Report: Karl wanted to suspend Cousins 2 games after tirade

The so-called "solid" ground Sacramento Kings head coach George Karl claimed he found with his franchise center before the season began, appears to be crumbling beneath his feet.

With locker-room frustrations boiling over, DeMarcus Cousins reportedly hurled profanity-laced invective at Karl following the Kings' loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday (which dropped the Kings to 1-7), leading to an emergency team meeting.

Karl, who pushed Sacramento's front office to trade Cousins during the summer, wanted to suspend him for two games after the tirade, Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee reports.

According to Jones, Kings general manager Vlade Divac - who played uneasy peacemaker between the two throughout the tumultuous offseason - said Karl didn't have authority to suspend Cousins, and wouldn't grant him permission to do so.

Divac would neither confirm nor deny the report.

"There's a lot of B.S. out there," he told Jones. "I'd just rather not comment on it."

Divac also refused to divulge whether Cousins will face discipline of any kind for the blowup.

"Whatever I do, as far as I know, will stay in house," he told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports.

Karl, who's also rumored to have clashed with point guard Rajon Rondo, has seemingly been embattled since taking over the Kings' bench after the All-Star break last season. Still, as dysfunctional as the situation appears to be, given that Karl signed a four-year deal and the Kings have had nine head coaches in the past 10 years, the team has plenty of incentive to try make things work.

Divac told Spears he remains confident in Karl and that his job is safe.

"Nothing has changed, really," he said. "1-7, we all know we're better."

He added, "Most important thing we had after the meeting was we were on the same page, bottom line, on how to improve. That's positive stuff."

Karl also made a point of dispelling the notion that, after battling cancer, he no longer has the energy to handle the rigors of NBA coaching - a notion "people inside and outside the organization have expressed concern over," according to Jones.

"I think that's crazy," Karl said. "I think I have more energy now than I've ever had. I'm the lightest I've ever been, I eat better than I've ever eaten. I feel great."

A few more wins would likely make him feel a whole lot better.