Contemporary Authors

None found

• Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection - 2017 HarperCollins, New York, NY

• Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Karl

  George Karl
  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  George Karl
  George Karl.jpg
  Karl in 2011
  Personal information
  Born May 12, 1951 (age 66)
  Penn Hills, Pennsylvania
  Nationality American
  Listed height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
  Listed weight 185 lb (84 kg)
  Career information
  High school Penn Hills
  (Penn Hills, Pennsylvania)
  College North Carolina (1970–1973)
  NBA draft 1973 / Round: 4 / Pick: 66th overall
  Selected by the New York Knicks
  Playing career 1973–1978
  Position Guard
  Number 22
  Coaching career 1978–2016
  Career history
  As player:
  1973–1978 San Antonio Spurs
  As coach:
  1978–1980 San Antonio Spurs (assistant)
  1980–1983 Montana Golden Nuggets
  1984–1986 Cleveland Cavaliers
  1986–1988 Golden State Warriors
  1988–1989 Albany Patroons
  1989–1990 Real Madrid
  1990–1991 Albany Patroons
  1991–1992 Real Madrid
  1992–1998 Seattle SuperSonics
  1998–2003 Milwaukee Bucks
  2005–2013 Denver Nuggets
  2015–2016 Sacramento Kings
  Career highlights and awards
  NBA Coach of the Year (2013)
  4× NBA All-Star Game head coach (1994, 1996, 1998, 2010)
  Career ABA/NBA statistics
  Points 1,703 (6.5 ppg)
  Rebounds 369 (1.4 rpg)
  Assists 795 (3.0 apg)
  Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
  George Matthew Karl (born May 12, 1951) is an American former professional basketball coach and former player. He is one of 9 coaches in NBA history to have won 1,000 NBA games, though he never won a championship.

  Contents [hide]
  1 Biography
  1.1 Early coaching career
  1.2 Seattle SuperSonics
  1.3 Milwaukee Bucks
  1.4 Denver Nuggets
  1.5 Sacramento Kings
  2 Personal
  3 Philanthropy
  4 NBA coaching record
  5 See also
  6 References
  7 External links
  Biography[edit]
  Karl was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of Penn Hills, Pennsylvania, where he starred at Penn Hills High School.[1] He played collegiality at the University of North Carolina for three years. Drafted in the fourth round of 1973 NBA draft by the New York Knicks, Karl opted instead to sign with the ABA's San Antonio Spurs. He spent three years as the team's starting point guard, playing with George Gervin. After the Spurs joined the NBA in 1976, Karl played limited minutes over the next two years, retiring as a player in 1978.

  Early coaching career[edit]
  After his playing career, Karl spent two years with the Spurs coaching staff as an assistant coach. He was then named head coach of the Montana Golden Nuggets of the Continental Basketball Association. As coach of the Golden Nuggets, Karl guided the team to the CBA Finals in 1981 and 1983, winning Coach of the Year both seasons.[2]

  In 1984, Karl returned to the NBA, when he became the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. In his first season he took them back to the playoffs for the first time in six seasons. He was dismissed by the Cavaliers after a disappointing 25–42 start in his second season with the team, though Cleveland would finish just 29–53 on the season. For the remainder of the 1985–86 season and early portion of the offseason, Karl worked as a scout and adviser to the Milwaukee Bucks.[3]

  Karl was named head coach of the Golden State Warriors in 1986; he took them from a record of 30–52 the year before, to the playoffs for the first time in ten years.[4] In the first round of the playoffs, they faced the Utah Jazz in a best–of–five series. Each team won two close games at home setting up a decisive game 5 in Utah that the Warriors won to advance to the playoff semifinals.

  Matched up in the semifinals against the Los Angeles Lakers, who had won three championships in the past seven seasons, Karl's team was expected to be swept by the much more experienced Lakers, and promptly lost the first three games. Facing elimination in game 4, the Warriors overcame a 12–point fourth quarter deficit and won 129–121.[5] Game 4 was the only game the Lakers lost in the Western Conference playoffs that year, en route to the first of their back–to–back championships.

