George Karl and the Sacramento Kings were making progress toward a deal that would make Karl the new head coach, but those talks have stalled due to resistance to Karl from DeMarcus Cousins' camp, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
George Karl, Kings talks stall due to resistance from DeMarcus Cousins’ camp, per report
Talks were reportedly progressing before hitting a snag.
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However, Cousins’ agent told Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee Sunday that they were not holding up a potential deal between Karl and the Kings, saying “We don’t run team.”
According to Wojnarowski, there is now “rapidly diminishing belief” that Sacramento will hire Karl. Who in Cousins’ camp has an issue and what the issue is remain in question. Karl does have some history with two of Cousins’ agents, as Sam Amick of USA Today wrote:
Karl's personal past with a number of influential members in and around the Kings organization remains relevant as well, as he previously coached Kings advisor Chris Mullin and has history with the two agents who represent franchise centerpiece DeMarcus Cousins as well. Cousins' day-to-day agent, Jarrin Akana, worked with Karl in Denver and was re-assigned from assistant coach to scout when Karl took over for coach Jeff Bzdelik in 2005. Dan Fegan, Cousins' lead agent, represented Karl's son, Coby, as a player for years before he was eventually replaced. That circle, by all accounts, has been against the notion of adding Karl.
It may not be just members of Cousins’ camp with issues, as Amick reports there is “serious resistance to George Karl” from some of Sacramento’s minority owners. The varying differences could very well cause a deal to fall through. Initial reports indicated a deal would be resolved by Sunday. That proved not to be the case and the Kings and Karl remain in negotiations, according to Amick.
Karl and the Kings are yet to agree to a potential contract, but Wojnarowski reported contract terms are not an issue and the two sides were closing the gap on a deal.
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