The saga surrounding former Wisconsin Badgers basketball star Kobe King has continued to get more and more bizarre.
The Wisconsin State Journal published a lengthy piece about the very public divorce between the Badgers and one of the best players on the team. King didn’t travel for the Iowa game and then very publicly left the program. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
Now, we have some more details, and I’m not sure they paint anybody in a positive light. According to the State Journal, King quit the team by group texting the coaches before the Iowa game.
Then, King reportedly initially refused to meet with Greg Gard in person to talk about the decision. Eventually, he met with Gard and the assistants, but his mind was made up.
One of King’s issues with Gard was the way the team was spoken to during his time as a Badger. He told the State Journal, “I just talked to him about the way we were talked to as a team. It’s not about the negativity always, because I’ve seen that.”
King also told the State Journal he’d known for a long time this would be his final season with the program but decided to bounce earlier than anticipated after the loss to Purdue.
He reportedly was crying at times during the Purdue game, which he was held scoreless in. For fans of the sport, I’d encourage you to read the whole profile. It’s unreal.
All the way around, it’s just a really bad look for King, the Badgers and everybody else involved. I’m not going to sit here and call King a quitter or a loser.
I have no idea what’s going on in that young man’s head. I hope he finds some happiness and is able to have a productive career going forward.
Redshirt sophomore Kobe King has announced his intentions to leave the Wisconsin men’s basketball program pic.twitter.com/9g8eOxr9XN
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) January 29, 2020
Is quitting over a group text and then refusing to meet with the head coach right away a bad look for King? Yes. It’s a very bad look, but it’s water under the bridge at this point.
It’s just an unfortunate situation. Losing one of the best players on the team is never a good thing. Hopefully, he’s alright going forward.
It sounds like he has some stuff to work through, and I hope he does.