Sacramento Kings star DeMarcus Cousins and members of the front office met with ex-Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson on Tuesday. Following the firing of coach Mike Malone over the weekend, at least one report indicated Jackson could have been discussing the Kings' head coaching vacancy.
Sam Amick of USA Today reported Kings general manager Pete D'Alessandro, consultant Chris Mullin and Cousins all met privately with Jackson after Tuesday night's loss to Oklahoma City.
Per Amick:
"(Tuesday night), after the Kings fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-92, another possible candidate emerged in the most convenient of ways: former Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson. After calling the game courtside for ESPN, Jackson had a lengthy meeting with Mullin, Kings general manager Pete D'Alessandro and franchise centerpiece DeMarcus Cousins inside the 'Chairman's Lounge' where they had requested that arena workers and others give them some privacy. ...
"D'Alessandro joined them approximately 20 minutes into the meeting, and the group finally exited just before midnight, long after the room had been cleared so that they could have a moment to discuss, well, connect the dots yourself."
Amick conceded the meeting could have had nothing to do with business. Jackson and Mullin have been friends since high school, and D'Alessandro was the video coordinator at St. John's during Jackson's senior season. Jackson, Mullin and D'Alessandro also have all "made a habit" of visiting each other whenever the opportunity presented itself, according to Amick.
D'Alessandro later said something along the same lines.
"Honestly, it was not a meeting. Ty (Corbin) is (our) coach. Mark (Jackson) is our friend. End of story," he told Yahoo Sports late Tuesday night.
Still, the presence of Cousins - the team's franchise player - at the meeting raises the question of whether it was just a friendly get-together or something more.
It's still up in the air whether Corbin will finish the season as the interim head coach. Karl's name was mentioned by a number of news outlets as a likely candidate for the position, given his up-tempo offenses and his previous working relationship with D'Alessandro in Denver. Karl also said he would be interested in the Kings if they were interested in him.
Vinny Del Negro was also named as a potential candidate, as were Corbin and Mullin.
