Calipari rumor quickly debunked ... by CALIPARI

[hrdboild]

Does anyone here still take Woj seriously at this point? He's declared war on Sacramento for whatever reason and the reports are only getting more ridiculous. There's no way Coach Cal is leaving Kentucky. He can stay there for 30 years and they'll pay him whatever he wants because he recruits well enough to compete every single year. Did anyone else catch the dig at Vlade that got thrown in there at the end?

Most believed Ranadive had hired Divac in a ceremonial position, but the owner quickly decided to usurp general manager Pete D'Alessandro's authority to place Divac in charge.

D'Alessandro left the Kings for a front-office job with the Denver Nuggets two weeks ago. Around the draft, several front-office executives and player agents expressed frustration about dealing with Divac on instances involving the trading and drafting of players. Divac is largely unfamiliar with the collective bargaining and salary-cap rules, causing him to struggle with grasping the machinations of negotiating and completing deals.

(link)

This right here is the actual content of the article. I'll summarize for you: PDA is a saint who did nothing wrong, Vivek is an out of control meddling ego-maniac owner, and Vlade Divac is borderline incompetent and in way over his head. All the garbage about Coach Cal talking to Vivek about a job was just made up to get people to read the article. This is exactly what Woj does... he uses his sources to gain inside information about who is negotiating with who and then he stashes editorials in there which flatter his sources as a kind of kick back. Most people are going to completely ignore this part of the article but six months from now (or heck, maybe even tomorrow at this rate) some other "leak" is going to come out and it will refer back to this little nugget of fiction and suddenly people start to see a trend and it's got Wojnarowski's name on it so it seems credible...

 

[John Galt]

WE DON'T KNOW IT IS FEGAN AT ALL... could be PDA. could be Mullin. could be Mastrov. could be Hansen. We don't know and it seems like a rush to judgement that this is all at the feet of Fegan.

 

[andjel]

What!?!

Now we don't know anything for certain but the consensus guess going out right now is that this entire thing has been falsely planted by Fegan. This would now make twice, once the day before the draft and the second time the day before free agency, that Cousins' agent has dropped a big, fetid vat of fecal matter all over our franchise. It's an all-out PR war against our franchise. Barring some sort of move from Cousins to squelch this, we have to begin to conclude that Cousins puts his own interests (whether that be getting traded or getting Karl fired) over the dignity and reputation of our franchise. And you don't see a problem with this, as long as it's not done OPENLY?

First of all, I do not like at all what presumably Fegan is doing.
That being said, I do not see what Fegan is doing as anything different or unexpected from what other agents did in the past.

As long as Cousins puts his 100% in the game (no boycotting) and does not mess the locker room (openly asking for a trade) I do not see any problem from practical point of view.
I do not care who his agent is or says as long as the above is done.

Can you elaborate how does that PR war affect our franchise beside raising blood pressure on the board?
What dignity and reputation you are referring to exactly?
Will that huge line of NBA players wanting to play for Kings suddenly dry out?
Do you think that the only folks that matter (Vlade, Cousins, Karl and Vivek) will do something differently because of the leaks?

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

What!?!

Now we don't know anything for certain but the consensus guess going out right now is that this entire thing has been falsely planted by Fegan. This would now make twice, once the day before the draft and the second time the day before free agency, that Cousins' agent has dropped a big, fetid vat of fecal matter all over our franchise. It's an all-out PR war against our franchise. Barring some sort of move from Cousins to squelch this, we have to begin to conclude that Cousins puts his own interests (whether that be getting traded or getting Karl fired) over the dignity and reputation of our franchise. And you don't see a problem with this, as long as it's not done OPENLY?

As we've already seen, there are many people here who are entirely willing to equivocate about this. Their interests temporarily align with Cousins/Fegan (getting rid of Karl), so as far as they're concerned, everything they do is justified as long as it's in service of that interest, even if it ruins the reputation and/or life of people who don't have **** to do with it.

 

[Larry David]

Well Ham says it was an "off the cuff conversation" but confirms Woj's point that Vivek explored replacing Vlade with Cal but didn't make an offer.