  During the 1987–88 season, the Warriors got off to a rough start, and team management decided to trade Purvis Short, Sleepy Floyd and Joe Barry Carroll in order to save money and get younger. With Chris Mullin going through alcohol rehabilitation, Karl was now without his top four scorers from the 1987 playoff team.[6] Frustrated with the team's direction, he resigned from the Warriors with 18 games left in the season.[7] Though he resigned, there has been speculation Karl was actually fired,[8] as he signed a non-disclosure agreement and received a buyout of his contract.[9]

  On September 5, 1988, Karl was named head coach of the Albany Patroons of the CBA,[10] leading them to a 36–18 record. In 1989, Karl coached Real Madrid of Liga ACB. Madrid finished 69–17, though they dealt with the death of their best player, Fernando Martín Espina.[11]

  Karl returned to coach the Patroons in 1990, leading them to a 50–6 season, while winning all 28 home games. For his efforts, Karl was named CBA Coach of the Year for the third time.[12] Karl then returned to Real Madrid for the 1991–92 season, until he left to return to the NBA.[13]

  Seattle SuperSonics[edit]
  On January 23, 1992, Karl was named head coach of the Seattle SuperSonics, replacing K. C. Jones. Karl led a late season surge going 27–15, and entering the playoffs as the sixth seed.[14] In the first round, they upset his former team, the Golden State Warriors in four games. They lost in the second round to the Utah Jazz.

  In his second (and first full) season as the SuperSonics coach, the team improved their 47–35 record to 55–27, and qualified for the playoffs as the #3 seed in the Western Conference. They defeated the Utah Jazz 3–2 in the first round, and defeated the Houston Rockets 4–3 in the semifinals. Seattle lost in the Western Conference Finals to the Charles Barkley–led Phoenix Suns in a full seven game series, falling just one game short of the NBA Finals.

  The following season, Seattle won 63 games and its first Pacific Division title since their 1979 championship season. Despite a rift with mid-season acquisition Kendall Gill,[15] Karl led the Sonics to the top seed in the Western Conference. Playing the eighth–seeded Denver Nuggets in the opening round of the playoffs, Seattle won their first two games at home, but lost the following three, including the closing game at home, to become the first top seed to lose to an eighth-seed in the playoffs history.

  The 1994–95 season had a similar result when Seattle suffered another first–round loss after finishing the season 57–25. This time, Karl's fourth-seed SuperSonics were defeated by the fifth–seeded Los Angeles Lakers led by point guard Nick Van Exel, who clashed with Karl during the 1993 NBA rookie workouts.[16] Fans and media called for Karl's dismissal after his back-to-back first round losses,[17] but the team instead traded the disgruntled Kendall Gil to New Jersey, showing a sign of confidence in Karl.[18]

  Karl responded to the disappointing playoff exits with the best regular season in SuperSonics history, posting a 14–game winning streak between February and March to finish the 1995–96 season with a franchise best 64–18 record. Led by All-Stars Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton, the later named Defensive Player of the Year, the SuperSonics defeated the Sacramento Kings three games to one in the first round, and then swept the two-time reigning champions Houston Rockets to advance to the Western Conference Finals. They defeated the Utah Jazz in seven games to advance to their first NBA Finals since 1979.

  In the NBA Finals, the SuperSonics met the 72–10 Chicago Bulls. Seattle was out-matched by Michael Jordan's scoring, Dennis Rodman's rebounding and the Bulls' team defense, and quickly found themselves in a 0-3 deficit and facing a sweep. Karl and the SuperSonics responded with a 21–point game 4 blowout win and a narrow win in game 5, to narrow the series deficit to 3–2. The Bulls would win the series and game 6 in Chicago. The 64 wins and Finals appearance marked what was undoubtedly the zenith of Karl's coaching career.

  Seattle amassed a 118-46 record during the next two seasons, winning the Pacific Division title both years. Seattle overcame a 3-1 deficit to force a game 7 against Houston in the second round of the 1997 NBA Playoffs, but was defeated. The following year, Seattle fell swiftly to the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals. The back-to-back second round playoff exits and his deteriorating relationship with general manager Wally Walker [19] led to Karl's eventual dismissal before the 1998-99 season.

  The SuperSonics went 384-150 and averaged 59 wins per season under Karl, second only to Chicago during that span. [20] He took Seattle to the playoffs in all seven seasons of his tenure. The SuperSonics won four division championships and twice finished with the best record in the Western Conference. Despite regular season success, Karl's SuperSonics managed only a 40-40 postseason record, and advanced to the NBA Finals just once.

