Absolutely, they've got to feel like they have been played for fools. I never even entertained the idea of something like this happening without Boogie signing off on it first.
Yeah, um...most likely not.
It's a business. They know it much better than we do.
I'm gonna be blunt. Maybe if the players were so devoted to Malone they could have shown it by not losing all those games we could have/should have won, even with Cousins on the bench. If they were so devoted to Malone maybe they could have shown it by putting forth effort every single time they stepped on the court.
The first time I ever heard the old adage "Players win, coaches lose" was from a player. I think the idea that "none of them like this move' is totally unsubstantiated. I'd almost be willing to bet they know more about why Malone was actually fired than we'll ever hear.
Bottom line is it's done. He's history. The players will not be looking back mourning his loss. They're going to be looking forward, knowing that they need to adopt "the coach is dead, long live the coach" mentality, quit messing around and get back to playing like they mean it.
If the players everyone is so worried about had done their jobs adequately, Malone would still be sitting on the bench.