DeMarcus Cousins released a statement through Yahoo! Sports regarding the Kings’ coaching search this afternoon. Cousins’ comments read:
“I wasn’t consulted when the decision was made to fire Mike Malone and I’m not being consulted now. I just hope they make a decision soon and stick with it. George Karl is an experienced, proven coach and if that is who they chose to coach this team, I will support it. I do not like all these discussions in the media while we have a coach in place. It is a distraction and not fair to Coach Corbin and this team.”
Reports on Saturday suggested Cousins’ camp was unhappy with the team’s effort to hire George Karl to coach as early as after the All-Star break. Speculation pointed to Cousins’ agents, Jarinn Akana and Dan Fegan, and their history with Karl back when he coached the Denver Nuggets.
When Karl was hired in 2005, Akana was an assistant coach with the Nuggets who was demoted to scout. Fegan once represented Karl’s son, former NBA player Coby, and George may have played a role in the agent’s dismissal.
Cousins was blamed for the coaching holdup on social media following Saturday’s reports, and his frustrations boiled over on Sunday, when he referenced “God’s will” to the media and abruptly stormed off after the Kings beat the Phoenix Suns.
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