Report: George Karl to be fired by Kings

[Reality Check]

The Sacramento Kings are planning to fire coach George Karl on Thursday, sources have confirmed to ESPN.

The Sacramento Bee first reported Wednesday that Karl will be fired one day after the Kings' season finale against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.

ESPN's Marc Stein reported in early February that the Kings decided against firing Karl after the coach and general manager Vlade Divac had a sit-down meeting in which Karl pledged to make some changes to address growing concerns within the organization about his defensive schemes and practice policies.

Karl also nearly lost his job in November after a public dispute with center DeMarcus Cousins.

Heading into the finale, the Kings are 33-48 and will miss the playoffs for a 10th consecutive season despite expectations from owner Vivek Ranadive to end that drought. The team will be moving into a new arena next season.

The Kings' next coach will be their ninth since 2006-07, the most in the league in that span.

The 64-year-old Karl, who will receive the remaining $6.5 million guaranteed from his four-year contract with the Kings, was hired during the 2015 All-Star break to replace then-interim coach Tyrone Corbin. That move came before Divac was installed as the Kings' lead decision-maker.

The Kings are Karl's sixth NBA coaching job after previous stints in Cleveland, Golden State, Seattle, Milwaukee and Denver. The 2013 NBA Coach of the Year has a career record of 1,175-823 entering Wednesday's game. He also has a career playoff record of 80-105.

Sources: Kings to fire Karl after season's turmoil

 

[Jerz-2]

Duh......

(as in, this was a no-brainer for both parties)

 

[gho3st]

nba's Cleveland Browns

 

[Justise M]

 

[Broad Street Bully]

 

[King Poetic]

Vlade need to be the one fired and the rest of management

U have a new arena and no where close to being competitive

 

[Greenstrings]

Not sure what the end game was for Karl, but even with all the crazy, that team makes the playoffs with a coach that implements anything approximating a defensive philosophy. Or at least one that doesn't try to get the star player traded off the bat and make shytty snide remarks about the younger players all season.

Only talk I saw all season about their actual on court play revolved around disagreements on the pace at which they were playing but their offense was actually fine, or at least average.

Karl was more a part of the problem than many were ready to admit rather than just an unassuming victim of Vlade, Vivek and the implacable boogie man.

But then it occurs to you that this represents their best season in 9 years and the details seem kinda irrelevant.

 

[Miles Davis]

When the grass is cut

 

[dora_da_destroyer]

They're gonna be on this hamster wheel forever if they're set on letting boogie dictate everything.

 

[Lootpack]

I wonder who their next scapegoat coach is gonna be.

 

[Frump]

Kings need to rebuild instead of hoping one of these years Cousins will finally lead them to an 8th seed. Trade Cousins for the Celtics picks and move forward

 

[Optimus Prime]

 

[David_TheMan]

Thibs would be perfect for this team.
I find it funny media loves to shyt on and denigrate players who have been moved around, but nothing to say about Karl who has been fired and kicked out the building every single place he has coached.

 

[*Hulks Up*]

nba's Cleveland Browns

They're gonna be on this hamster wheel forever if they're set on letting boogie dictate everything.

I wonder who their next scapegoat coach is gonna be.

This, this and this. George Karl is partly to blame but no coach now or in the future is going to be able to coach all the headcases on this squad. I don't see any coach worth a damn being interested in this mess they really are the Browns.

 

[kingofnyc]

these owners

couple of solid free agent signings... they could be an 8seed next year