Gary Payton: DeMarcus Cousins should welcome George Karl

Hall of Fame point guard Gary Payton said Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins should welcome George Karl as the team's new head coach. On Monday, it was reported the Kings and Karl are close to a contract that will pay him between $4 million and $5 million per season.

Hall of Fame point guard Gary Payton told Fox Sports that Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins should welcome George Karl as the team's new head coach.

On Monday, Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reported the Kings and Karl are close to a contract that will pay him between $4 million and $5 million per season. Over the weekend, it was reported that a potential deal had stalled because Cousins and his representatives didn't approve of Karl. 

Payton, who led the Seattle SuperSonics to the NBA Finals in 1996 while playing for Karl, said Cousins will benefit from the new coach and that he should not listen to his agent.

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"You're going to have to go out there and play for this guy," Payton said. "When you play for this guy, he's going to let you do whatever you want. He's going to make you another All-Star. He's going to make you a $100 million so leave your agent alone. He doesn't know what's going on. Get out of here. Play basketball. George Karl is your man. Make sure you know that."

Payton played under Karl with the SuperSonics and Bucks. 

Karl, 63, most recently coached the Denver Nuggets for eight seasons before he was fired in 2013. He is No. 6 on the league's all-time victory list with 1,131 wins and has 25 years of head coaching experience with the Nuggets, Bucks, SuperSonics, Warriors and Cavaliers.

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Corbin has been the Kings' coach since they fired Mike Malone in December following an 11-13 start to the season.

The Kings are 18-32 on the season and have won just seven of 26 games since firing Malone. They play at the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday.

- Paul Palladino