A Royal Pain
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Opinion: Is George Karl on the Hot Seat for the Sacramento Kings?

By Rafe Wong

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What is George Karl’s future with the Sacramento Kings?

The Kings are 1-7, and no one in the locker room is happy about it. Before this season, the Kings were considered by a few to be a potential dark horse for a playoff spot in a tough Western Conference. But after seeing how they have fared so far in their first 8 games, those speculations might have been diminished.

Sure, there are some valid excuses for the Kings’ tough start. The new and revamped roster needs time to gel with one another, they have faced a bevy of playoff contending teams to start the season, and the injury bug has already hit hard in Sacramento sidelining DeMarcus Cousins, Darren Collison, and Seth Curry so far.

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With that being said, 1-7 is still disappointing. The Kings’ goal this season is to make the postseason, and when you have lost seven of your first eight games, knowing that even a .500 record is not good enough for postseason contention, it’s discouraging for fans to see.

It was hinted yesterday by Cousins that a players meeting was inevitable for this team, and that the players were to address some “in-house” issues that will have to be resolved going forward.

I’m no insider for the organization, so I have no idea what “in-house” issues could possibly mean. If anything, I would have predicted that the problem is mostly the issues taking place on the court (ex. too many turnovers or lack of defense/communication).

My two cents on this issue is that there may be some disagreement between the players and head coach George Karl. Looking at some of the tweets and quotes that actual Kings insiders have gathered in the last 24 hours has lead me to this hypothesis.

If my intuition is correct, coach Karl could possibly be on his way out of Sacramento, and is probably on the hot seat already. What? George Karl, one the most winningest coaches in NBA history might be fired by an organization who haven’t even experienced mediocrity in the past decade? That’s correct.

If Cousins does indeed have an issue with the way Karl is running the team (not saying that he does, just speculating), then Karl’s job with the Kings for sure could be in jeopardy.

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In today’s NBA, it’s a player’s game. Meaning that players, especially at Cousins’ status, will always be more of a priority to upper management than the coach. If Cousins does have an issue with Karl’s methods, upper management may grant his wish and look for other possibilities at the head coach postion.

Overall, do I think coach Karl is on the hot seat? Possibly, but I don’t think he will be fired. Although the 1-7 start for the Kings is ugly at the moment, I think once the team gets out of the rigorous part of their schedule, things will start to turn up for the purple and white.

As time progresses for this team, the chemistry between players will improve, the competition will be easier to handle, and hopefully players can remain healthy. If the Kings can endure their next five games (Pistons, Nets, Raptors, Hawks, and Heat), and squeak out a couple of wins during the process, it could carry momentum going forward against the rest of their schedule, which consist of easier competition.

Next: Recap: Kings Drop To The Spurs

Like Vlade Divac said today, “Wins heal everything”, and if the Kings can just endure these next five games, I think they will be fine going forward, which will result in the Kings finding their way more into the “W” column, and the “in-house” issues that Cousins stated last night will be squashed completely.

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