Reports: Kings getting closer to deal with Karl; Corbin to coach 2 more games
The Sacramento Kings' drive to hire George Karl as their new head coach is in the final stages of contract specifics, according to Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski.
Karl and the Kings are nearing a four-year deal worth between $4 million and $5 million a season, writes Wojnarowski.
Additionally, the team reportedly told current coach Tyrone Corbin on Monday that he'll coach the two games before the All-Star break, first reported by Yahoo Sports' Marc Spears. The intent there is to have Karl in place for Sacramento's first game after the break, Feb. 20 at home against the Boston Celtics.
However, in true Kings fashion for this season, drama accompanied Monday's news. Multiple players reportedly do not want Karl as their coach, according to the Sacramento Bee's Jason Jones.
Apparently some folks are turned off at what they see as Karl's social media campaigning for the job.
— Jason Jones (@mr_jasonjones) February 9, 2015
There's no indication which specific players are unhappy. When word of the Kings' interest in Karl first got out, so did rumor and innuendo about DeMarcus Cousins's camp's supposed dissatisfaction with it. Then, following Sunday's game-winning buzzer beater against the Phoenix Suns, Cousins went after the rumor mill, concluding a bizarre postgame media scrum with "The marathon continues, I'm out."
Karl is the sixth-winningest head coach in NBA history, and last led the Denver Nuggets (winning a Coach of the Year award) in 2013. Corbin, not a serious candidate as a long-term NBA head coach, has gone 7-19 since taking over the Kings from Mike Malone - whose firing was known to have angered Cousins - in December.
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