  Milwaukee Bucks[edit]
  On August 30 1998, Karl was named head coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, lured by a particularly lucrative contract offer.[21] Coming to a team that had not made the playoffs in seven seasons, Karl helped rebuild the struggling organization by making the playoffs in each of his first three seasons, steadily increasing their win totals.

  In his first two seasons they lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Indiana Pacers; after losing in a three game sweep his first season, the Bucks lost three games to two in his second season. In his third season, Karl guided the Bucks, led by a "Big Three" of Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen and Sam Cassell to their first division championship in 15 years, which culminated with an appearance in the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals (they lost in seven games).

  The Bucks entered his fourth season with high expectations, however they finished ninth place in the conference and missed the playoffs. Seeded as high as fourth in the conference halfway through the season, the Bucks collapsed and were eliminated from the playoffs in the final regular season game. Dealing with injuries, Karl was also reportedly at odds with Robinson and Allen.[22]

  Following the season, Robinson was traded to Atlanta.[23] At the 2002-03 trade deadline, Allen was traded to Seattle for Gary Payton.[24] Though Payton and Karl had success together in Seattle and the move allowed more minutes for Michael Redd, it made Cassell the odd man out[25] and broke up a core that was within one game of the NBA Finals just two years prior.[26]

  The Bucks finished the 2002-03 season 42-40 to qualify for the playoffs, though they were eliminated in the first round in six games. Karl pushed for the team to draft point guard TJ Ford, making Cassell expendable and he was traded to Minnesota.[27] GM Ernie Grunfeld, who was arguably Karl's biggest supporter in Milwauke, left the team shortly after the draft, and new GM Larry Harris decided to move the team in a new direction and fire Karl.[28] The Bucks have not won a playoff series and have had limited success since Karl's departure, though their downward spiral arguably started with his decisions to trade his star players.[29]

  He coached the US national team in the 2002 FIBA World Championship.[30]

  Denver Nuggets[edit]
  On January 27, 2005, the Denver Nuggets named Karl their head coach, taking over from interim head coach Michael Cooper (who stayed on as an assistant coach).[31] Karl made an immediate impact on the Nuggets, taking a team floundering at 17–25 to a 32–8 record in the second half of the 2004–05 season to finish 49–33. They lost in the playoffs to the San Antonio Spurs, who went on to win the NBA Championship that season.

  On July 27, 2005 the Nuggets announced that Karl had prostate cancer, but was cleared to continue coaching after he had surgery.[32] He led the Nuggets to the Northwest division title that season, Denver's first in 18 years.[33]

  Karl was criticized for his role in the Knicks–Nuggets brawl on December 16, 2006, allegedly trying to run up the score and humiliate Isiah Thomas by keeping his starting players in the final minutes of a blowout win.[34][35][36] On December 28, 2006, Karl became just the 12th coach in NBA history to reach 800 wins when the Nuggets defeated the SuperSonics 112–98. Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson were named All–Stars that season, Denver's first All-Star selections since 2001.

  Karl with the Nuggets in 2009
  During the 2008–09 season, the Nuggets, led by Karl, Carmelo Anthony, and the newly acquired Chauncey Billups tied a franchise–best 54 wins and entered the playoffs as the Western Conference's #2 seed. On April 27, 2009, the Nuggets handed the Hornets a 58–point loss during Game 4 of their first round playoff series. This tied the biggest margin in NBA playoff history[37] The Nuggets beat the Mavericks in 5 games during the semifinals, then went on to lose to the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers in 6 games, losing Game 6 by 27.[38]

  Karl coached the Western Conference All–Stars at the 2010 NBA All-Star Game on February 14 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.[39] This was his fourth selection, and his first since leaving Seattle.

  After the 2010 NBA All-Star Game, it was revealed in a press conference that Karl was diagnosed with treatable neck and throat cancer.[40] He was placed on leave of absence from the Nuggets for the remainder of the season while receiving treatment. Assistant coach Adrian Dantley filled in as acting head coach, and the team finished poorly, going from the second to fourth seed, and lost their first round playoff series.[41]

  Karl went through chemotherapy treatments,[42] and coached every game of the 2010–11 season, becoming the seventh NBA coach to record 1,000 career wins on December 10, 2010.[43][44] During the season, Carmelo Anthony requested and was granted a trade to New York, and Karl was now coaching a considerably younger and less experienced team.[45]

