Michael Cooper gets screwed. Again.

Coop has been fired as a Denver Nuggets assistant. He will be "reassigned," which means that he'll work under GM Kiki Vandeweghe till he finds another job.

When George Karl replaced Cooper as head coach, the Nuggets tried to keep Coop as an assistant, but it was an awkward situation destined for failure. It sounds like some of the players remained loyal to Cooper and were not happy that he was replaced by Karl. Karl finally grew fed up.

"The one thing I didn't like about the staff is they lived in the past and not the future and for me, I'm a future guy," Karl said.

Karl also said that he is "not against him hanging around the team some and be a part of some practices." Nice, George -- way to be a condescending prick as you're stabbing someone in the back.

Coop, diplomatic as always, says he has no hard feelings. "I still believe it's a championship team. As far as coaching, I may not be there helping in that aspect, but I can help in other areas."

But the move was not well received in the locker room. "I think all the players (feel bad for Cooper)," Andre Miller said. "I think they're in shock."

This situation has been handled disgracefully by the Nuggets. Vandeweghe brought in Coop last year with the promise that Coop would get the head coaching job when he finally got around to firing Jeff Bzdelik. But Vandeweghe didn't have the courage to stand up to pressure from his owner when Coop didn't produce immediate wins. When the going got tough, Kiki immediately sold Coop down the river to cover his own ass.

We can only hope that this ridiculous saga hasn't caused irreparable damage to Cooper's career.