Cal was never coming here, but that's not the point. It didn't go far, but Vivek kicked around the idea of having his 3rd head of basketball operations in 2 years during an off the cuff conversation.

 

[andjel]

Because the point is that there are an overwhelming number of Kings Fans who either legit don't know, or have decided to play the equivocation game, and say, "Well, we don't KNOW if Fegan is acting on Cousins' order, maybe Fegan is a lone wolf in this."

The reason why this is a problem is because everyone wants to believe that Cousins loves Sacramento, and is committed to Sacramento, but the actions of his agent suggest that he is putting himself over the team, which is directly contradictory to what he's said he stands for.

EDIT - Ninja'd by @Capt. Factorial

I can see that being headache for us on this board and makes Cousins look human instead of martyr (ie selfinterest plays the role).

I do not see translation in W/L, and I do not believe that this "Fegan siege" will be something we will focus for long.... that is unless we have another 30 win season but then does that really matter?

 

[HndsmCelt]

If it is Fegan, this could be a bridge too far for Fegan. It's one thing to burn down the FO you are at odds with, but dragging Calipari into this could bakefire big time. Coach C has had DMC's back and never did ANYTHING to him and now he fending off dumb questions about his loyalty to Kentucky. This tactic ought to pee off Demarcus as much as it does Coach C.

 

[Livinthedream]

Well Ham says it was an "off the cuff conversation" but confirms Woj's point that Vivek explored replacing Vlade with Cal but didn't make an offer.

Cal was never coming here, but that's not the point. It didn't go far, but Vivek kicked around the idea of having his 3rd head of basketball operations in 2 years during an off the cuff conversation.

Did he say to replace Vlade? Or was this before Vlade was hired?

This is the whole problem with this type of reporting. It's half truths that leave it up to the reader to fill in the blanks.

 

[John Galt]

Well Ham says it was an "off the cuff conversation" but confirms Woj's point that Vivek explored replacing Vlade with Cal but didn't make an offer.

Cal was never coming here, but that's not the point. It didn't go far, but Vivek kicked around the idea of having his 3rd head of basketball operations in 2 years during an off the cuff conversation.

off the cuff conversation with who???

 

[John Galt]

If it is Fegan, this could be a bridge too far for Fegan. It's one thing to burn down the FO you are at odds with, but dragging Calipari into this could bakefire big time. Coach C has had DMC's back and never did ANYTHING to him and now he fending off dumb questions about his loyalty to Kentucky. This tactic ought to pee off Demarcus as much as it does Coach C.

this should lead people to second-guess their presumption that it is Fegan behind this story

 

[206Fan]

Woj is a snake. What in the hell has Sacramento ever did to him?

 

[FaStRmAn]

The only word that comes to mind is.....

TRAVISHAMOCKERY !!

 

[Capt. Factorial]

Can you elaborate how does that PR war affect our franchise beside raising blood pressure on the board?

I believe it is an attempt to tarnish the image of our franchise, deliberately timed on the eve of free agency, to demonstrate Fegan's "power" to hurt our franchise by driving down free agent willingness to sign in Sacramento unless we capitulate to his demands.

What dignity and reputation you are referring to exactly?

This is a rhetorical question intended to imply that our franchise currently has no dignity/a bad reputation. Since this question is not actually looking for an answer but is merely an attempt to score a point I won't respond to it further.

Will that huge line of NBA players wanting to play for Kings suddenly dry out?

Notwithstanding the dig at the franchise in the question, yes, I believe that news like this perpetuating the image of a Kings franchise in internal turmoil could very easily sway some free agents away from signing in Sacramento.

Do you think that the only folks that matter (Vlade, Cousins, Karl and Vivek) will do something differently because of the leaks?

Probably not as a direct result of the leaks, no. For instance, I don't think that Vivek and Vlade will fire Karl and try to hire Cal just because a leak said we would. However, given the possibility of losing free agents due to this sort of damaging leak, our front office may be forced to take steps to stop the leaks. I don't know what those steps would be, but one possibility would be to give in to Fegan's pressure. Which, I believe, is the exact point of Fegan's pressure, and the exact thing that I am upset about. Fegan is sleazily attempting to damage our franchise. There is simply no way that I'm going to sit back and be OK about it.

