Former NBA head coach George Karl is publishing a new book, and its pages hold a number of biting criticisms for his former coworkers. What damage is Karl doing to himself in the process?
George Karl is one of the most accomplished coaches in NBA history, one of only nine coaches to break 1,000 wins. Twenty-two times he led his team to the playoffs, often with a collection of talent deemed inferior to the teams around them.
Upon retirement, Karl took the route many coaches and players take — he wrote a book. It’s a way to both stay relevant in the NBA world and bring in extra income.
The opportunity to share thoughts and stories that either were not or could not be shared while coaching is often an added bonus.
For George Karl, that opportunity seems to have been the driving force in his book, entitled “Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection.”
In the book Karl unloads on seemingly everyone he worked with in the NBA, including a number of players still in the league.
The retired coach went after former Denver Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony, calling him a “conundrum” who refused to play defense and simply craved the spotlight and jacking up as many shots as possible.
He described Anthony as a “user of people” and described how he failed Karl and his teammates by his lack of leadership.
In an interview with New York magazine he stated:
“There were too many times with Melo when what was going on off the court was more important than what was happening on the court.”
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When talking about the blockbuster trade that sent Anthony to the New York Knicks, Karl wrote that the trade was “a sweet release for the coach and the [Nuggets], like popping a blister.”
Karl didn’t hold any punches for Anthony’s Denver teammates either, calling Kenyon Martin and J.R. Smith “AAU babies” and “the spoiled brats you see in junior golf and junior tennis.”
Anthony and Martin “carried two big burdens: all that money and no father to show them how to act like a man.”
Karl went further attacking Smith, stating that the guard had “a huge sense of entitlement, a distracting posse, his eye always on the next contract and some really unbelievable shot selection.”
Carmelo Anthony took the high road in his response, wishing Karl success and quipping that he would have a book called “Stay Melo, Not Furious.” Kenyon Martin fired back more directly, speaking of his anger at hearing about Karl’s attacks and retorting:
“Who are you to talk about how I was raised?”
Smith has stayed quiet on the issue, simply remarking how sad it is that Karl is fighting this hard to stay relevant.
The former coach has used the spotlight and his book to even go after the league as a whole, accusing players of widespread PED use and referees of cheating and gambling.
Unsatisfied with the former players and coworkers he goes after in his book, Karl has begun expanding his criticism during the many interviews he is conducting in recent days.
When discussing this “new age” of star players and their misplaced focus, he inextricably went after Portland Trail Blazers point guard Damian Lillard.
Karl stated:
“I was watching the Portland Trail Blazers play, and I was trying to figure out, ‘What the hell is wrong with this team?’
“My conclusion is that Damian Lillard is getting too much attention.
“Who controls the team? The coach and the point guard. And that team is not working. I think their coach, Terry Stotts, is a great coach. So I’m going to say the problem is Lillard. They were a together, connected, committed team last year. This year they’re not. What changed?”
Lillard didn’t immediately address the comments, but Portland head coach Terry Stotts didn’t appreciate the attack on his player, and stood up for his point guard.
“I owe a lot to George. I got my start in coaching with George. I wouldn’t be here if not for him,” Stotts said Wednesday night. “But when it comes to my team and my players, he needs to stay in his own lane.
“He doesn’t know Damian Lillard. He doesn’t know how coachable he is. He doesn’t know what a great teammate he is. He doesn’t know how much Damian cares about winning and how important he is to this franchise. I thought his comments, however well intended they may have been — which I can’t understand — I can’t tolerate.”
Lillard also spoke up, telling ESPN’s Jeff Goodman:
“I’m confused at how it even came up.”
In all likelihood George Karl will continue to stay in the news as long as media outlets continue to interview him. He will poke sleeping dragons, ramp up the vitriol, and do everything he can to stay in the spotlight- – the very thing he criticized Carmelo Anthony and Damian Lillard of doing.
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The side effects of his unrelenting attacks are going to be every bit as painful for Karl has they have been for his targets. He is violently ostracizing himself from the NBA community, as Stotts’ comments show.
Maintains that he wishes to coach again someday, but he is almost assuring that will not be with an NBA franchise.
Karl is also tarnishing his legacy, both on a popular level and an historical one. Despite being one of the winningest coaches in league history, Karl never won an NBA title.
His Hall of Fame resume was teetering on the edge, and this book and the subsequent attacks through the media could be enough to knock him out of the running.
For whatever short-term benefits George Karl is receiving from this book — it is cathartic to let out frustrations and share thoughts previously bottled-up — the platform and intensity of his criticisms are both out of line and destroying his reputation.
The long-term damage to Karl may not be visible to him now, but down the road Furious George may have wished he was a bit more Melo.
