Kings players don’t want George Karl as their coach
By CM Towle
The Sacramento Kings are on the verge of hiring George Karl as their next coach, but apparently several players don’t like it.
The Kings are reportedly very close to closing a deal to make George Karl their new head coach.
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According to Yahoo! Sports, the deal would be a four-year deal between $4 and $5 million per season.
However, around the same time, information came out that some Kings players aren’t happy about that.
Sacramento beat writer Jason Jones posted the following on Monday:
Hearing multiple players on Kings do not want George Karl as their coach.
— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) February 9, 2015
As you can glean from the replying tweets, fans don’t think much of the players’ opinions on the matter, with some even pointing out that they should have played for the previous coach if they didn’t want a new one. Interim coach Tyrone Corbin will coach the Kings’ last two games before the All-Star break and then it sounds like Karl should be taking over after that, barring any complications.
Corbin is 7-19 since taking over for Michael Malone.
"Karl’s deal would include a team option on the final year of the contract in the 2017-18 season, sources said. There are still details in the contract that need to be ironed out before it can be finalized, league sources said. (via Yahoo! Sports)"
Karl has won 1,131 NBA regular season games as a head coach, piloting teams such as Golden State, Seattle, Milwaukee and Denver. He is currently working as an ESPN analyst, having last coached in the NBA back in 2013.
Karl has so far made no comment on the Kings pursuit of him.
He previously worked with Kings general manager Pete D’Alessandro when they were together on the Denver Nuggets. Karl won the Coach of the Year award for the 2012-13 season with the Nuggets, wherein they went 57-25.
The Kings previous coach, Mike Malone, was essentially fired by the owner Vivek Ranadive, reportedly despite the wishes of the front office. The circumstances behind both his hiring and firing could be part of the reason why the move to Karl is unpopular in the locker room.
The Kings are 18-32 on the season after beating the Suns on Sunday, good for fourth in the Pacific Division. Previously they were in a three game losing streak and they still have the fourth worst record in the Western Conference.
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