The New York Knicks have the worst owner in the NBA, but the Sacramento Kings have endured the worst leadership situation in the league over the past several years.
The messy divorce from the Maloof brothers, Joe and Gavin.
The disastrous firing of Michael Malone as head coach before the arrival of Vlade Divac as general manager.
Divac’s predictably messy tenure, marked by the almost-firing of George Karl as head coach and all sorts of mixed messages.
DeMarcus Cousins coexisting in a toxic relationship with Karl, poisoning the locker room long enough to detract from the larger effort of team-building.
These are just some of the lowlights of the Kings’ sad story in recent times. Owner Vivek Ranadive bears most of the responsibility for these actions, but one has to wonder why Divac stepped into such an evidently difficult situation as GM, and why Karl — instead of waiting for a possible opening in Oklahoma City at the end of the 2015 season — felt he had to jump to Sacramento in February of 2015.
By entering messy situations in midstream — knowing they were stepping into quagmires — Divac and Karl exhibited poor judgment. Ranadive put them in position to fail, but they never had to agree to enter Ranadive’s world. They did, and the ensuing chaos over the past 14 months (since Karl was hired, with Divac being hired one month later) has been utterly predictable.
Now, the Sacramento Kings — with Divac having been retained as general manager — must address their leadership crisis.
You can focus on this team’s continued lack of defensive backbone, or on any other on-court deficiency you want. Yet, anything which has dogged the Kings on the court takes a back seat to the problems in the leadership structure, which have filtered into the locker room.
Divac is the pivotal figure in an organization whose owner doesn’t get it, but who is inexperienced enough (unlike James Dolan) to be malleable and educable. Divac has to carve out a path the Kings can use to earn trust and confidence from fans and free agents alike, as the team says goodbye to the former Arco Arena and moves into a new building next season.
The complexity of Divac’s task lies primarily in retail politics behind the scenes. Divac must use his people skills to set the right tone with a new head coach — Karl can’t be allowed to stay after the mess that was this past season — and get that coach on the right page with Cousins. If Cousins is happy playing for his new head coach, Sacramento can move forward despite the clashing personalities on its roster, including Rajon Rondo. If Cousins isn’t happy — if he’s not convinced his coach always has his back — the Kings can’t expect to make progress.
It’s up to Divac to see what Cousins is looking for, but simultaneously hold Boogie accountable. Then, Divac can go about the work of landing the new head coach who can lift this franchise out of the muck.
You’ll concede that the past five years in Sacramento have been a blur. Uncertainty about the ability of the franchise to stay in California’s capital city overwhelmed all other considerations for a period of time. Ranadive took over the franchise based on his commitment to build the new arena which will open its doors to the Kings this autumn. That was a positive development for Sacramento residents, but everything since has been a disaster. Ranadive bungled anything and everything about the operation of the Kings before Karl and Divac came along. The decision to keep Divac aboard might be the first forward-thinking act in Ranadive’s tenure. Divac is now in position to become the leadership figure the Kings have sorely lacked the past several years.
The reality of the Michael Malone firing in late 2014 will guarantee that when any coach interviews for this job — presuming Karl will be terminated, of course — he’ll wonder about being given time to succeed. That might be Divac’s easier task in the coming months. What might be a lot harder for Divac to rationally explain is how a roster with Cousins and Rondo — two very difficult personalities — can function as smoothly as it needs to. In the attempt to keep Boogie happy, Divac must also hire a coach who can coexist reasonably well with Rondo. If he can’t find that multi-level fit with a new coach, Divac will need to consider a trade or another move which would reshape his roster.
Against this backdrop, Divac must also keep track of other potential coaching openings in the league, and how quickly other franchises are able to fill them.
Other than that, he really doesn’t have to do much.
Vlade Divac hasn’t been given a real chance to lead the Sacramento Kings… until now. It’s up to Divac to provide the guidance this franchise has lacked for the past several seasons.
