George Karl and DeMarcus Cousins (Photo : Getty Images/Rocky Widner)
The Sacramento Kings saga is still not finished and not a lot are surprised.
The heat of the situation that led to DeMarcus Cousins shouting and even allegedly cursing his coach in the locker room has died down but there were no definite or permanent solutions.
The atmosphere with the team improved when they won and it seemed like all was forgotten, but most observers believed that a losing streak would spark the flames again.
After the loss to the Brooklyn Nets, USA Today reporter Sam Amick got these comments from Cousins.
"I'm not going to keep blaming these guys in the locker room," Cousins told reporters. "Energy and effort is a huge part of the game, but I'm not going to keep blaming it on that. We've got a bigger issue, and we need to figure it out as a team."
The "guys in the locker room" are the players and if they would not be the ones to blame, the logical suspect would be the coaching staff.
"I'd rather keep (the undescribed issue) in house, but we definitely have a bigger issue than just energy and effort. That can't be the excuse every night. ... We're going to work it out as a team, and hopefully we can fix this," Cousins concluded.
Karl will become the fifth coach fired this season if the Kings management decides to give him the axe, with the report stating that they are "strongly weighing" the possibility. The most recent casualty was Jeff Hornacek of the Phoenix Suns barely two weeks after the Cleveland Cavaliers sacked David Blatt. They follow Kevin McHale of the Houston Rockets and Lionel Hollins of the Brooklyn Nets.
The issue with George Karl has spilled over to the fans and announcers, as ESPN's Marc Stein noted.
"During the Kings' local postgame show on Comcast following the loss to the 13-38 Nets, former Kings standout Bobby Jackson -- who played for years with Sacramento general manager Vlade Divac and director of player personnel Peja Stojakovic -- appeared to take the rare step of calling for Karl's dismissal. All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins, meanwhile, voiced a fresh round of frustrations with the Kings' defensive frailties," Stein recalled.
Apparently, the Kings wanted to discuss the issue with Karl at the All-Star break but the loss to the Nets pushed them to face the issue now.
