Sacramento Kings coach George Karl: I apologized to DeMarcus Cousins

Sacramento Kings coach George Karl told CSN Bay Area’s Kayte Christensen he apologized to center DeMarcus Cousins for a comment he made last season.
Cousins has been the subject of trade rumors in Sacramento during multiple overhauls of the team’s front office. Karl was hired as the Kings coach in February of last season and made comments suggesting Cousins was a tradeable player.
“I’ve had some great players and I’ve never had one player that I have said is untradeable,” Karl said earlier this year. “You always got to be ready for the possibility of a great trade that could come your way.”
• Off-season grades: Kings’ chaotic summer | GOLLIVER: West storylines
Karl backtracked those comments when speaking with Christensen.
Michael Malone Q&A: Drafting Mudiay, Kings firing and his vision for Nuggets
“That was wrong for me to say, because you all took it and blew it up into crazy. But it’s my responsibility to be smart enough to not say things like that,” Karl said. “So I did apologize because I thought that was the only thing, maybe some other things, but really the only thing that got us separated was that comment that then everybody wrote the we’re going to trade [Cousins].”
Cousins averaged 24.1 points and 12.7 rebounds per game for the Kings last season. Sacramento finished 29–53, a one win improvement from the previous year.
• Rajon Rondo signing | Kings’ new uniforms |JENKINS: Seth Curry’s journey
Photos: Cousins ranked 14th in SI’s Top 100 Players of 2016
Top 100 NBA Players of 2016
#100 — Giannis Antetokounmpo

Bucks | Forward | Last year: —
#99 — Wesley Matthews

Mavericks | Guard | Last year: 72
#98 — Donatas Motiejunas

Rockets | Forward | Last year: —
#97 — Nerlens Noel

76ers | Forward | Last year: —
#96 — Josh Smith

Clippers | Forward | Last year: 53
#95 — Roy Hibbert

Lakers | Center | Last year: 52
#94 — Reggie Jackson

Pistons | Guard | Last year: —
#93 — J.J. Redick

Clippers | Guard | Last year: 93
#92 — Lou Williams

Lakers | Guard | Last year: —
#91 — Andrew Wiggins

Timberwolves | Forward | Last year: —
#90 — Taj Gibson

Bulls | Forward | Last year: 75
#89 — Amir Johnson

Celtics | Forward | Last year: 71
#88 — Isaiah Thomas

Celtics | Guard | Last year: 90
#87 — Ricky Rubio

Timberwolves | Guard | Last year: 87
#86 — Kenneth Faried

Nuggets | Forward | Last year: 77
#85 — Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

