Kings' Karl: 'I'm not going to let the atmosphere of doom diminish my excitement'

Never a dull moment in Sactown.

Since Sacramento Kings head coach George Karl joined the team midway through the 2014-15 season, the franchise has been unsuccessful in steering away from the spotlight - and not in a good way.

Karl is not entirely responsible for the Kings' recent PR headaches - the organization has had a long-documented history of tumult.

However, things haven't gotten better for the Kings since bringing Karl aboard. Rather, they seem to have gotten worse in terms of the undeniable amount of drama coming out of Northern California.

Reports surfaced in June that Karl had been attempting to trade his best player, mercurial DeMarcus Cousins - an account the team's front office swiftly and predictably denied.

Karl shed some light on these allegations in an interview with CBS Sports' Ken Berger on Tuesday.

"There was never a discussion in that area even close to happening, in my opinion ... Never in the whole time of this experience did I ever think that I wasn't going to coach Cuz," Karl said.

"As a coach, in meetings every year and maybe four or five times a year, you talk about what-ifs," Karl added. "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."

After this first wave of Karl-induced controversy, Kings vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac was forced to do damage control, acknowledging the testy nature of the relationship between his coach and franchise player.

Rumblings of the team trying to fire Karl bounced around NBA circles, with legendary college coach John Calipari rumored as a possible replacement.

In spite of his job security being questioned in recent weeks, Karl has maintained that he and Cousins are capable of getting on the same page.

"I want to talk to Cuz," Karl reiterated to Berger. "But the situation, because of how it got, I think we've got to be patient to get to that point. I don't know when it will be or how it will be, but I think (the meeting with Cousins) will happen."

Divac has done an admirable job of bringing in respectable pieces while avoiding a full-fledged tank/rebuild - offseason maneuvers that seem to have pleased Karl.

"I love my team. A month ago, I didn't know who I was going to be coaching ... 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. 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."

A gentlemanly handshake is a start. Perhaps a round of "Kumbaya" is in order. Either way, the Sacramento Kings will be worth keeping an eye on next season.