Please say it ain't so. Please say Sacramento Kings Coach Paul Westphal and forward Demarcus Cousins didn't get into a very public and ugly feud that erupted on New Year's Day.
On the first day of a new year, when everything is supposed to be a fresh start, was it a good idea for Westphal to issue an extremely rare news release publicly lashing Cousins?
"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."
I'm in charge of monitoring all emails that come into KFBK. And on a sunny, warm Sunday afternoon in Sacramento, I was shocked by what I was reading. Fans have been through a lot with this team, from CWebb, JWill and Tyreke racing their cars; to the drunk driving arrests of ex coach Musselman and players to Ron Artest and his dogs. We've gotten emails from the Kings of coach and players' firings and hirings over the years, but from my position as a news editor, I've never seen anything like this.
And it couldn't come at a worse time.
Fans are once again on fire for their team. They sold out the first two games -- the first sellouts in years. I was at the home opener and two other home games. I saw and felt the excitement, the devotion, the passion of the fans who stay at the games until the very end. They love this team.
Didn't we just survive a four-month community fight to save them? Didn't a very impressive fan effort convince the NBA to give the Kings one more year to come up with a new arena plan? And didn't Power Balance Pavilion erupt like old times for the season opener win against the rival LA Lakers?
Now this? Is team dysfunction the way to start the new year, with a very critical March 1st NBA deadline looming for a new arena plan? Do we want David Stern to think the team fans are trying to save is in shambles?
A lot went on behind the scenes between Westphal and Cousins. Shouting matches. Trade demands. We don't know the full story.
While many support the coach's tough talk, including the Kings organization, I can't see how it can possibly do any good. I had a former boss who was a tyrant who would constantly call anchors and reporters and criticize them while they were on the air. Did they improve? No. The constant criticism made them mess up more.
Cousins is far from innocent. Those who cover the NBA say he is immature, feels entitled and is emotional. They say the 21-year-old needs to grow up and be professional. I've had the occasional bad blood person in the newsroom whose negative attitude affected the rest of the staff. Once they left, my team improved.
I'm not a diehard Kings fan. I just feel like Sacramento performance artist David Garibaldi who Tweeted Sunday night: "Coming to as many games as possible! My city fought too hard not too! And they're winning!"
Whatever is going on with team; whatever issues Westphal and Cousins have with each other, please fix it now. This isn't what the Sacramento region fought for.
KFBK News Director and Senior Editor Judy Farah has more than 25 years news experience in New York, Los Angeles and Sacramento. She's edited the KFBK Afternoon News with Kitty O'Neal the past 16 years while also directing the newsroom by assigning stories to reporters and scheduling guest interviews. Farah started out as a newspaper reporter on the East Coast, covering major stories as a reporter and editor for The Associated Press in Los Angeles, including the 1984 Olympics, the Oscars, Emmys, the presidency of Ronald Reagan and the criminals trials of the Night Stalker and the Hillside Stranglers.
Farah came to KFBK in 1996, and has helped direct coverage of five presidential elections, five governor's elections and the killing sprees of Yosemite Killer Cary Stayner and Scott Peterson. She reported live for two 13-hour days for KFBK from the 9-11 terrorist attacks. She was also the editor on KFBK's 2011 exclusive report that the Sacramento Kings were considering moving to Anaheim.
A graduate of William Paterson College in New Jersey, Farah has won three Edward R. Murrow awards, including one for Best Writing, while at KFBK. She's also earned three awards from the Northern California Radio Television News Directors Association for Best Series, Best Newscast and Best Sports Segment. She has also written for the Wall Street Journal, TV Guide, Los Angeles and Parents magazines. She was honored with a Jefferson Fellowship in 2009 and traveled to Japan, China and Hong Kong to study the Asian economy. In 2010, she was awarded a RTNDA RIAS Fellowship to travel to Germany, Belgium and Prague to study the European economy.
Farah currently is a national blogger for The Huffington Post and often speaks on news and social media. You can find her on Twitter @newsbabe1530
In her free time, Farah enjoys the outdoors by hiking along the American River bike trail and kayaking. A wine enthusiast, Farah's produced a monthly wine segment on KFBK the past five years and enjoys visiting our local foothill wineries.
