George Karl: Latest News, Rumors, Speculation Surrounding Kings Coach's Future
An ugly 1-7 start reportedly has the Sacramento Kings assessing the future of head coach George Karl despite hiring him less than a year ago.
Continue for updates.
Karl Firing Could Come Soon
Wednesday, Nov. 11
Sam Amick of USA Today reported Karl could be looking for a new job sooner rather than later:
"If the Kings’ 1-7 record that prompted a team meeting on Tuesday gets even worse, his dismissal could come this week. Wednesday, the Kings – as irony would have it – face the same Detroit Pistons team that beat them last Dec. 13 and inspired the firing of coach Michael Malone. Or, should the early-season bleeding subside enough to calm the waters, Karl's firing could come in the summer.
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'Nothing Off Table' When It Comes to Karl
Tuesday, Nov. 10
Carmichael Dave of KHTK Sports reported there is "concern internally over the style and effectiveness" of Karl within the Kings organization. With the team off until Wednesday and heading into a three-game home stretch, Dave categorized the next 48 hours as "very important."
Caron Butler said on Tuesday, per James Ham of CSN California, that a team meeting was held. Butler voiced his support of Karl, per Sean Cunningham of ABC10.
"It's a small city," Butler said, per Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. "When things happen there's a lot to talk about."
Karl, 64, is just 38 games into his tenure after taking over following last season's All-Star break. The future Hall of Famer has been fraught with trouble almost from the second he took the job. There were reports that star DeMarcus Cousins opposed Karl's hiring, and the relationship has been sour behind the scenes despite the two putting up public appearances.
ESPN.com's Chris Broussard reported Karl pushed hard to trade Cousins in June, only to be blocked by owner Vivek Ranadive. Karl's role includes some say on personnel decisions, but Ranadive was understandably hesitant to move one of the league's best players due to a personality conflict.
"Well, I'll be honest with you, it's not pretty right now, but I'm focused on bringing a better team this year and I think I did a pretty good job in this free agency and now I'm going to be focused on the two of them," Kings Vice President Vlade Divac told the Jim Rome Show in July, per ESPN.com.
"We had a problem in the family. We addressed it, we talked about it," Divac said, per Ham. "We addressed some issues and the most important thing is we are on the same page," he continued, per Jones. "I was very pleased with how we talked about it openly."
While Cousins and Karl did their best to squash rumors of discord the rest of the summer, Sacramento's disappointing start hasn't helped matters. Cousins has already sat out four games due to an Achilles injury and has shot just 37.1 percent in the games he's played.
Following Monday's 106-88 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, Cousins sounded like a player fed up with a seemingly toxic situation, per Jones: “Everything I can’t really speak on. We got some issues that we got to carve out. Can’t really speak on that. But one thing is, us players, we got to stick together. And just with that, that’ll get us through most battles. We got some issues in-house we need to figure out.”
Cousins then said the team would hold a "players only" meeting to discuss the issues, which he says are not basketball-related. It's not exactly a ringing endorsement of Karl's job as head coach.
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