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Isaiah Thomas reaches out to DeMarcus Cousins via Instagram as trade talks continue (Ball Don't Lie)

Sacramento Kings head coach George Karl's apparent efforts to send All-Star center DeMarcus Cousins packing, as reported by Yahoo Sports NBA columnist Adrian Wojnarowski, sent the NBA world into something of a tailspin on Tuesday. League chatter abruptly turned from Thursday's 2015 NBA draft to all manner of Boogie Nights/Run DMC talk, including:

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• Very specifc emoji choices;

• The storied history of NBA players making "snake in the grass" references to Karl;

• Kings owner Vivek Ranadivé saying the team has "zero interest" in trading Cousins and that he's "deferring to Vlade on everything";

• New Kings vice president of basketball operations Vlade Divac insisting that both Cousins and Karl are sticking around;

• Karl disputing the trade-push reports while also saying he wants Cousins to come to camp "committed" and declining to say he doesn't want Boogie traded;

Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee reporting that, despite Karl's protestations, he's had more sources confirm that the coach was working the phones on a potential Cousins deal;

• Ailene Voisin of the Bee writing that, while Karl's the one pushing for a trade, Cousins is the one who has to stop holding the Kings hostage; and

• Multiple reports that Karl's endgame in a move away from Cousins might be to get "the band back together" from his latter days with the Denver Nuggets by importing the likes of Kenneth Faried, Ty Lawson and Wilson Chandler;

Whew.