Hornets | Forward | Last year: —
#84 — Robin Lopez

Knicks | Center | Last year: 82
#83 — Deron Williams

Mavericks | Guard | Last year: 45
#82 — Joe Johnson

Nets | Guard | Last year: 51
#81 — DeMarre Carroll

Raptors | Forward | Last year: —
#80 — George Hill

Pacers | Guard | Last year: —
#79 — Brandon Knight

Suns | Guard | Last year: —
#78 — Tobias Harris

Magic | Forward | Last year: —
#77 — Jonas Valanciunas

Raptors | Center | Last year: 80
#76 — Andrew Bogut

Warriors | Center | Last year: 65
#75 — Thaddeus Young

Nets | Forward | Last year: 69
#74 — Tiago Splitter

Hawks | Center | Last year: 70
#73 — Danilo Gallinari

Nuggets | Forward | Last year: 62
#72 — Ryan Anderson

Pelicans | Forward | Last year: 59
#71 — Paul Pierce

Clippers | Forward | Last year: 46
#70 — Tristan Thompson

Cavaliers | Forward | Last year: —
#69 — Hassan Whiteside

Heat | Center | Last year: —
#68 — Timofey Mozgov

Cavaliers | Center | Last year: —
#67 — Nikola Vucevic

Magic | Center | Last year: 89
#66 — Chandler Parsons

Mavericks | Forward | Last year: 56
#65 — Trevor Ariza

Rockets | Forward | Last year: 83
#64 — Markieff Morris

Suns | Forward | Last year: —
#63 — Marcin Gortat

Wizards | Center | Last year: 58
#62 — Bradley Beal

Wizards | Guard | Last year: 76
#61 — DeMar DeRozan

Raptors | Guard | Last year: 61
#60 — Derrick Rose

Bulls | Guard | Last year: 23
#59 — Jrue Holiday

Pelicans | Guard | Last year: 50
#58 — Tyreke Evans

Pelicans | Forward | Last year: 84
#57 — Monta Ellis

Pacers | Guard | Last year: 66
#56 — Luol Deng

Heat | Forward | Last year: 55
#55 — Nicolas Batum

Hornets | Forward | Last year: 43
#54 — Kobe Bryant

Lakers | Guard | Last year: 24
#53 — Tony Parker

Spurs | Guard | Last year: 15
#52 — Rudy Gay

Kings | Forward | Last year: 67
#51 — Ty Lawson

Rockets | Guard | Last year: 44
#50 — Danny Green

Spurs | Guard | Last year: 96
#49 — Zach Randolph

Grizzlies | Forward | Last year: 42
#48 — Greg Monroe

Bucks | Forward | Last year: 68
#47 — Al Jefferson

Hornets | Center | Last year: 26
#46 — Kyle Korver

Hawks | Forward | Last year: 74
#45 — Khris Middleton

Bucks | Forward | Last year: —
#44 — Andre Iguodala

Warriors | Forward | Last year: 29
#43 — Joakim Noah

Bulls | Center | Last year: 17
#42 — Goran Dragic

Heat | Guard | Last year: 35
#41 — Jeff Teague

Hawks | Guard | Last year: 92
#40 — Pau Gasol

Bulls | Forward | Last year: 49
#39 — Rudy Gobert

Jazz | Center | Last year: —
#38 — Brook Lopez

Nets | Center | Last year: 36
#37 — Derrick Favors

Jazz | Forward | Last year: 79
#36 — Tyson Chandler

Suns | Center | Last year: 39
#35 — Andre Drummond

Pistons | Center | Last year: 37
#34 — Kyle Lowry

Raptors | Guard | Last year: 30
#33 — Eric Bledsoe

Suns | Guard | Last year: 33
#32 — Paul Millsap

Hawks | Forward | Last year: 34
#31 — Gordon Hayward

Jazz | Forward | Last year: 57
#30 — Dwyane Wade

Heat | Guard | Last year: 20
#29 — DeAndre Jordan

Clippers | Center | Last year: 38
#28 — Dirk Nowitzki

Mavericks | Forward | Last year: 14
#27 — Mike Conley

Grizzlies | Guard | Last year: 32
#26 — Klay Thompson

Warriors | Guard | Last year: 54
#25 — Serge Ibaka

Thunder | Forward | Last year: 19
#24 — Damian Lillard

Trail Blazers | Guard | Last year: 22
#23 — Kyrie Irving

Cavaliers | Guard | Last year: 21
#22 — Chris Bosh

Heat | Forward | Last year: 18
#21 — Al Horford

Hawks | Center | Last year: 25
#20 — Paul George

Pacers | Forward | Last year: —
#19 — Dwight Howard

Rockets | Center | Last year: 9
#18 — Jimmy Butler

Bulls | Guard | Last year: 98
#17 — Kevin Love

Cavaliers | Forward | Last year: 7
#16 — Draymond Green

Warriors | Forward | Last year: —
#15 — Carmelo Anthony

Knicks | Forward | Last year: 11
#14 — DeMarcus Cousins

Kings | Center | Last year: 27
#13 — John Wall

Wizards | Guard | Last year: 31
#12 — LaMarcus Aldridge

Spurs | Forward | Last year: 12
#11 — Tim Duncan

Spurs | Forward | Last year: 5
#10 — Kawhi Leonard

Spurs | Forward | Last year: 28
#9 — Marc Gasol

Grizzlies | Center | Last year: 16
#8 — Blake Griffin

Clippers | Forward | Last year: 10
#7 — Russell Westbrook

Thunder | Guard | Last year: 4
#6 — Chris Paul

Clippers | Guard | Last year: 3
#5 — James Harden

Rockets | Guard | Last year: 13
#4 — Stephen-Curry

Warriors | Guard | Last year: 8
#3 — Anthony Davis

Pelicans | Forward | Last year: 4
#2 — Kevin Durant

Thunder | Forward | Last year: 2
#1 — LeBron James

Cavaliers | Forward | Last year: 1
– Rohan Nadkarni
