Kings have struggled recently, coincided with Cousins being sidelined…
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According to reports on Monday, the Sacramento Kings have fired their coach Mike Malone after a disappointing recent run of results.
According to ESPN, the Kings “expected more” but insisted that there was “no incident” that led to Malone’s firing, but their struggles in recent weeks is likely to have been a determining factor.
Sacramento got off to a surprising 5-1 start to the season but they have since lost eight of their past 10 games and have fallen to 11-13 as a result.
Their drop has coincided with DeMarcus Cousins being sidelined with viral meningitis and it will come as a shock to many considering the progress the organisation is making both on and off the court.
Rudy Gay was signed to a new three-year extension earlier this year while they have also broken ground on a $477m arena that is expected to open downtown for the 2016/17 season.
However, Malone (39-67) is not expected to be part of that future any more after being hired following the 2013 season as he became the first coach since Vivek Ranadive took over ownership of the franchise from the Maloof family.
Assistant coach Tyrone Corbin will act as the interim coach until a full-time replacement is found, and he has a record of 112-146 in three-plus seasons as coach of the Utah Jazz.
Sacramento return to action on Tuesday night when they play the Oklahoma City Thunder with whom they are tied at 10th in the Western Conference. Cousins is expected to remain sidelined and he will likely have a new coach on the sidelines when he does return.
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