 

[PHXSUNSFAN]

The courtship of Calipari could become one more dramatic turn of events for the Kings, who have struggled under Ranadive to set forth on a direction and stay the course. Around the NBA, senior league officials and confidants of Ranadive have pleaded with him to stop these sharp changes in direction, sources said.

As one league official familiar with Ranadive's mindset told Yahoo Sports, "He's trying to find a magic button to push that'll fix everything."

If anyone else reported it, I'd brush it off but this is Adrian Woj reporting it.

 

[rainmaker]

This is what caused all this crap. From today:

Chris Mannix: What was your daughter's team's record?

Mike Malone: I'll tell you what, we led the fourth grade league in points per game allowed. So we were a full-string team. The only rule we had on defense was that if your girl didn't have the ball, you had to be in the paint. So our paint was tight, and we shrunk the floor, and we had a very good season. But, I kid you not, that was probably the most fun I've ever had coaching. And maybe it's because I knew I wasn't going to have an owner coming down, firing me because we weren't playing a certain style of play that he wanted.​

Don't do that, don't hire PDA and then side with him over Malone, we're not dealing with this. Whether it's the weasel stirring crap up from Den or Fegan trying to force a Karl firing, it stems from that decision.

​

 

[upinsmoke]

Woj has it out for sac ever since his 1st and goal got picked six while we high stepped into the end zone.

 

[John Galt]

This is what caused all this crap. From today:

Chris Mannix: What was your daughter's team's record?

Mike Malone: I'll tell you what, we led the fourth grade league in points per game allowed. So we were a full-string team. The only rule we had on defense was that if your girl didn't have the ball, you had to be in the paint. So our paint was tight, and we shrunk the floor, and we had a very good season. But, I kid you not, that was probably the most fun I've ever had coaching. And maybe it's because I knew I wasn't going to have an owner coming down, firing me because we weren't playing a certain style of play that he wanted.​

Don't do that, don't hire PDA and then side with him over Malone, we're not dealing with this. Whether it's the weasel stirring crap up from Den or Fegan trying to force a Karl firing, it stems from that decision.

​

It is obviously time for a grade school girls basketball grudge match between Vivek and Malone to settle everything. Vivek will do full time full court press. Malone will pack the paint. I will buy the PPV

 

[The Hammer]

Because the point is that there are an overwhelming number of Kings Fans who either legit don't know, or have decided to play the equivocation game, and say, "Well, we don't KNOW if Fegan is acting on Cousins' order, maybe Fegan is a lone wolf in this."

The reason why this is a problem is because everyone wants to believe that Cousins loves Sacramento, and is committed to Sacramento, but the actions of his agent suggest that he is putting himself over the team, which is directly contradictory to what he's said he stands for.

EDIT - Ninja'd by @Capt. Factorial

You can't ignore the history though. Cousins was absolutely crap on first, and several times. I absolutely do not blame him for looking out for his interests at this point, and frankly, if it results in the firing of Karl, again I'm totally ok with that. Get Thibbs in here.

 

[Larry David]

For what it's worth, I would think Cal likes jazz more than Karl

 

[Bricklayer]

Very likely Fegan.

Darkhorse? Vivek again, which would just be a terrible sign.

The Fegan announcement at the end of the season that Cuz didn't want to be involved in anything but playing basketball, and his subsequent trips to China, Mexico, anywhere out of the way make sense if basically the Karl/Cuz thing festered and Fegan told Cuz, I need you to clear out so I can do my thing and fix this for you. Stay out of the fray, don't issue statements, don't meet with anybody, it's going to get ugly and you don't want any of the crap kicked up to land on you.

Fegan's main weapon is Woj. Fegan's target is Karl. You will notice all these rumors always end up involving Karl being fired. Fegan appears to be determined to bring the pain until he is gone. What is less clear is if he has any internal sources suggesting its possible and he's just trying to apply pressure at the right times to make things snap, or whether he is just hammering from outside testing the pain threshold of the franchise. Karl about to be fired....Vivek unstable....Vlade an amateur uunexpectedly given power....rinse, repeat. Every time you see those elements you know who'd talking points they come from.


