Report: DeMarcus Cousins Cursed Out George Karl
SACRAMENTO (Sports 1140 KHTK) - It took sooner than most thought, but the Sacramento Kings are apparently back to implosion rumors spreading like wildfire.
The latest news coming from Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead, as DeMarcus Cousins allegedly cursed out head coach George Karl following their sixth-straight defeat on Monday.
"After Sacramento was hammered at home by San Antonio Monday night, the Kings' star, DeMarcus Cousins, stormed into the locker room and cursed out head coach George Karl with a torrent of obscenities, a person close to the situation told The Big Lead.
After Cousins unleashed the F-bombs on Karl, all the head coach – who publicly feuded with the Kings best player last summer – could do was walk away, a source tells The Big Lead. Afterward, Cousins felt some remorse for his actions, asking a couple of teammates if he came down too hard on the coach. They calmly told him, "you can't scream and curse like that at your coach in front of everyone."
The day after the San Antonio loss, the players had a well-publicized players-only meeting. What hasn't been reported is that after the players spoke, Sacramento general manager Vlade Divac and assistant GM Mike Bratz talked to the players and Divac asked the team, 'We don't know what to do with George [Karl], do you think we should fire him?'"
If that last line is true, then Karl is clearly the one on the hot seat. Despite his three-year contract worth $5 million per year, Karl could be another fired coach out of Sacramento - their third in just two seasons.
Karl is the active leader in coaching victories, well over the 1,000 milestone. He has been to the playoffs nearly every year he has coached. He is a future Hall of Fame head coach in the NBA and is supposedly well respected around the NBA. But is he still?
In 2013, while with the Denver Nuggets, Karl was bounced out of the playoffs in the second round by the Golden State Warriors after winning 57 games that season. He won NBA Coach of the Year. Days later, he was fired by the Nuggets - only the second time he has been fired as a head coach since 1998.
The reasoning wasn't clear, he led the Nuggets to a very successful season despite not making to the Western Conference Finals and won the validation for best coach in the league, but he was long gone as the Nuggets decided to rebuild.
Last year, Karl was a late addition to coach the Kings for the final 30 games of the season. The Kings went 11-19 in those games. To put in perspective, Mike Malone was 11-13 to begin the year before getting the axe (and Cousins was injured with a sinus infection for a large portion of that). Now they are 1-7 this year, making Karl a career 12-26 coach in Sacramento.
If the players-only meeting (which apparently includes the GM and some assistant coaches) really went as described above, then Karl is probably headed on his way out. If the players truly believe in Karl, then he could stick around and try to right the ship.
As frustration grows, there have also been reports about the minority owners getting sour towards owner Vivek Ranadive.
According to a person with knowledge of the situation, the level of frustration with (owner Vivek) Ranadive among some Kings minority owners is at an all-time high. Specifically, his track record of making significant decisions without truly consulting them is a source of significant irritation. The person spoke to USA TODAY Sports on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation.
If this is the case, then the problems run much deeper than the head coach and star player disagreeing.
The Kings are reportedly a mess, but it can be fixed if everyone is on the same page. There was a positive feeling from the players after the players-only meeting, but only time will tell if it was a mirage or a serious problem.
Cousins issued a statement on Wednesday apologizing for his actions:
I let my frustrations get the best of me in the locker room after the San Antonio Spurs loss—that is my bad. For the record, my frustration is not about any one person or player or coach. My frustration is that we are 1-7, simple as that.