Butler: ‘Deflating’ When Karl Wasn’t Fired During Season

Remember when the Sacramento Kings pretty much fired coach George Karl right before the All-Star break? Remember when they suddenly decided not to? That was a weird time to be a King, and — guess what? — it did not affect the team in a positive way. Sacramento forward Caron Butler appeared on ESPN’s First Take on Friday and spilled the beans, saying that the team never addressed Karl trying to get DeMarcus Cousins traded and the last part of the season was a slog.

“As players, from All-Star break and everything, I mean, as far as we knew, he was fired,” 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.”

Source: James Herbert of CBS Sports