  Without Anthony, Denver's leading scorer for seven years, Karl put an emphasis on team-oriented play. In their first full season without Anthony, the Nuggets finished the regular season leading the league in points per game (104.12) and assists per game (23.96),[46] though they were also near the bottom of the league in defensive rating. They pushed their first–round playoff series against the Lakers to seven games, but were defeated

  The newly–acquired Andre Iguodala immediately helped the team's defense, and the Nuggets finished with their best record since joining the NBA in 1977, at 57–25. Noted for his efforts in bringing the team together without Carmelo Anthony, their offensive success with a traditional go–to–scorer, and his leadership for the league's third-youngest team (with an average age of 24.9 years), Karl was awarded his first NBA Coach of the Year Award for the 2012–13 season.[47][48]

  The Nuggets and Karl's historic season came to a disappointing end with a first–round playoff loss to the Golden State Warriors in six games. The Nuggets were without their second–leading scorer Danilo Gallinari, who was out with an ACL injury.[49] The series was noted for its controversy, with Warriors coach Mark Jackson admitting he had "inside information" on Denver's playing style.[50] Karl alleged Iguodala was the "mole" for the Warriors, which fueled speculation when he agreed to a four–year contract with Golden State following the playoff loss.[51][52]

  Following Denver GM Masai Ujiri's departure, Karl pushed the Nuggets for a contract extension, as he was entering the final season of his contract.[53] On June 6, 2013, Karl was fired by Denver, just 29 days after he was named Coach of the Year.[48][54]

  He left the Nuggets with a 423-257 record, just nine wins shy of Doug Moe's franchise–record 432 wins. Similar to his stint in Seattle, Karl's regular season success was overshadowed by playoff disappointments, as the Nuggets advanced out of the first round of the playoffs just once in his nine seasons.[48][55] Following Karl's firing, Denver posted three consecutive losing seasons.

  Sacramento Kings[edit]
  On February 12, 2015, after several weeks of talks and speculation, Karl agreed to a deal to become the head coach of the Sacramento Kings, after signing a four-year, $15 million contract.[56][57] He was officially introduced by the Kings on February 17.[58] In his first season as coach the Kings went 11–19 in 30 games.

  On April 14, 2016, Karl was fired by the Kings after a disappointing 2015–16 season in which the Kings went 33–49.[59][60] Karl was also only one game shy from coaching his 2,000th game in the NBA.

  Personal[edit]
  Karl's son, Coby, played as a starting point guard for Boise State, and has since played in the NBA and other leagues. Coby Karl is a thyroid cancer survivor.[61] Karl also has two daughters, Kelci and Kaci.[62]

  Philanthropy[edit]
  Karl is an avid supporter of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and serves as an ambassador for their Hoops for St. Jude basketball initiative.[63]

  NBA coaching record[edit]

• Sports Illustrated - https://www.si.com/nba/2017/01/11/george-karl-book-furious-george-reaction-carmelo-anthony-kings-nuggets

  George Karl Q&A: 'This Isn't What I Wanted'

  Play
  Mute
  Current Time 0:00
  /
  Duration Time 0:15
  Loaded: 0%Progress: 0%

  Fullscreen
  2:11 | NBA
  Is George Karl hirable after writing tell-all memoir?
  QUICKLY

  After a wave of backlash, George Karl says he has some regrets about his new book, Furious George. "I'm sorry this has happened in some ways," he says.
  SHARE
  Jon Wertheim
  JON WERTHEIM
  Wednesday January 11th, 2017
  There are few hard, fast rules about publishing. But when your book tour doubles as a rehab tour, chances are you’ve written something explosive. George Karl’s memoir was supposed to drop on Jan. 10. But when excerpts of “Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GM’s and Poor Shot Selection" seeped out before Christmas, a full-blown cause celebre preceded publication.

  Karl argued that the absence of fathers stunted the maturity of some players. He took few swipes at Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin and, unaccountably, Damian Lillard. He speculated openly about the PED use in the NBA. Questionable shot selection, you might call it.

  And, like a player retreating to the bench to face his hardass coach, got an earful. After enduring the Internet spanking machine, Karl is now making the rounds, explaining his intentions and trying to redirect the conversation to other parts of the book.

  SI: What’s tougher: back-to-backs or this book tour?

  George Karl: I’d say this tour. What’s tough is that you’re answering the same questions. It’s tedious. But I guess it’s necessary. I had no idea about the book industry. I never thought I’d be a writer. I thought it would be more a fun thing than the rodeo it’s turned out to be.

