George Karl gives tepid endorsement of DeMarcus Cousins, says it’s about committment

George Karl stepped out on the golf course Tuesday in Sacramento, part of a youth program with which he is involved, but you can bet nobody wanted to talk to the Kings’ coach about his short game.

The questions about him and DeMarcus Cousins came quickly, the video of his answers is available at the Sacramento Bee’s website. You really should watch it.

Of course, Karl denied there was anything to all the reports.

“I think it’s just a lot of crazy, crazy fibs and lies. You know, it’s just a situation where we won 29 games last year and for us as a basketball organization, we want to get better. I mean, Cuz is our best player, we know that. We want him committed and dedicated to being in Sacramento and playing and leading us to our first playoffs in Sacramento in six, seven, eight, nine years.”

It’s nine years.

Now is where the interview gets fun because the reporter was direct and asked Karl if he was interested in trading Cousins — and there should have been some tap dancing music for Karl’s answer.

“My interest right now is commitment, trust and building a team that’s excited about being in Sacramento, excited and committed to being a good basketball team and representing the city of Sacramento.”

So... does that include Cousins?

“If he comes committed, I’m 120 percent into making him the best basketball player he could ever be.”

Is there some question about Cousin’s commitment?

“The 30 games I coached him, I mean, we were all frustrated with losing. I was only here for 30 games, and so the frustration I’m sure was double that for Cuz and all the players who were here for the whole season.”

Notice what’s missing in all this? “No, I don’t want to trade DeMarcus Cousins.”

And the drama continues in Sacramento. The only thing that could make this more interesting is adding JaVale McGee to the mix.