When the Kings almost exploded the week before the draft and rumors of an imminent trade of DeMarcus Cousins to Los Angeles and a fractured relationship between DeMarcus Cousins and George Karl had the fanbase shaken, it seemed like that was the boiling point, the tipping point, the point of no return.
Instead, cooler heads prevailed. The Kings kept both Karl and Cousins, and the two tried to repair their relationship over the summer, and fans pointed to the talk of dysfunction as a media narrative. When the team called for what was first described as a players-only meeting but quickly evolved into a team-wide meeting that involved Karl and the coaching staff as well as GM Vlade Divac, there were warning bells.
The team put a brave face up Tuesday, saying that it was good to resolve the "internal issues" and things were moving forward. Maybe the Kings could put this behind them just as they put the drama of the week before the draft behind them.
And then Wednesday came.
As a prelude, James Ham of CSN Bay Area reported the following about the vibe following the Kings' loss Monday:
The story goes sideways from here. Something happened behind the scenes before the media was allowed to walk into the Kings locker room. We won’t speculate as to what, but once again, the room had an awkward vibe.
No one was in the mood to speak. And before anyone could fully get dressed, Canadian rapper Drake entered the room as a guest of owner Vivek Ranadivé. There were a few handshakes and some laughs from a small group of players surrounding the singer, but the entire scene was a bad look.
Source: Notes: Kings team meeting addresses 'problem in the family' | CSN Bay Area.
That's what we call foreshadowing.
That's the dark clouds gathering. The Big Lead is reporting the storm:
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?”
Source: DeMarcus Cousins Cursed Out George Karl in Front of the Team as the Kings Unravel | The Big Lead.
Let that block quote sink in a bit. Cousins, a known hot head, but a phenomenally talented player who has had to battle image perception problems about his attitude and personality, reportedly unloaded on the future Hall of Fame coach he's had a rocky relationship with, in front of the entire team ... and in result the GM asked what the players want them to do.
Of note in this report is that along with the reported quote from Divac was another direct quote on an exchange between the team and Ben McLemore. The authenticity of a report is strongly supported by individual, specific quotes about exchanges within a meeting. Even if they were exaggerated by the source, the presence of those details puts a lot of credibility behind it, especially when put into context of the Ham report the day before.
Oh, and on top of it, extremely well-connected Bay Area NBA reported Sam Amick of USA Today follows up with this:
The Sacramento Kings coach who came to town nine months ago, who was given a $15 million contract ($11.5 million guaranteed) that doesn’t expire until the summer of 2018, and whose sterling record of success has been tainted by way of the 12-26 record ever since, isn’t seen internally as their coach for the long-haul anymore. Barring a shocking turnaround – and by that, we’re talking a 40-plus win season that seems unlikely – that much has become increasingly clear.
...
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.
Source: Sacramento Kings coach George Karl's job is in jeopardy.
The Kings could fire their third coach in two years while their franchise player is exploding yet again, the team is in a tailspin and minority ownership is losing faith in their owner who is seen by many in the league as ranging from unpredictable to out of his element. The Kings managed to pull themselves back from the brink last spring and avoid trading their franchise star. With a revamped roster of quality additions and a former player GM rallying everyone's morale, this season was supposed to be different.
Amid all these explosive reports and an evolving sense of dysfunction within the locker room, the most shocking thing of all is how normal this seems for the Sacramento Kings.