  SI: You’re surprised by this, the fallout?

  GK: Yeah a little bit. I can’t deny it: this isn’t what I wanted. A lot of these stories are five or ten or 15 years old and we were all different people then. To bring such intensity to it, I’m sorry this has happened in some ways.

  SI: The biggest cliché you can ask an author is “What made you want to write this book?” But I’m genuinely curious: what was the thinking here? Hey, the time has come to tell my basketball stories, let ‘em all out!

  GK: Well, I was working for ESPN two or three years and Curt [Sampson, Karl’s co-author] and I started having some meetings. You know I just wanted to have a conversation with the basketball fan and people who have a great love for basketball. Here are things I ran into. Here are opinions and feelings I had. Here are situations where you probably don’t know how it went down behind the scenes. Everything was a basketball evaluation. The fun of basketball is in stories and friendships. Sometimes they’re good. Sometimes they’re bad. I just wanted a conversation like we’re fans eating chicken wings at the bar, drinking beer and talking basketball. I enjoy conversation and have learned so much conversing.

  SI: You ever read Life on the Rim?

  GK: Life on the Rim is a good book.

  Rocky Widner/Getty Images
  SI: You had a scene-stealing role in that.

  GK: When?

  SI: That Albany team had lost the championship and you’re drinking beer until the sun came up.

  GK: Right! Drank beer and ate wings at Thirtsy’s till four in the morning. Then went down to the river and watched the sun come up!

  SI: [Reading Furious George] I saw that guy in that book. I got the sense you didn’t change a whole hell of a lot.

  GK: I hope I have. I know I changed a lot.

  SI: You have?

  GK: In my commitment to family and through my cancers.

  Cover Image ART19
  Open Floor: SI's NBA Show
  Warriors Look Human, and the East Arms Race Begins
  SHARE

  SUBSCRIBE
  Apple Podcasts

  Stitcher

  RSS
  DOWNLOAD DESCRIPTION
  00:00 / 53:18
  SI: You think you evolved?

  GK: Sure. I had to. I think my basketball foundation is the same but to last for 30 years you have to evolve. Because the players evolve, the business evolves, the media’s attention to the NBA has evolved. So many things are different from 1990. If you’re not learning, I don’t know if you survive.

  SI: Are there parts of the book you are surprised didn’t get more attention, that didn’t pop more?

  GK: I’m not keeping score. I think a lot of the stuff that came out in December was the excerpt factor. I think if you read the whole book, there are many, many pages of good stories and fun stories and happy stories positive stories and—

  SI: But you had to know how this game works—

  GK: Again, it’s the first time I’ve gone through this process.

  SI: What’s one thing you wish people had told you before you started this?

  GK: Probably to be more careful. For me, I was thinking about a conversation with the fan. The filter that coaches have to have on when they're coaching, I probably took that off a little too much.

  SI: Five best players you ever coached?

  GK: Bird, Magic, LeBron, Michael, Stockton.

  SI: Um...

  GK: Oh, best five I had ever coached, to play for me? I’d say Gary [Payton], Melo [Anthony], Shawn [Kemp], Ray [Allen] and…who am I missing? Detlef Schrempf probably. Who did I leave out?

  SI: Sam Cassell.

  GK: Sam was one of my favorites.

  SI: What’s the most western Pennsylvania thing about you?

  GK: Probably blue collar. Work is not a problem. I probably destroyed my health and my first family because of it.

  NBA
  Derrick Rose's Disappearance Ends, But Phil Jackson's Mistakes Still Linger
  SI: You stop the book before Sacramento. If you’re writing that next chapter how does that go?

  GK: Experience takes time to evolve. I made a lot of mistakes. It didn’t work. History will say why it didn’t work but I don’t think it’s time to predict what history will say.

  SI: But the sequel will have the Boogie stories, the front office stories, the Nancy Lieberman stories?

  GK: [laughs] Maybe I’ll call you up and you can write it.

  SI: You’re in New York for a book tour on a week when Carmelo Anthony gets a technical. Phil Jackson is being lampooned again and Derrick Rose goes MIA. You’ll agree there’s some irony in that, no?

  GK: I would say so, yeah. If you’re a good writer you could probably play that up for a couple of pages.

