Kings' Divac on Cousins-Karl relationship: 'Not pretty right now'
Sacramento Kings fans hoping Vlade Divac would ease their tension about the relationship between DeMarcus Cousins and George Karl were given a rude awakening on Thursday.
Vlade on Cousins & Karl "not pretty right now . . . Hope it goes well " expects both to be w/#Kings when season starts " to @jimrome
— Bill Herenda (@billherenda) July 9, 2015
Divac, the team's vice president of basketball operations, made the comments about his star big man and head coach on Thursday's edition of CBS Sports Radio's "Jim Rome Show."
The Kings' state of affairs has been a contentious topic since reports emerged last month that Karl was trying to persuade Divac and team owner Vivek Ranadive to trade Cousins. That scandalous week in Sacramento included Cousins seemingly referring to his coach as a snake in the grass in a now-infamous tweet.
It was reported in February when Karl was hired that Cousins was unhappy with the club's choice and the fact he wasn't consulted during the coaching search. The Kings also irritated the big man by firing Mike Malone, the first head coach to truly get through to Boogie in his NBA career.
Cousins, 24, averaged 24.1 points, 12.7 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.7 blocks, and 1.5 steals in a career year that saw him earn All-NBA second-team honors. His improved two-way play helped the Kings get off to a surprising 9-5 start, but the team went into a tailspin while Cousins was sidelined with meningitis, eventually leading to Malone's unceremonious firing.