Nuggets Fans: Please turn your attention to the left – the Left Coast, that is.
Bored with losing basketball? Tired of seeing inconsistency from the home team? Still not sure if the Nuggets made the right choice by parting ways with perennial playoff attendee George Karl? Well, then look left; gaze over to the armpit of the NBA – Sacramento. That’s where the excitement is going to be.
Like the Nuggets, the Kings, who sit at 18-32 near the basement of the Pacific Division, aren’t good. In fact, they’ve lost 19 of their last 26 games – not exactly a compelling reason for Nuggets fans to perk up and pay attention over yonder. But in case you hadn’t heard, the Kings are in contract negotiations with former Nuggets coach George Karl. More interestingly, however, is that the Kings star big man, DeMarcus Cousins, may already have issues with a man who isn’t even his coach just yet.
Perhaps that’s not fair. Perhaps that’s why Cousins is so angry; it’s been speculated by multiple sources that Cousins is the very reason Karl and the Kings have not reached an agreement quite yet. Maybe that’s true; maybe it isn’t. Maybe that’s why Cousins isn’t a happy camper.
On Sunday, directly following a buzzer-beating, game-winning shot from Cousins, the big fella went on a rant.
“I ain’t pumped up,” Cousins told the gathered media. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind. The crazy thing about it is, I’ve just got a question for y’all: How you gonna stop God’s plan? How you gonna do that? How you gonna do that? That’s all I want to know. How you gonna stop God’s plan? This city done put me through so much, and I’ve stayed loyal to it the whole time. I just wanna know how you gonna stop God’s plan? God gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers. The marathon continues. I’m out.”
Interpret Cousins’ rhetorical rhetoric however you’d like, but those aren’t exactly the words of a player who’s excited about a rare win, nor do they echo the enticing possibilities of joining forces with a new coach – a new coach, mind you, who’s earned 1,131 NBA victories, good for sixth all-time.
Seems like a star player who’s never won diddly would be excited about a change in direction. After all, Karl has famously flipped the fortunes of practically every NBA franchise that’s ever handed him the clipboard.
Then again, Karl has an undeniable history of feuding with players and being outspoken with management. It’s been written more than once that Karl has a gigantic ego, the kind that won’t let a spoiled kid with talent dictate what does or doesn’t take place on his basketball team.
Despite an amazing six-and-a-half-year run in Seattle – where, from 1991 to 1998, the coach posted a winning percentage of .669 and never won fewer than 55 games in a full season – Karl was let go by the Sonics. He was then given a job in Milwaukee and again turned a loser into a winner, taking the Bucks to the playoffs in four out of five seasons, including a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2001. But along the way, Karl feuded with star players Ray Allen, Glenn Robinson and Sam Cassell. Again, he was unceremoniously let go.
In Denver, Nuggets fans know the story. Karl revived a struggling 2004-05 team by going 32-8 and saving a playoff berth. He never missed the postseason during his nine seasons in Denver. But, like the stops before, Karl quarreled with players, most notably star forward Carmelo Anthony. By the end, he appeared to be at odds with newly acquired All-Star Andre Iguodala, who allegedly ratted out his coach for “dirty” tactics during a first-round playoff loss to Golden State (where he now plays today).
As Sam Smith of the Chicago Tribune wrote following Karl’s departure from Milwaukee: “(Karl) often leaves in his wake a trail of misery – frustrated management, bitter players and a listing franchise.”
Perhaps Cousins came across Smith’s words while navigating Google. Or perhaps stars talk to other stars. It’s quite conceivable that Cousins rang up Anthony and said, “Hey buddy, what’s it like to play for George Karl?”
Or, could it be, that a 24-year-old kid who currently makes $13 million ($16.8 million by the 2017-18 season) and who has never won more than 28 games in an NBA season is just fine with the status quo? Could it be that in Cousins’ mind “comfort” is more important than winning?
What if Karl is the pain in the butt that hundreds have eluded to? What if Karl demands more than is currently being demanded in Sacramento? What if he doesn’t put Cousins on that oh-so-coveted pedestal?
On the flip side, what if Cousins ain’t happy? Like him or not, he’s a star – or at least at he’s got star potential. Sacramento, much like Utah, Milwaukee and – gulp – Denver, is one of those places that NBA savants claim can’t attract a superstar. Cousins arrived through the draft; otherwise, he wouldn’t be there. With stars so hard to come by – especially there – why risk losing one?
If you don’t think Kings management has all of the above questions, you’d be wrong.
The problem, though, is that this situation defines the modern NBA. It’s the reason the league struggles to gain popularity, while the NFL prints money. It’s why the Spurs – the only team in the league whose players buy into the concept that their coach actually knows what he’s doing – have won five titles in the past 16 years, despite San Antonio’s tiny market size. It’s why Karl hasn’t been seriously considered for a job until now.
It’s quite possible that George Karl is indeed the problem. But this issue goes beyond the Karl and Cousins saga. At some point, the NBA and its owners must ask the toughest question of them all:
Who’s running this show?
