Kings' Divac: George Karl's job 'not in jeopardy'

Sacramento Kings general manager Vlade Divac is standing by his head coach, at least publicly.

After the Kings picked up their second win in their ninth game Wednesday, Divac vehemently denied George Karl's seat is getting warm.

"George's job is not in jeopardy. Absolutely not," Divac said. "Nothing has changed. I believe in him. I believe he is good for us. Yes, we struggle, but you can see the way we played tonight, we have the talent, and we will turn this around."

The day before the victory over the Detroit Pistons, the Kings held a team meeting - a whopping 13 days into the season - reportedly spurred by an expletive-laden tirade franchise center DeMarcus Cousins aimed at Karl. The two have seemingly had friction since Karl took up the coaching position after last year's All-Star break, cresting this summer when Karl reportedly pleaded with the front office to trade Cousins, and Cousins referred to Karl as a snake in the grass.

Divac claimed the meeting helped get the coach and players on the same page, but rumors that leaked out in the aftermath painted the Kings' chain of command as something less than functional.

Before coaches joined the meeting, Divac asked players if they thought Karl should be fired, Jason McIntyre of The Big Lead reported Wednesday.

Divac, naturally, denied anything of the sort.

"I never asked the players if I should fire coach or said I was thinking of doing that," he said. "I walked into the locker room after the game and said, 'OK, you guys don't want to play with coach? What's the problem?'

"I wanted to catch them by surprise a little bit and get them to talk openly about what was going on. Then the coaches came in, and we talked some more. I think it was very positive for everyone."

Whether the report about Divac polling the players on Karl's job status has any truth, it's becoming increasingly obvious the Kings have a leadership crisis.

In the offseason, Karl butted heads with both Divac and Kings owner Vivek Ranadive over Cousins, who neither executive had any interest in trading. After Cousins' alleged verbal assault on Karl on Monday, Karl reportedly wanted to suspend Cousins for two games, but similarly had that request kiboshed by Divac.

Divac can insist all he wants that Karl's job is safe, but until the coach and his franchise player prove definitively that they can coexist, the GM's claims will ring hollow.