Can Petrie be charged with sports franchise malpractice?

Can team officials be charged with sports franchise malpractice?

Because that's exactly what should happen to the Kings' Geoff Petrie.

What he's done to this franchise over the page few years is a downright embarrassment.  A team that a decade ago prided itself on passing, ball movement, and team play has become the NBA's poster child for selfishness. 

And you can lay the blame at the feet of Petrie.

For some some reason, he fell in love with gunners. 

Tyreke Evans.   Aaron Brooks.  Marcus Thornton.  DeMarcus Cousins.  Jimmer Fredette.

None of them has ever shown the slightest interest in sharing the ball, but Petrie thought it was a brilliant idea to collect them all and shove them in front of a coach with no clue how to tame them.

That coach - Keith Smart - is not going to turn things around.  He is overmatched as a strategist and motivator.  Yet Petrie decided to hand him a contract extension during the offseason.

Petrie has been living off a few clever moves from more than 12 years ago.  But he is no longer considered an upper-echelon front-office guy.

He still hasn't found a small forward for the team, despite years of nothing at that position.  His acquisition of John Salmons last year was one of the worst personnel moves in NBA history.  And don't get me started on Travis Outlaw.

 The point-guard position is still weak, despite my soft spot for Isaiah Thomas.  Nobody on the team is capable of running  a simple pick-and-roll and setting up a teammate.

Cousins is considered a bright spot, but if the first few games are any indication, he is still a ticking time bomb, supremely moody and seemingly incapable of playing the game without making surly faces at every perceived slight.   

It's sad.  It's pathetic.  And it's time to point the finger at the man who is most responsible for this disaster.

Mr. Petrie, come take a bow.

Revealed: The secret first draft of Westphal's statement on DeMarcus Cousins

You've probably seen the statement on DeMarcus Cousins from Paul Westphal on Sunday night.

This is how it read:

“Whenever a new season begins, in any sport, there is great hope that everything will progress in only a steady, upward direction. As we all know, it seldom happens like that in this life!

As coaches, we can only ask that our players do everything they can to improve themselves as individuals and teammates. If they do this with all their hearts, we live with the results.

Everything that happens on a team does not become known to the public. This is how it should be. However, when a player continually, aggressively, lets it be known that he is unwilling/unable to embrace traveling in the same direction as his team, it cannot be ignored indefinitely.

DeMarcus Cousins has demanded to be traded. In the best interest of our team as we go forward, he has been directed by me, with the support of management, to stay home from the New Orleans game tonight.”

What you probably didn't see was the first draft of the statement.  Kings Talking Points was privately slipped the alleged First Draft by a member of the Kings organization on Monday.  For reasons unknown, this draft was not allowed to go public.  Here it is.  You read it and decide.

“In the course of human history, we sometimes cross paths with a fellow so heinous, so destructive, so downright gangsta, we must give pause to ponder not only the fate of the Sacramento Kings, but the fate of the world.  When a player refuses to run my spectacular offense and grimaces when I ask him if he ever saw "The Shawshank Redemption,"  I know there is a problem.  

"Mr. Cousins has shown an unwillingness to address me with respect.  In fact, he has repeatedly called me names such as 'dumb-ass' and 'Mr. West-Fail."  This, of course, in unacceptable.

"DeMarcus Cousins demands not only a trade, but he also demands that I politely embrace him and pat him gently when he is removed from the game.  He also wants me to hold his water bottle during timeouts.  The water bottle thing is a joke, I believe, although I have no problem patting him. 

"As coach of the Sacramento Kings for at least the next week (maybe longer if I can convince the brilliant management team that this whole crapfest is not my fault), I need to lay down the law.  I call it Paul's Law and it is based on Talmudic readings.  Everyone shall follow it.  It is written.

"It is in the best interest of my personal career the Sacramento Kings that we ask DeMarcus to stay as far away from the arena as humanly possible.  I have asked him to stay in Yuba City at the Best Western (breakfast is free).

All the best,

With much love,

Paul Westphal

Sacramento Kings coach

The Sacramento Kings: Where immaturity and selfishness happen.

Okay, so let's see where we are...

DeMarcus Cousins, one of the surliest, most immature rookies in NBA history, now blatantly hates the fact that Tyreke Evans is the team's go-to guy.

Tyreke Evans, filled with too much confidence fueled by a team's decision to make him the savior of the franchise, is not about to give up the role.

And Geoff Petrie, the most overrated decision maker in the league, has been given distinct orders not to make any trade that would cause the team to take on a dollar more in salary.

I'd say things are pretty much screwed for the Kings.

It's too bad, because the team had been playing a more improved brand of basketball of late.

