I have no idea, but there was one guy in particular who was mercilessly anti Malone, who hasn't posted since Malone was fired. AK are the initials, and K is for King. Hasn't posted once since Malone was fired. Not once. Last post, dec 13th. The words. "Hahaha, a great coach" mocking Malone's final post game interview where he thanked the players for their effort. And then, nothing.
When PDA said "We hear you" in his first interview, I always thought that was odd. If you're planting posters on forums, you can make sure you hear whatever you want, can't you?
Several posters, one in particular (has prince in his name) has been harping for weeks that all you have to do is look at the game threads and you'll see how many people wanted to fire Malone. Not true, of course.
Guys, don't doubt me as one of those planted fans, if indeed there is any. I was posting in this board many years before the new ownership came in. And I have always been a very loyal fan since the Webber days.
Oh yeah, I don't even live in Sacramento. But I love my fellow fans (like brothers and sisters which from time to time you disagree with) and I love the place Sacramento to death (even if most NBA players don't) - all because of the Kings!
All I want is for the Kings to win too. I've seen Malone as a very good defensive coach and players really bought into what he wanted on defense. That defensive mind-set of Malone was actually the HUGE plus for him that was why he was hired by Vivek at the very start. The notion that Vivek subscribes to "offense first" is a big lie concocted by some fans. Actually, the fast paced offense Vivek used when he coached his daughter was predicated by a fast paced, most often times full court and suffocating defense too that lead to opportunities for easy baskets.
Also, we should imagine how hard it was for Vivek to fire a very good friend.
Vivek did it and at the expense of losing money, because the Kings have to WIN!
It should become clear by now that Vivek/PDA's implied reason for firing Malone was that it will be a long time for Malone to learn to instill a meaningful offense. All he knows was to use Cousins or Gay (or IT when he was till here) in those iso-heavy plays, which obviously will never bring the full potential of this team. We cannot wait that long for Malone to learn offense on the fly while we all cringed on his inability to make in-game adjustments on offense. And that was proven from the very start he coached the Kings and continued until he was fired. Like Vivek/PDA, I saw a very slim hope Malone will ever be very good in offense the same way he was very good on defense. Vivek/PDA had to gamble and lose money in the process, and gamble big time they did. They did it because they are for the long-term vision of winning big time.
Actually, the whole plan was simple and complicated at the same time that the process was expected to be long and boring for the fans. But I have to add the organization didn't expect this big uproar and Malone's popularity among fans despite the losing and complaints. They also did not expect being misinterpreted however truthfully they have stated their intentions.
The plan involved a lot of "financial, maneuvering, right fit, and timing" considerations. We fans think of hiring like McDonald's style, as if we can hire right there and then or as easy as A-B-C. No, it involves a lot of money, maneuvering for the perfect timing to negotiate with the preferred coach, and also the timing of hiring were all considered. These plans were concocted at the start when clear signs point to Malone's naivity and going all-out on his own. As we all know now, Malone dug himself into a hole starting from his reluctance to extend Cousin's and Gay's extension, to resisting using modern NBA tools (analytics), and his inability to instill a meaningful offense. His proclamation of "defense wins games" was viewed inside as his defense mechanism to hide his inadequacies in offense. Nobody criticized him about his defensive accumen. He was even praised for it. The bottom line is you cannot win them all with DEFENSE ALONE.
This is why it was planned that Malone will be replaced with an interim coach (Corbin) who happens to have more experience than Malone. Obviously this still did not work. Before the firing, I was told by my insider the plan was to give Corbin an honest chance as interim coach WHILE at the same time searching for the right coach if Corbin fails to deliver. It was also done that way, so that the organization will have the upper hand in negotiations with whomever top-notch coach they eventually picked to coach for the long-term.
George Karl, Mark Jackson, and even the name of Mullins came out.
Supply and demand, does it make sense?
Now, did it make sense too to wait, see, and feel what happens when these coaches' names who wanted to get hired was floated around , knowing they were all asking for exorbitant prices for their services?
When Malone got fired, I was really surprised many fans did not believe the simple reason that Vivek?PDA laid out why Malone got fired. Some even resorted to propagating weird and complicated conspiracy theories. To those fans, I suggest to read about the principle of Occam's razor so you can avoid too much headache on this situation. This is also why I keep on reminding everyone to read the countless criticisms we made as fans on those game threads. And I want everyone to refer to the thread
"The Fallacy of Hope" which started
days before Malone got fired. It was the thread that sort of broke the camel's back. And it was started by no other than a professed Malone supporter (now that Malone was fired) which is really buffling. So, beware of what you unknowingly asked for. In that thread (which
mysteriously was deleted now) it was clearly pointed out that the roster is under-performing with or without Cousins. It was pointed out we should have won more games with this roster. Obviously, the defect was on the coach and Vivek/PDA thought the same way.
BTW, I am not saying I know the truth more than most fans here or the media. Actually, I cannot even fully trust my so-called insider because my "insider" does not even work inside the organization. But, my insider is best-friend-forever with somebody who takes meals everyday with the person who takes the most hit all the time in the Kings. And I am believing my source with lesser grains of salt, because 95% of the time the stories I get were well in-advance (weeks or even months ahead of time) and were almost always confirmed by facts.