George Karl Clears The Air..Sort Of

After multiple rumors of dysfunction and chaos surfaced about his relationship with both Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive and franchise cornerstone DeMarcus Cousins, George Karl has finally sat down with CBS’ Ken Berger and addressed his relationship with both men and his goals for the Kings this season and beyond

First thing’s first: let’s get to the newest info we have on the Cousins/Karl beef that’s been rumored to result in either Cousins being traded or Karl getting fired (all quotes from Berger’s article on Karl, linked above):

"“I want to talk to Cuz,” Karl said. “But the situation, because of how it got, I think we’ve got to be patient to get to that point. … I trust Vlade. I don’t know when it will be or how it will be, but I think [the meeting with Cousins] will happen.”"

So aside from “a limp handshake and barely a word” exchanged during a Kings Summer League game in Las Vegas, the two haven’t even spoken? That’s pretty discouraging. I mean, not even a quick phone call? It seems to me like Karl is sort of shifting blame to Vlade Divac, who in addition to being the Kings GM now must also be a full-time peacemaker as well.

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It seems like the problems between these two definitely weren’t very exaggerated if they haven’t even spoken yet though. If Karl doesn’t even feel comfortable enough with Boogie to talk to him yet, there’s something seriously wrong between them.

As far as the rumor that Karl was campaigning to have Cousins dealt, he sort of side-steps the question while admitting he definitely didn’t fight to not deal Boogie:

"“All that stuff is so out there,” said Karl, who nonetheless admitted that hypothetical conversations about trading Cousins occurred “behind closed doors.”“As a coach, in meetings every year and maybe four or five times a year, you talk about what-ifs,” Karl said. “And 99 percent of what-ifs never happen. But isn’t it our job to talk about what-ifs? Does this make us better? Does this get us in a better place? That’s our job.“There was never a discussion in that area even close to happening, in my opinion,” he said. “… Never in the whole time of this experience did I ever think that I wasn’t going to coach Cuz.”"

I guess this is good news, but it’s pretty weak good news. Karl didn’t think Cousins would get dealt, but he never says that he didn’t shop him, either. He actually defends the premise of trying to trade Boogie, which makes it sound to me like he definitely did make some calls regarding a DeMarcus Cousins trade.

But at least he figured it wouldn’t happen. If that’s because he knew Ranadive and Divac would never okay it or if he really was just making sure some team wouldn’t give up way too much for Boogie we may never know, but at least Karl seems open to working with Cousins to mend this rift, and also knows how to do that–by winning:

"“Am I happy [the rift] happened? No,” he said. “I’m sure I have some responsibility for that. But I think the thing people don’t understand is, there’s some common ground here. We’re frustrated with losing. We’re competitors. We want to win. And sometimes when that’s the atmosphere that you’re in, negative things occur.”"

Just because I’m an optimist, let’s try to focus on the positives of Berger’s interview with George Karl. He does love the roster Divac has assembled in Sacramento, and Karl himself is optimistic about the upcoming season:

"“The decision to rebuild the team with veteran guys, I think, is fantastic,” Karl said. “I think putting a culture in Sacramento is what I want. That’s what I’m used to in Denver — intensity and getting better and players loving the game and enjoying the game. And I think we picked up players that are not only talented players, but love the game and want to play the game the right way. So I’m not going to let the atmosphere of doom diminish my excitement. We’re going to have a hell of a year."

So if Karl can get this team of skilled veterans and a few key young players to mesh and have a hell of a year, that should go a long ways towards mending the rift between he and Boogie Cousins. In the words of the legendary Al Davis: Just Win, Baby.

But if Karl and co can’t pull out a winning season, expect that “atmosphere of doom” to be a whole lot gloomier, very soon.

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