Kings reportedly set to fire Karl, but they're even screwing that up

The marriage between George Karl and the Sacramento Kings has been a rocky one seemingly since the day the head coach was hired. Now, just days short of their one-year anniversary, it appears the divorce may soon be official.

This is a rough conclusion to a painful relationship. Karl is one of the best coaches in NBA history (he currently sits fifth all time with 1,163 career wins, most of any active coach). And his up-tempo system has worked wonders at various points over the past few months.

But Kings star center DeMarcus Cousins never really bought in, and now, having lost four straight and eight of nine, Sacramento sits five games back of the Utah Jazz for a spot in the Western Conference playoffs and the rest of the team appears to have lost confidence in Karl's ability to lead.

Since taking over in Sacramento during last season's All-Star break, Karl is 32-50 -- the equivalent of one full season -- including Monday's 120-100 loss at Cleveland.

Defense has been an embarrassing problem. Kings opponents have scored at least 120 points in three straight games, and Sacramento now ranks 25th in defensive rating. So much of that struggle is due to a complete and total lack of effort.

Of course, Karl isn't the actual problem in Sacramento. This franchise epitomizes the word incompetence every single day, with one of the worst ownership situations in professional sports. Until owner Vivek Ranadivé sells the team or hires smart people and removes himself from the spotlight, the Kings will find themselves in the NBA's basement at the end of every single season.

This organization doesn't have a clue.