Darkhorse option: some of it is true, Vivek IS trying to escape Karl's contract, and by leaking that he may try to void the whole thing, Vivek is hoping to get Karl to accept a smaller buyout rather than lose it all. This whole thing then becomes like Don Nelson with the Knicks, a bad mariage quickly dissolved and forgotten about.

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

I can see that being headache for us on this board and makes Cousins look human instead of martyr (ie selfinterest plays the role).

I do not see translation in W/L, and I do not believe that this "Fegan siege" will be something we will focus for long.... that is unless we have another 30 win season but then does that really matter?

In other words, you're one of the equivocating fans I spoke of earlier: their interests line up with yours, so you don't care about their process. And, as long as a trade demand comes out of Fegan's mouth, and not Cousins', you've decided to play the plausible deniability game.

 

[pshn80]

No chance he leaves Kentucky. This is a going to damage the Kings more than anything.

You may be right but at this point, IMO it might be early signs of something good. How can anything that happens right now or in the near future possibly hurt us more than what has already happened. Just because we don't know is no reason to be pessistic.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

This one has nothing to do with Cousins, why would it be Fegan?

 

[Mr. S£im Citrus]

You can't ignore the history though. Cousins was absolutely poopoo on first, and several times...

What is your definition of 'first', in this context? Because it seems to me that, for the four years of Cousins' career prior to firing Malone, that the franchise has pretty much bent over backwards to appease Cousins.

 

[Bricklayer]

In other words, you're one of the equivocating fans I spoke of earlier: their interests line up with yours, so you don't care about their process. And, as long as a trade demand comes out of Fegan's mouth, and not Cousins', you've decided to play the plausible deniability game.

Cousins isn't the evil media mastermind type. There are major players with considerable media saavy and concern for "their brands" who could/would specifically direct things, but Cuz is more the client you call into your office, you ask him how he's doing, you ask him can he work with so and so, ask him what his long term goals are. Then you tell the client, ok, I need you to trust me now. Stay in contact, but take a trip, heck take two trips, get away from it all and let me take care of things. One warning though: things may need to get ugly. You prepared for that?

 

[kingjatt]

Its Fegan with Cuz giving the approval. As much as we hate to believe it an agent cannot behave this way without his boss (client) giving him the go ahead. No one else who is a possible suspect can do what Fegen can for Woj in terms of getting him information first. Woj will only risk his credibility or write these slander pieces for the guys that helped build him (agents).

 

[Bricklayer]

What is your definition of 'first', in this context? Because it seems to me that, for the four years of Cousins' career prior to firing Malone, that the franchise has pretty much bent over backwards to appease Cousins.

Oh yeah. I noticed that.

 

[John Galt]

This latest piece seems much more a slam on Vlade than a slam on Karl - that's the weird thing about it. The little digs thrown in at Vlade are pretty mean-spirited. Seems like whoever is behind this has serious wood for Vlade Divac (and who more than Weasel Pete would have that motivation?). There are not too many people who don't like Vlade Divac, but presumably two of the guys who feel that way would be Chris Mullin and Pete D'Alessandro

 

[Amit149]

It is obviously time for a grade school girls basketball grudge match between Vivek and Malone to settle everything. Vivek will do full time full court press. Malone will pack the paint. I will buy the PPV

How will Malone adjust to the 4 on 5 strategy?
Will Vivek dress Sim in a dress and a wig and try to pass him as a school girl?
Will the half-time show feature a Jazz recital by conductor Ty Corbin?

I'm Pumped LET'S MAKE THIS HAPPEN!!!

 

[HereWeBoogie]

This latest piece seems much more a slam on Vlade than a slam on Karl - that's the weird thing about it. The little digs thrown in at Vlade are pretty mean-spirited. Seems like whoever is behind this has serious wood for Vlade Divac (and who more than Weasel Pete would have that motivation?). There are not too many people who don't like Vlade Divac, but presumably two of the guys who feel that way would be Chris Mullin and Pete D'Alessandro

It could be that whoever was trying to get the Kings/Cousins to separate has taken note of Vlade coming in and putting a stop to it, and now they want to attack Vlade himself to try to put an end to that