The Sacramento Kings are dealing with some turmoil early in the season, as there has been speculation that George Karl could be fired if the coach and star DeMarcus Cousins can't get along. Cousins has been mentioned in trade rumors, but the Kings are not likely going down that road and it comes after reports that Cousins had a profane outburst at Karl last week.
The Kings came into the year with expectations of improvement from last season, but so far the team has gone 2-7 and frustrations appear to be mounting. According to ESPN.com, Cousins had a "profanity-laced outburst" after the loss on Monday to the Spurs and it was directed at head coach George Karl. Following that news, there were reports that a team meeting was held to try and calm things down and also that the front office is thinking of making a coaching change from Karl.
According to the Big Lead, Divac reportedly asked players in the meeting about Karl, saying, "do you think we should fire him?" Divac later disputed that report in the Sacramento Bee on Wednesday and that same report said that Karl wanted to suspend Cousins for the outburst. According to the report, the suspension was blocked by Divac. Cousins later apologized publically for the outburst in a statement to Yahoo Sports, writing that he was "frustrated with losing" and that it " got the best" of him after the loss to San Antonio.
Sources told ESPN that the Kings had a meeting with "players, coaches and front-office personnel" during the losing streak and during the meeting players aired "grievances" and frustration about "roles" on the team. Things have been going back and forth between media reports, player meetings and speculation about Karl's status and now it looks like both Karl and Cousins will remain in Sacramento for the time being.
Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reports that the team is "more likely" to fire Karl than trade Cousins if things come to that. One complication in making a move with Karl is that he is owed $10 million on his contract and the deal is guaranteed through the 2016-17 season and the Kings may not want to be on the hook for that. Karl downplayed the issues with the Kings and said that it's normal to have a meeting where players air frustrations when mired in a losing streak. Karl was quoted saying that "'m not sure a panic button was pushed as you all magnified it," according to ESPN.
The Kings see Cousins as a franchise player and owner Vivek Ranadivé has been supportive of the big man and reportedly does not want to trade him, according to Yahoo Sports. The Kings made some additions this offseason with Rajon Rondo, Marco Belinelli and Kosta Koufos, but so far things have not played out according to expectations. Cousins missed four games for the team this season already and his absence surely did not help things as the team got off to a tough start.
Check here for a rundown of some of the developments this week and information on the reports about the future for Karl and Cousins in Sacramento.
