The Sacramento Kings remain one of the best teams in the Western Conference; entering their Tuesday night clash against the Charlotte Hornets, they were boasting a 19-12 record, which was good for fifth in the standings. As a result, they were 15-point favorites against a Hornets team that was on an 11-game losing streak.

Alas, anything can happen on the hardwood in a single game, and the Kings tripped up on a banana peel en route to a 111-104 loss against a Hornets side that hadn't won in 24 days. Sacramento did not shoot the ball particularly well, and they allowed Charlotte to shoot 51.2 percent from the field, and that combination of two-way mediocrity won't be a recipe of success for De'Aaron Fox and company.

Nonetheless, Fox warns his team not to get too emotionally distraught over this demoralizing loss against a poor Hornets team. These losses, the Kings star contends, are the kinds of defeats that tend to linger, creating a snowball effect that Sacramento would want to avoid if they want to earn their keep as one of the best teams in the conference.

“You soak in a loss like this and it can turn into six losses in a row,” Fox said, per Brenden Nunes of Sactown Sports 1140.

According to Nunes, De'Aaron Fox also added that it's helpful for him to forget about losses like these the instant he steps foot outside the arena. This is a healthy mindset for a professional athlete; there remain plenty of games in the calendar for the Kings (50 to be exact), and having the memory of a goldfish, as iconic fictional coach Ted Lasso would say, is crucial to making sure one remains even-keeled, capable of bringing out their best in the next games onward.

Nevertheless, the Kings also must maintain a balancing act; their two-way execution was lacking against the Hornets, and their inability to make free throws consistently doomed them, so these are lessons they must take with them moving forward. It'll be a short turnaround for Fox and company anyway, as they'll be taking on the Orlando Magic on the second night of a back-to-back in less than 24 hours' time.