The Sacramento Kings have now had 11 coaches since 2006. Here’s how they stack up
With the firing of Luke Walton on Sunday morning, the Sacramento Kings will be on their 11th coach since Rick Adelman left in 2006. Here’s a look back at how each coach did:
Eric Musselman, 2006-2007
Tenure: One season
Record: 33-49, .402 win percentage
Lowlight: Musselman’s .402 winning percentage is fourth-best of all Kings coaches. He is now the head basketball coach at the University of Arkansas.
Reggie Theus, 2007-2008
Tenure: One and half seasons
Record: 44-62, .415 win percentage
Lowlight: After serving as head coach at New Mexico State, the Maloof brothers hired Theus away and gave the former Kansas City/Sacramento Kings player a three-year deal. He lasted only one and a quarter seasons.
Kenny Natt, 2008-2009
Tenure: Interim
Record: 11-47, .190 win percentage
Lowlight: Natt took over as interim head coach after Thues was fired. He has the third-worst winning percentage in Kings history.
Paul Westphal 2009-2012
Tenure: Two and half seasons
Record: 51-120, .298 win percentage
Lowlight: The second-longest tenured coach in the last decade saw the Kings draft Tyreke Evans and DeMarcus Cousins. Westphal died earlier this year.
Keith Smart 2012-2013
Tenure: Two seasons
Record 48-93, .340 win percentage
Lowlight: After being fired as the head coach of the Golden State Warriors, the Kings hired Smart to lead the franchise. He was let go after two seasons and hasn’t been a head coach in the NBA since. He is now an assistant coach under Eric Musselman at the University of Arkansas.
Michael Malone 2013-2014
Tenure: One season and 24 games
Record: 39-67, .368
Lowlight: Firing Malone after he was building rapport with DeMarcus Cousins might go down as one of the worst decisions in franchise history. Malone has thrived as head coach of the Denver Nuggets.
Tyrone Corbin, 2014-2015
Tenure: Interim
Record: 7-21, .250 win percentage
Lowlight: Corbin took over as interim coach from Malone. The former Utah Jazz head coach has a career head coach winning percentage of .416. The former UC Davis standout was last an assistant for the Phoenix Suns.
George Karl, 2015-2016
Tenure: One and half seasons
Record: 44-68, .393 win percentage
Lowlight: Kings fans were ecstatic when Karl was hired as head coach. Karl and DeMarcus Cousins had problems. There was reports of Karl wanting Cousins to be traded, which prompted Cousins to tweet a snake emoji in reference to Karl. Karl was fired before Cousins was traded.
Dave Joerger, 2016-2019
Tenure: Three seasons
Record: 98-148, .398 win percentage
Lowlight: Joerger coached the most games of any Kings’ coach in the last decade. Joerger was fired in his final season after going 39-43. In the final game of his Kings tenure, the team blew a double-digit lead to the Portland Trailblazers.
Luke Walton, 2019-2021
Tenure: Two seasons + 17 games
Record: 68-93, .422
Lowlight: Kings fans weren’t a fan of his hire from the start after Walton didn’t have success with the Los Angeles Lakers. Fans booed him and chanted “fire Luke Walton” during the teams last two home games. Walton finished with the second-highest win percentage, .422, in Sacramento history behind Adelman (.633).