I had the opportunity this morning to speak directly with a current, respected NBA veteran player about the Kings' coaching situation and the potential hiring of Whiz.
What he said was this...
The majority of NBA players would have no respect for Whiz, given his non-NBA background. They would simply not listen to him when told things by Whiz that might be counter to other things they have learned from others in the past. The player I spoke with added that he does not understand what the Maloofs are doing even entertaining the possibility of Whiz as the Kings' new coach. He believes that Whiz' hiring would create a lot of internal turmoil on the team and off-the-court issues.
So, although this is just one NBA player, albeit a veteran, I would tend to say that he knows pretty well what would happen.
Therefore, if there was any doubt amongst fans about whether or not players would respect Whiz, I think the question has been answered with a high degree of certainty. So this NBA player, if given the opportunity, would vote with the 90% of fans in this thread's poll.