[A somber Vlade Divac steps quietly into the dimly lit office of a dark-hooded figure hunched over a desk]
DIVAC: “The dark deed you have requested is finally done, my lord.”
[The figure slowly looks up, revealing himself to be Kings owner Vivek Ranadive]
RANADIVE: “Excellent work, my son. Excellent.”
[Cackles maniacally]
At long last, the George Karl era in Sacramento is finally over. The Kings officially announced in a release on Thursday that Karl has been fired as head coach of the team, per Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! Sports.
“After evaluating the team’s performance this season, I determined it was necessary to move forward with a new voice from the head coaching position,” Divac, the Kings general manager, said in the release. “I have a great deal of respect and admiration for George and his accomplishments throughout his nearly 30 years in the NBA. On behalf of everyone in the Kings organization, I thank him for the contributions made during his time in Sacramento and wish him good fortune in the future.”
Karl, who was hired to the position in early 2015, finishes his Kings tenure with 44 wins, 68 losses, and a countless number of headaches.
The former Coach of the Year butted heads with superstar center DeMarcus Cousins from the very beginning, with the pair’s rocky relationship culminating in open confrontations on multiple occasions.
It wasn’t just a Boogie problem either as Karl ran a mumbo-jumbo mess of an offense while his defensive sets were little more than a traffic cone arrangement. Karl also appeared to have problems with other players and members of his own coaching staff alike.
The 64-year-old Karl was on the precipice of being fired in February, but was ultimately kept by the team in a shocking reversal of course after Divac apparently convinced Ranadive to retain Karl. But this time around, there was no saving Karl’s job with a report on Tuesday saying that a sacking was imminent upon the conclusion of the regular season.
While the gross ineptitude of Sacramento’s upper-level management is likely to ensure that Karl’s firing will not be the end-all be-all solution to that franchise’s festering woes, it’s at least a step in the right direction in the hopes that their sixth coach in four years will be able to help right the sinking ship.
