This season for the Sacramento Kings has not exactly been a fun one, especially recently. There was a time when the Kings were legitimately in the playoff hunt, but they have lost nine of their last 11 games and are now nowhere close to the postseason. This Kings team has a lot of talent, so they expected to at least compete for one of the eight spots out West but, it just hasn't happened.
One of the big issues for Sacramento has been the relationship between head coach George Karl and star player DeMarcus Cousins. Earlier this season, Karl was almost fired, but Vlade Divac and the rest of the Kings front office decided to give him at least the rest of the season to try and figure things out.
In the time since the Kings decided to retain Karl, things have not gotten much better, as they have continued to lose consistently and his relationship with his players has not shown any growth. Karl and star player DeMarcus Cousins haven't had the greatest relationship since this past summer when Karl tried to trade the center, but it seemed things were headed in the right direction on that front. Instead, it seems like things have gone backwards, as Karl suspended Cousins for a game this past weekend, and "Boogie" continues to be frustrated with Karl and the team.
Cousins is not the only player to be frustrated with Karl right now, but as it seems the losing has brought the team to its breaking point. Rudy Gay recently came out and said that this is the hardest season he has ever had to go through, and many of his teammates echo that sentiment. A lot of the frustrations from Kings players stem from Karl, and the fact that they have issues with the way he runs practices. In addition to the trouble with practices, players haven't been happy about his defensive concepts or his rotations all season either.
Karl has only been with the Kings for a little more than one season at this point, but it is pretty clear that he is not long for this job. The Kings front office gave him a chance to show that he can turn things around, but instead, they have gone in the opposite direction. The lack of cohesiveness between the players and coach is a big deal, and since it isn't practical to get rid of all of the players after the season is over, it is looking more and more like Karl will be canned this offseason.