But when word leaked out the Cousins had berated and possibly come to blows with Donte Greene because he hadn't gotten the ball in the final moments of the game against the Thunder, it just spoke volumes about what's important to many of the players on the team.

It's easy to know what Cousins is feeling. His emotions flash across his face like a beacon. And it's easy to tell that the most important thing in his life is being the most important player on the court. This is fine, except that he hates when other people take that role -- even briefly.

I've seen Cousins react with disdain when another player followed up one of his missed shots with a basket. It was all about his miss rather than the team scoring. He's happy on the bench only when he's having a stellar game. Otherwise, he could care less about his teammates.

As for Tyreke, well, Tyreke is Tyreke. He is incredibly skilled but he's not a smart player. At least right now. He leads the league in leaving his feet and tossing off awful, misguided passes. He has been coached for two years to be Kobe Bryant, but he is not even close. Why does everyone keep wondering why the final five minutes of every game become a stagnant, ball-pounding misadventure?

I heard ESPN's Bill Simmons mention the other day that the talk around the league is that Evans is a tough guy to play with. Not because he's a bad teammate, but simply because he demands the ball, dominates the ball and doesn't make his teammates an ounce better.

Is it coaching? Or are these two guys just inherently self-centered?

Who knows? But it is about time for Paul Westphal to show some balls and publicly announce that he will not stand for players who don't buy into the team concept. If you don't share the ball and care about your teammates, you sit. It's about winning, not personal stats. Period.

So what do the Kings do?

Trade one? Trade both? Start over?

For me, I like watching unselfish, team basketball.

Give me players who pass the ball and don't care whether they can strut up and down the court and point at themselves.

Maybe that's too much to ask in this era of Jersey Shore entitlement.

And maybe it would be different if the Kings were winning.

But the team is awful.

And watching this mess unfold is just sad.

DeMarcus Cousins may be the real deal, but should Kings consider the crazy thought of trading Tyreke Evans?

Is it a coincidence that the Kings moved the ball better in the final five minutes of Sunday night's victory over the Suns without Tyreke Evans on the court.

No, didn't think so.

Suddenly, without Evans on the floor, the Kings managed to quickly get into their offense and, lo and behold, didn't seem to force any passes.

Incredibly, in the span of a dramatic week, rookie DeMarcus Cousins has become the focal point of the offense. He was a revelation against the Suns.

Cousins sees the court. He makes the right pass almost every time. Yes, sometimes he forces his shot a bit too much, but he's improving every game. If you can keep him from tossing a Molotov cocktail into his future, he could be the real deal.

It's completely different for Evans.

He simply does not help the Kings when he's on the floor. Sure, he can score in bursts on occasion, but he has become more of a hindrance to the team's cohesiveness. You can blame the aching feet for some of his woes, but you can't blame the feet for his awful decision making and his inability to figure out how to be a team player.

So here's a sinful thought to consider: What if the Kings entertained trade offers for Evans?

Okay, forget I just wrote that.

Then again, maybe not.

ESPN reported on Sunday that teams are inquiring about the availability of Omri Casspi. The Kings would be foolish to deal Casspi. He might have more upside than any player on the team.

But Evans? What about Evans?

Desperate times demand desperate measures.

They could surely land some ripe talent for him. Maybe a first-class point guard.

No, it's silly. Why would the Kings trade Evans?

Guy was rookie of the year. You don't trade him.

Forget I wrote that. He's only going to get better, right? Right? Right?

Look, Evans have been terribly mishandled by the Kings. They plugged his square abilities into the round hole of point guard and handed him the keys to the franchise.

Now, you watch him on the court and he sometimes looks lost. Paul Westphal hardly ever puts him in position to utilize his talents properly. And no matter how much we hear about his improved outside shot, it's just not there. Never has been.

It comes down to this: What would make the Kings a better team? A healthy Tyreke Evans or a top-notch point guard?

We saw a little hint in the final five minutes against the Suns -- and Pooh Jeter ain't even close to a top-notch point guard.

All right, I'm just a knee-jerk observer offering a silly thought based on small sampling of time.

Forget I wrote that.

Joe Maloof's secret text messages: What it would take to fire Paul Westphal

Last night, Joe Maloof sent a text message to Jason Jones of the Bee proclaiming that "No" he was not going to fire Paul Westphal.

What hasn't been revealed were a number of text messages sent by Joe Maloof to his brother Gavin laying down the guidelines for what WOULD cause the firing of the coach.

The text messages were secretly leaked to Kings Talking Points and we are revealing them here today:

--If Paul tries to high-five me in the practice facility bathroom one more time, he's out.

