Sacramento Kings coach George Karl says their firing of assistant coach Vance Walberg has left him "disappointed and confused" and that any criticism of the team "should be of me."
Karl, in comments published by The Sacramento Bee on Wednesday night, called Walberg "a guy who has been intellectually influential in my thoughts on basketball, probably in my top 10" after general manager Vlade Divac announced the move.
"He's that good, he's that talented," Karl said. "He's brilliant in a lot of ways ... there's no question I'm disappointed and confused."
Divac called Walberg's dismissal the best thing for the team moving forward and thanked Walberg for his contributions.