When the Sacramento Kings nearly fired George Karl before the All-Star break before ultimately deciding to let him finish out the season, the players were disappointed by the decision.

"As players, from All-Star break and everything, I mean, as far as we knew, he was fired," Caron Butler said. "We're in Philadelphia a game before All-Star break and all of a sudden it's like, 'You're not moving [on], I'm coming back.' It was deflating to the locker room, it was deflating to the guys, and we tried to move forward and tried to do the best that we possibly could. But that was deflating to the team, it was a big blow and it was tough to move forward."

Karl and DeMarcus Cousins had an acrimonious relationship from nearly the beginning of his tenure.

The Kings hired Dave Joerger this offseason.