonders for the other young guys.
Nope. No player (especially on a rookie deal) is going to approve public criticism of their game by a teammate. And nope. No player is going to even jokingly publicly trash a player with specific things that isn’t immediately obvious as sarcasm.