It was getting late. The Kings’ locker room was almost empty. Everyone had disappeared into the smoky night air outside Golden 1 Center to move on after a difficult 101-86 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night.
Everyone except Iman Shumpert.
Shumpert, a former NBA champion and one-time teammate of Lakers star LeBron James, stayed behind, sitting sullenly in front of his locker on the far side of the room. He dressed slowly, eventually climbed to his feet and pulled the hood of a pale yellow sweatshirt over his head.
“We lost,” he said.