• Bleacher Report - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2683671-george-karls-book-furious-george-reportedly-had-parts-on-kings-tenure-removed

  George Karl's Book 'Furious George' Reportedly Had Parts on Kings Tenure Removed
  SCOTT POLACEK
  DECEMBER 24, 2016

  DENVER, CO - FEBRUARY 23: DeMarcus Cousins #15 and George Karl of the Sacramento Kings are seen during the game against Denver Nuggets on February 23, 2016 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2016 NBAE (Photo by Bart Young/NBAE via Getty Images)
  Bart Young/Getty Images
  The Sacramento Kings fired George Karl after the 2015-16 season following two years of lackluster basketball, but the final version of the former head coach's book will reportedly be less critical of that tenure than initially planned.

  According to Marc J. Spears and Marc Stein of ESPN.com, Karl's time with the Kings is discussed in the book Furious George, "but there have been passages critical of various aspects that have been removed."

  Spears and Stein noted the book had "unflattering views in a proof copy" about big man DeMarcus Cousins, general manager Vlade Divac and owner Vivek Ranadive. However, they cited sources who said the edition of Furious George that will be made available to the public won't have Karl's negative views after part of his settlement with the team was to abstain from critical commentary.

  According to Spears and Stein, ESPN.com obtained an excerpt in November that included a passage where swingman Rudy Gay said to Karl, "Welcome to basketball hell," upon the coach's arrival in Sacramento. That did not make the review copy of the book that some media members received.

  Karl coached in Sacramento from 2014 to 2016 and finished with a 44-68 mark after leading his three previous teams to a combined record of 432 games above .500.

  Karl coached the Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, Seattle SuperSonics, Milwaukee Bucks, Nuggets and Kings throughout his career and finished with a record of 1,175-824. Spears and Stein noted he is one of nine coaches to reach the 1,000-win plateau.

  Despite Karl's record, the book has made headlines for far more than the documentation of his impressive coaching.

  The New York Post's Marc Berman wrote that Karl was critical of Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith and Kenyon Martin in the book. He coached the three players in Denver and called them "spoiled brats" and pointed to the absence of a father for Anthony and Martin as one reason why he thought they had troublesome attitudes.

  Anthony responded, per Frank Isola of the New York Daily News: "Nothing disappoints me anymore. I'm past being disappointed. I just hope he finds happiness in what he's doing. His book…hopefully it will bring him happiness."

  Martin and Smith each took to Twitter after their former coach criticized them:

  Follow
  Kenyon Martin Sr. ✔ @KenyonMartinSr
  The Nerve of an AWFUL AND COWARD ASS COACH. More to come
  2:46 PM - 22 Dec 2016
  3,920 3,920 Retweets 4,809 4,809 likes
  Twitter Ads info and privacy
  Follow
  Kenyon Martin Sr. ✔ @KenyonMartinSr
  I didn't have a father going up. We all know that. What's George Karl excuse for being a terrible person
  2:47 PM - 22 Dec 2016
  6,712 6,712 Retweets 8,956 8,956 likes
  Twitter Ads info and privacy
  Follow
  Kenyon Martin Sr. ✔ @KenyonMartinSr
  George Karl is selfish,unhappy,missable,,cowardly person. No wonder he's be fired every place he has coached
  3:00 PM - 22 Dec 2016
  4,359 4,359 Retweets 4,357 4,357 likes
  Twitter Ads info and privacy
  Follow
  Kenyon Martin Sr. ✔ @KenyonMartinSr
  Everyone that's played for that awful person and coach can't stand the ground he walks on
  2:48 PM - 22 Dec 2016
  2,675 2,675 Retweets 2,587 2,587 likes
  Twitter Ads info and privacy
  Follow
  JR Smith ✔ @TheRealJRSmith
  Still trying to be relevant. Sad just sad.
  11:35 AM - 22 Dec 2016
  3,402 3,402 Retweets 5,370 5,370 likes
  Twitter Ads info and privacy
  Karl clearly had a strained relationship with Anthony, the team's star player in Denver—Spears and Stein said Karl called the trade of Anthony to the New York Knicks "a sweet release"—and he again found problems in Sacramento, this time with Cousins.

  Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee noted Karl was almost fired in February of his final season with the Kings because of issues with players, and ESPN.com said a public dispute with Cousins nearly cost him his job in November of that campaign.

  Despite what can only be described as a rocky tenure in Sacramento at best, there apparently won't be as many negative things about the Kings in Karl's book as there could have been.

