The Sacramento Kings, languishing near the bottom of the NBA, have fired Tyrone Corbin as coach and reached a deal with long-time coach George Karl to guide the club.
The Kings, who announced both moves on Thursday, are fourth in the Pacific Division at 18-34 and trail Phoenix by 10 games for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference as teams enter the NBA All-Star Game break.
Sacramento started the season with Mike Malone as coach but dumped him in December after an 11-13 start and a 39-67 overall record with the club.
Corbin got the sack after going 7-21, but will stay with the Kings as a front office adviser.
"I have the utmost respect for Tyrone as a coach and person," Kings general manager Pete D'Alessandro said.
"He is a man of great integrity, a consummate professional that managed a difficult situation with class and professionalism."
Karl, who has been working as an ESPN commentator, reached a deal with the Kings that the Sacramento Bee reported is a four-year deal worth more than $US4 million ($A5.2 million) a year.
Karl, 63, began his coaching career with Cleveland in 1984 and has also guided Golden State, Seattle, Milwaukee and Denver.
In all, Karl has a 1,131-756 NBA coaching record, sixth-most on the all-time win list, but only an 80-105 playoff record.
His only trip to the NBA Finals came with Seattle in 1996, when the SuperSonics lost to Chicago.
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