Kings' Cousins, Rondo initiated 'powerful' meeting with George Karl

Neither Rajon Rondo nor DeMarcus Cousins has a glittering track record of jelling with coaches, and Sacramento Kings coach George Karl has had his own trust issues with his players in the past.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, things got off to a rocky start for Karl in Sacramento, with a dramatic summer-long standoff with Cousins, reported clashes with Rondo, and the alleged profanity-laced tirade Cousins launched against him after the Kings' 1-7 start this season.

And yet, the three are apparently back on the same page, following a meeting the two players initiated during a road trip last week.

"It was a powerful meeting for all three of us," Rondo told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports.

Rondo said he and Cousins had initially planned for a simple 15-minute sitdown, but it turned into a two-hour discussion.

"We asked him to just sit with us so we can pick his brain and share our thoughts," the point guard said. "What I love about (Karl) is he's very open. George is not a dictator. 'What can we do positively? What can we do to improve?'

"If you can come into a meeting with no egos and everyone was humble, it just works out for the better."

Rondo's ill-fated tenure with the Dallas Mavericks last season ended in acrimony, as he was effectively banished from the team during the first round of the playoffs after repeated dust-ups with head coach Rick Carlisle. The Kings bet on him in the offseason anyway, and so far it's paying off. Rondo is averaging 12.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, and a league-leading 10.7 assists per game. Of the 13 triple-doubles recorded in the NBA this season, he accounts for four.

Rondo said he and Cousins "are both trying to change the culture" in Sacramento, which starts with increased accountability in the locker room.

"We're just trying to correct every mistake we have," Cousins said. "We want to be a winning team, and I feel it starts with myself on down to Rondo as well."

According to Karl, the two asked that he be more selective about when the team plays up-tempo. The Kings currently rank second in the NBA in pace.

"I said, 'OK, I will slow it down if you do what I want,'" Karl said. "That's not fighting each other. That's mutually coming together. If we have to compromise something, we will compromise something."

Karl added that he was so pleased with how the meeting went, he now plans to have weekly meetings with Cousins and Rondo.

"We are going to continue to communicate on a weekly basis, good or bad," he said. "If we are in a good stretch, we are going to still communicate."

The Kings, quietly, are righting the ship. They're 6-5 since that ugly 1-7 start, and are also 6-5 in games Cousins plays (he's had to miss time for back and Achilles injuries, as well as a league-issued one-game suspension). There's much to indicate the team is better than its record, and even now, they sit just a game-and-a-half out of a playoff spot in the weakened Western Conference.

"Honestly, it's not about us liking each other," Cousins said. "Our main goal, our only goal, is to win games."