George Karl and Mark Jackson emerged as strong candidates to become the next Sacramento Kings head coach, reports indicated on Tuesday.

The Kings fired Mike Malone on Sunday with reports indicating that team executives were not impressed with the team's development under his watch. Former Utah Jazz coach Ty Corbin was named as interim coach.

While top Kings executives are determined to give Corbin a chance, ESPN, citing league sources, reported that the Kings are interested in hiring veteran coach and current NBA analyst George Karl.

Karl has not coached since the 2012-13 NBA season, but the 63-year-old ended his coaching stint in Denver on a high note, coaching the Nuggets to 57 wins in his final season with the team -- enough to earn the Coach of the Year award during that season.

In an interview with Sacramento Bee, Karl said that he does not want to talk about the coaching vacancy out of respect to Malone, but he is open to coaching teams that will express interest in hiring him as coach.

"It's always interesting for me when a job opens up and your name is in the mesh," Karl said. "First of all, I understand. I'm humbled. If they are interested in me, I would have interest in them. But there is a process to it. And part of the process right now is I don't like really talking about it out of respect to Mike Malone."

Aside from Karl, recent rumors also suggested that Jackson will also be a strong candidate for the coaching vacancy.

According to USA Today, Jackson, who currently works as an analyst for ESPN, met with Kings advisor Chris Mullin, general manager Pete D'Alessandro and superstar center DeMarcus Cousins after the former Golden State Warriors coach covered the Sacramento's 104-92 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

Jackson parted ways with the Warriors after losing to the Los Angeles Clippers in their seven-game, first-round playoff series last season. In his final two seasons in Golden State, Jackson had a 98-66 record.

Mullin was also mentioned as a possible coaching candidate for the Kings despite having no coaching experience, but the Warriors legend expressed no interest in taking the job.

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