SACRAMENTO, Calif. _ George Karl has had four years to reflect on what went wrong when his distinguished NBA coaching career imploded in Sacramento in the spring of 2016.
Karl and former Kings assistant coach Vance Walberg circled back to sort through the wreckage Thursday in a revealing episode of the "Truth + Basketball with George Karl" podcast. Karl, 69, unloaded on Kings owner Vivek Ranadive, general manager Vlade Divac and former star DeMarcus Cousins, saying the dysfunction he experienced over 14 months in Sacramento surpassed anything he had seen in 38 years of coaching.
"I'm sad that the end of my career ends in whatever you want to label it _ chaos and misery," said Karl, one of nine coaches to win 1,000 games in the NBA. "Don't get me wrong. I can celebrate my career, but that's not how I wanted to leave basketball."
Co-host Brad Burns moderated a 73-minute discussion between Karl and Walberg, who spent parts of two seasons together in Sacramento. They talked about Karl's stormy relationship with Cousins, a lack of support from ownership and the front office, and the day the Kings fired Walberg instead of Karl "to send a little message." Near the end of the podcast, Burns asked if either coach had ever been in a more dysfunctional situation.
"Never," Walberg said.
"Not even close," Karl said.
The Kings did not respond Thursday when asked if they wished to respond to comments from Karl and Walberg.
