At the center of all the drama that seems to be surrounding the Sacramento Kings organization right now is George Karl. The Kings’ head coach is reportedly the ringleader in a push to trade his best player, DeMarcus Cousins, and the situation has the entire franchise in defense mode.
Except, Karl is just trucking right along and jamming his foot in his mouth at the same time. Jim Crandell from Fox 40 in Sacramento caught up to Karl at the U.S. Senior Open in Sacramento and got straight to the point.
So much flying around your team right now, can you set the record straight where you and DeMarcus are at this point?
It’s just a lot of crazy, crazy fibs and lies. It’s just a situation where we won 29 games last year. For us as a basketball organization we want to get better. (Cousins) is our best player we know that, we want him committed and dedicated to being in Sacramento and playing and leading us to the first playoffs in Sacramento in six, seven, eight, nine years.
Karl says everything is “fibs and lies,” but doesn’t quite set the record straight on anything. So, Crandell responds by asking him more directly about his desires to trade Cousins.
You are not interested in trading DeMarcus Cousins?
My interest right now is commitment, trust and building a team that’s excited about being in Sacramento. Excited and committed to being a good basketball team and representing the city of Sacramento.
That was Karl’s chance to say publicly that he does not want Cousins traded, like his owner and de-facto GM before him. Instead, he simply ignores that and mentions commitment for the second time, which becomes a theme later in the interview. So, Crandell gives Karl one more opportunity to say he wants Cousins on the Kings this season, and Karl refuses again to outright say yes.
That includes, in your mind, Cousins staying here?
If he comes committed I’m 120 percent into making him the best basketball player he’s ever been.
If? Karl is openly questioning the commitment of the guy who signed long-term to play in Sacramento. The guy who played through injuries and three different head coaches last year, and even battled through a serious illness to get back onto the court as soon as possible.
That was the third time in about a minute that he mentioned commitment, and it was directly aimed twice at Cousins. Crandell gives him yet another chance to clarify, even though he just literally questioned whether or not Cousins would be committed coming into the season.
Do you have some question about his commitment?
No. I mean, in the 30 games I coached him we’re all frustrated with losing. And I’m sure, I was only here for 30 games, and so the frustration, I’m sure, is double that for (Cousins) and all the players that were here for the whole season.
Karl says no, but doesn’t elaborate any further, instead choosing to talk about the frustration of losing. Even if the rumors were lies, and Cousins and Karl are on good terms, this interview couldn’t have helped the cause. If their relationship is as bad as rumored, then this surely is just another drop in the bucket for the loyalty conscious Cousins. Just more slithering from the snake in Boogie’s grass.
To close the brief interview, Crandell gave him a layup and asked about the Kings plans in the Draft and free agency.
Are you optimistic about the draft? Free agency?
I’m optimistic about the process. The process starts on Thursday. The process of getting better, the process of figuring out who to sign, who to trade for, who to draft. All that stuff, it begins and I think we’re ready. Vlade’s done a tremendous job of getting us focused, and he’s asked the right questions. We’ll make a good decision come Thursday.
So, the circus continues in Sacramento, and because things have spiraled so far out of control, the Kings will likely be forced to stand pat with both Cousins and Karl. You can watch Crandell’s interview with Karl here.
(Via The Sacramento Bee and Fox 40)