Kings owner enraged with George Karl over DeMarcus Cousins saga
Vivek Ranadive’s relationship with his team’s coach is deteriorating over the tense situation with DeMarcus Cousins.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Kings owner Vivek Ranadive is frustrated with coach George Karl over the rift with DeMarcus Cousins, according to multiple reports. He has even considered firing Karl, according to ESPN's Chris Broussard.
Karl was hired in the middle of last season after the team fired Michael Malone, and at the time he agreed to not have input in personnel decisions, according to the Sacramento Bee's Jason Jones. After the season wrapped up, Karl reportedly tried to convince front office members to trade Cousins and never contacted him in the offseason.
Ranadive now feels like Karl never actually intended to develop a long-term relationship with the 24-year-old center despite saying so and wanted him gone from the beginning, according to SI’s Chris Mannix.
On the other hand, ESPN’s Marc Stein reports that Vlade Divac, the Kings’ vice president of basketball operations, is angrier with Karl than Ranadive.
Rumors have been running rampant about a potential trade sending Cousins to the Lakers despite top Kings executive Vlade Divac saying days ago that moving Cousins was "not happening." The dysfunction in the Kings' front office has been covered at length by Tom Ziller, but now that Karl is also involved, it has reached its peak.
Cousins made known on Twitter his displeasure for Karl and how things had been handled by the Kings, making a trade seem inevitable. So far, nothing concrete has materialized. Later on Cousins said he wanted to remain in Sacramento.
With this news about Ranadive’s displeasure with him, it’s possible Karl will be the one to go. For now, the soap opera in Sacramento continues.
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