The Sacramento Kings fired coach Michael Malone late Sunday night just 24 games into his second season with the team. A person with knowledge of the move confirmed the firing Sunday night on condition of anonymity because the team has not announced it yet. The firing was first reported by Yahoo Sports. A formal announcement was expected Monday. Malone went 39-67 after being hired in June 2013 by new owner Vivek Ranadive. Malone was hired before general manager Pete DAlessandro in what was considered an unusual order of events. Now DAlessandro will get the opportunity to hire his own coach. Lead assistant Tyrone Corbin will take over as interim coach, the person with knowledge of the moves said. Corbin went 112-146 in three-plus seasons as coach of the Utah Jazz and was not offered a contract after last season. The Kings went 28-54 in Malones first season and missed the playoffs for an eighth straight year. This season got off to a better start with the team winning nine of its first 14 games. But the Kings lost their next game and have fallen into a tailspin after star centre DeMarcus Cousins was sidelined viral meningitis. Sacramento has lost seven of nine games without Cousins and is tied for 10th in the Western Conference with an 11-13 record. The firing is the first major setback in Ranadives tenure. He was welcomed as a saviour when he bought the team from the Maloof family in 2013 and prevented the team from moving to Seattle. The Kings have already broken ground on a $477 million arena that is expected to open downtown for the 2016-17 season. But he has been unable so far to reverse the losing trend that followed a stretch of eight straight playoff berths. Trevor Ariza Jersey . Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee? Green had bounced around the NBA when he wasnt playing overseas. The Pacers gave up on Plumlee after just one season. Now Green and Plumlee are key cogs in the Suns surprising breakout season. Oscar Robertson Kings Jersey . Fans holding laudatory signs started showing up at Yankee Stadium when the gates opened at 4 p.m. Monday, an hour early in order to give them a chance to watch the New York captain take batting practice. https://www.kingslockerroom.com/Kyle-Guy...Edition-Jersey/. Not bad for a defenceman. The goal, that is. Although the shuffling dance steps werent bad, either. Barrie scored 55 seconds into overtime, Semyon Varlamov stopped 29 shots, and the Avalanche moved a step closer to their first playoff berth in four years with a 3-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night. DeMarcus Cousins Kings Jersey .com) - Marc Gasol and the Grizzlies withstood 18 Dallas 3-pointers, as Memphis took control in the third quarter and fended off a Mavericks rally en route to a 114-105 win in a Southwest Division showdown. Yogi Ferrell Kings Jersey . Jose Bautista homered for the fifth straight game in the sixth inning, following a two-out solo homer by Melky Cabrera. Edwin Encarnacion led off the seventh with a homer to tie the game 3-3 and, with two out in the seventh, Munenori Kawasaki came through with the two-out single to score pinch-runner Steve Tolleson with what proved to be the winning run.MINNEAPOLIS - The clock was ticking down toward the deadline for reaching agreement on an extension of his rookie contract, and just like he does on the court for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Ricky Rubio took charge.I was talking with my agents and I told them I really wanted to stay here, Rubio told The Associated Press in a phone interview late Friday night. I told them to make something work. At the end of the day it did happen and Im happy about it.About two hours before the midnight Eastern deadline, Rubio signed a four-year contract extension worth $55 million that includes another $1 million in incentives, bringing an end to a long and sometimes tense negotiation between the flashy Spanish point guard and the team that drafted him in 2009.Rubio averaged 10.1 points, 8.1 assists and 2.3 steals but shot just 37 per cent in his first three seasons. The shooting numbers led some to say the Timberwolves would have been better off waiting to see how Rubio performs this season before extending him an offer given that they would have had the ability to match any offer that he received on the open market next summer.But owner Glen Taylor has long been big on loyalty, and he reached out directly to Rubio earlier this week to make one last push.I want to call Minnesota home for a long time, Rubio said. Thats why I signed the contract. My moms going to get mad at me, but I dont leave home when Im here. This is my second home. I really feel very welcome here.As salaries stand right now, Rubios $13.75 million average annual salary starting next season will be more than high profile point guards like Tony Parker, Steph Curry, Kyle Lowry and Ty Lawson. Rubios representatives targeted Phoenix guard Eric Bledsoes five-year, $70 million deal to eclipse, and ended up coming very close despite not having the leverage that Bledsoe had as a restricted free agent.In Rubio, Taylor and Flip Saunders, the teams president of basketball operations, head coach and minority owner, see a dynamic 24-year-old point guard who is only starting to scratch the surface of his potential.Rubio made an immediate impact as a rookie on a long-suffering team, helping them climb to the eighth spot in the Western Conference playooff picture in early March before he tore two ligaments in his left knee in a game against the Lakers.ddddddddddddHe played all 82 games last season and said he feels as healthy this year has he has been since the injury. Rather than wade through the potentially tricky waters of restricted free agency next summer, the Wolves engaged agents Dan Fegan and Jarinn Akana of Relativity Sports to get a deal done.Ricky is only in his fourth season and because of his work ethic and determination, we are confident that he will continue to grow as a player and a team leader, Saunders said in a statement. We look forward to many great years ahead of Ricky in a Timberwolves uniform.And after trading Kevin Love to the Cleveland Cavaliers this summer, Rubio also became the player that will lead youngsters Andrew Wiggins, Zach LaVine and Anthony Bennett into the post-Love era.He came to us with such high expectations and he immediately proved why we were so high on him, Taylor said. Unfortunately he got hurt at the end of his rookie season, but he has worked so hard to come back and we believe he has a long and successful career ahead of him. Hes a great foundation for our franchise and were very happy to keep Ricky here long term to work and grow with the young nucleus that we have.One of the leagues best passers, Rubio got quite an assist from the NBAs new television deal. The league signed new agreements with ESPN and Turner totalling $24 billion earlier this month. It remains unclear just how soon the massive extensions will flood the league with cash and send the salary cap soaring, but the inevitability helped the Timberwolves feel more comfortable writing a bigger check to lock Rubio in.With Kemba Walker signing a four-year, $48 million deal with Charlotte and Goran Dragic and Rajon Rondo figuring to cash in next summer, Rubios deal may not look quite so large when the salary cap starts to rise.Youre getting paid more, you have to earn it, Rubio said. You have to show why youre getting paid this money. Of course theres going to be extra pressure. I wanted to be more of a leader and take this team to another level.___Follow Jon Krawczynski on Twitter: http://twitter.com/APKrawczynski ' ' '