--If Paul keeps ignoring my pleas to massage Tyreke's aching feet during timeouts, he is canned. Period.

--Paul is gone if he can't figure out that calling DeMarcus a "Sulky Suzy" in pre-game warmups is not helpful to the delightful young man's mental well being.

--I think Westy is done if I could convince Bill Walton to coach the team. He was at the house the other night and I love his enthusiasm, but his teeth are kinda annoying.

--If Paul loses another 20 more in a row, there's a pretty good chance we can get off easy by telling the press that he is voluntarily stepping down because of chronic heartburn. That way we don't look like we fired anybody and maybe Westy gets a deal with Zantac.

DeMarcus Cousins is fined, but it's not a first-time incident for the Kings

DeMarcus Cousins was fined and benched for delivering the "choke" sign during the final moments of Tuesday night's humiliating loss to the Warriors.

But this is far from the first time for a incident like this for the Kings.

In an effort to promote fairness, we've gone over the film for the past few weeks to look for other players who were caught doing odd things on the sidelines.

--At four minutes into the second quarter of the Mavericks game, Donte Greene was seen quietly motioning to Dirk Nowitzki for an autograph. Nowitzki said something nasty in German and ignored him. Greene smiled, applauded, waved a towel, and cheered the response.

--With 30 seconds left in a recent loss to the Heat, Tyreke Evans waited for Kings coach Paul Westphal to turn his back, then he placed his finger down his throat, bent over, and feigned vomiting. When Westphal quickly spun around, Evans quickly grabbed for his ankle and grimaced in pain.

--While sitting on the bench during a blowout loss to the Rockets, Carl Landy was seen hiding under a towel, talking on his cell phone and mouthing the words, "You're my agent, get me the hell out of here."

--During a dry spell in the fourth quarter of a game against the Hornets, Beno Udrih was seen secretly using a Sharpie to write "Pass this, Tyreke" on the game ball. Later, during an important possession, Evans took the ball and held it for a full 20 seconds as he attempted to read the slightly smudged writing. The 24-second clock sounded just at Evans crashed into a defender for an offensive foul.

--Finally, even Westphal hasn't been immune. He was seen flashing the bird to his entire team during a timeout in overtime during the Warriors game.

The Sensational Official Report on the DeMarcus Cousins Incident

The Official Report of the DeMarcus Cousins incident was slipped to me at a Starbucks on Madison Avenue. The facts are both startling and revealing, but I had to take a solemn oath that I would only vacation at the Palms in exchange for releasing the details. Despite my qualms, I agreed.

Herein lie the details:

KINGS DISCIPLINARY REPORT
Date: Oct. 12, 2010
Time: Early morning
Place: Kings practice facility.

DETAILS: Mr. DeMarcus Cousins, a large man of some girth, was engaging in the practice of multiple curls under the tutelage of Mr. Daniel Shapiro, team strength coach and producer of the award-winning video: "Sweatin' With The Oldie Kings - Smokin' and Pumpin' Steel With Vlade."

At the time of the incident, Mr. Cousins was looking in the mirror and practicing his various snarls. Mr. Cousins admitted to an eyewitness that he is much more attractive when he snarls, but he is also known to scare teammates. Mr. Donte Greene, who once played basketball for the Kings, went into a three-week eating bender after Mr. Cousins tossed him "a very naughty look."

Mr. Shapiro claims that he asked Mr. Cousins to use a lower weight and do more reps. Mr. Cousins allegedly replied that he already had a good rep and didn't need multiple ones. "I think he was just joking," said Mr. Jason Thompson, who also used to play for the Kings.

At this exact time, Mr. Paul Westphal entered the facility and announced that he was ready to install a new offense. According to all witnesses, nobody heard Mr. Westphal. "We haven't listend to that dude in a year," Mr. Tyreke Evans noted. Mr. Westphal reportedly bowed his head and left muttering to himself.

At that point, Mr. Cousins started strutting around the room proclaiming that he was "buff enough" and needed no further work. Mr. Shapiro grew angry and told Mr. Cousins he needed to get back to work. Just then, according to onlookers, Mr. Darnell Jackson, a man that nobody knew was even on the team, picked up a barbell and started doing squats at an increasingly rapid pace. "That's what I'm talking about," Mr. Shapiro allegedly shouted to Mr. Cousins.

Mr. Cousins then took off his sweaty headband and proceeded to gag Mr. Shapiro. A shouting match ensued, followed by polite dancing and, finally, a healthy handshake.

RESULT: Mr. Cousins was fined an undisclosed amount and forced to watch five consecutive episodes of "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" starring Adrienne Maloof.

No further details were made available.

There it is. Draw your own conclusions, folks.