Zach LaVine Says Why the Kings Need to Snap 5-Game Losing Streak

The Sacramento Kings have been bad to start the 2026-27 season. They are riding a five-game losing streak heading into Sunday night's matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder and are sitting in 14th place in the Western Conference with a 1-11 record.

With just one win in their first 12 games, it is no surprise that the Kings are desperate for another win. While it might be hard to get their next win against the Thunder on Sunday, veteran guard Zach LaVine talked about why Sacramento needs to get out of this slump.

"For the guys in the first couple of years, you don’t want to learn a losing mentality," LaVine said at the Kings' practice on Saturday. "Regardless of the record, we got to come in here and do our work. We got to prepare like we’re winning because they don’t know any better. I’ve been in these situations early on where you’re losing a lot of games, and it becomes a normalized thing, and it shouldn’t be that way, especially in the NBA."

This comes shortly after LaVine recognized that he needs to take on a different role to best help star rookie Darius Acuff Jr., and it seems that he is doing what he can to be a leader for this rebuilding team.

Not to mention, LaVine is spot on with this comment. Outside of All-Stars LaVine and Domantas Sabonis, the Kings are a very young and inexperienced team. When their best player is a 19-year-old rookie, they need to do what they can to make sure he and the team's other young talent are not developing losing habits.

How the Kings can snap the losing streak

The Kings have won just one game so far, and it was a 15-point victory over the Dallas Mavericks. So, when thinking about what they need to do to snap their current losing streak, let's look back at what went right for Sacramento in that game.

The most notable standout of the Kings' lone win was Malik Monk. While Darius Acuff Jr. and Zach LaVine led the starting lineup with 48 combined points, Monk came off the bench to drop a season-high 24 points and seven assists, including ten points in the fourth quarter.

Vintage Malik Monk showed up against the Mavericks! 🔥

He helped lead the Kings to their first win of the season while posting a game-high +27 plus/minus.

Sacramento needed this one! 💜 pic.twitter.com/QTChA8BWz2
— Kings Nation (@KingsNationCP) November 3, 2026

As a team, though, the Kings had their best performance of the season from beyond the arc. They made 19 three-pointers in this win, while holding the Mavericks to just 7-33 shooting from deep. Overall this season, the Kings have struggled to shoot from deep, and their three-point defense has been atrocious. In their lone win, they flipped the switch, and it obviously paid off.

Of course, repeating that success is much easier said than done, but at least the Kings know what they have to do. If they can get help from the supporting cast, with someone like Monk stepping up, while finding rhythm from beyond the arc, they should be able to get back in the win column and help the young guys build winning habits.

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