• Bleacher Report - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2696162-no-thank-you-george-karls-curious-book-complicates-a-complex-legacy

  No Thank You: George Karl's Curious Book Complicates a Complex Legacy
  RIC BUCHER
  MARCH 6, 2017

  OAKLAND, CA - DECEMBER 28: Head coach George Karl of the Sacramento Kings reacts during their game against the Golden State Warriors at ORACLE Arena on December 28, 2015 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
  Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
  For a memoir meant to provide answers, former NBA coach George Karl's recent book, Furious George, sure raised a lot of questions.

  Such as…

  Why didn't one of his NBA confidants caution him about writing a score-settling book if he still entertained hopes of working in the league?

  Or…

  Why would someone who beat cancer twice not delve into the subject until the end of the book?

  And…

  Why would someone who spent close to three decades coaching in the NBA be so willing to alienate people with whom he had bonded?

  "The book should read 'Furious George' for the first 10 years and 'Frustrated George' all the time and 'Friendly George' right now," Karl tells B/R.

  The book's 368 pages offer a worldview from Karl in all his unique ways—stubborn, arrogant, combative and somewhat hypocritical.

  Several of his former players—some mentioned in the book, some not—believe "Frustrated George" wrote it.

  "I think George always wanted to do a tell-all book," says former scoring guard Earl Boykins, who played over two full seasons under Karl with the Denver Nuggets. "He loves telling you how great of a coach he is, but he's not widely recognized as one of the greatest coaches. I think he thought, 'This is my way of getting back at all you who didn't recognize me.'"

  Boykins cobbled together a 13-year NBA career with 10 different teams despite being 5'5" and 135 pounds. Karl, he says, made it clear he felt he knew more about basketball than anyone playing for, or against, him.

  "The biggest difference between other coaches I had and George was his confidence," Boykins says. "He'd tell us all the time, 'If you play the right way for 46 minutes and do what I tell you to do, I can out-coach anyone in the final two minutes."

  Boykins, now a high school coach at a town about 30 miles outside of Denver, had a four-year stretch where he averaged between 10 and 14 points a game. Three of those seasons were under Karl—even though the coach planned to ship him out when they first met.

  DENVER - OCTOBER 12: Head coach George Karl and Earl Boykins #11 of the Denver Nuggets talk before practice at the Pepsi Center on October 12, 2005 in Denver, Colorado. NBA TV visited camp to shoot the team's practice for a 2005 Real Traning Camp segmen
  Garrett Ellwood/Getty Images

  "He said, 'Earl, I'm going to trade you because I don't like small guards,'" Boykins recalls. "But then he said he'd give me a chance to show what I could do. It never bothered me. I never put much stock in what you thought about me. My attitude was, 'Are you going to let me play?' But most players have never been challenged by a coach. Most guys didn't have to overcome what I had to overcome."

  Karl wasn't always that direct, says Kendall Gill, who played two seasons for Karl in Seattle. Gill recalls warming up to start a game in Phoenix. When he walked back into the locker room, Karl was standing in front of the white board with the two teams' starting lineups written on it.

  "He just erases my name off the board and puts Nate McMillan at 2-guard," Gill says. "He didn't talk to me; he didn't say why he was doing it."

  Gill is among those who found the book hypocritical for its attack of players being more consumed with money than how they played, a point Karl concedes.

  "It's difficult to talk about because I'm rich and I'm rich because of basketball," Karl says. "It's crazy. But not talking about it isn't serving the game, either."

  But to hear Gill tell it, it wasn't just players who were preoccupied with getting paid. Gill recalls a conversation with Karl before the No. 1-seeded Sonics lost the final game in a best-of-five first-round series with the eighth-seeded Nuggets:

  "I come out to warm up and he says, 'You know what really bothers me, Kendall? That Shaq can lose in the first round and still make $10 million in endorsements.' I was like, 'We're facing elimination and he's worried about Shaq's money?'"

  Unlike Boykins, Gill is mentioned in the book: "[His] joyless approach to basketball drove me crazy. When Kendall said he felt so bad mentally he couldn't play, I was incredulous. He can't play because he's in a bad mood? The team lied and announced that he suffered from migraine headaches. The doctors told us he had clinical depression. What the hell is that? Unfortunately, I was…uninformed about mental illness…Kendall got no sympathy or understanding from me."

  BOSTON, MA - 1994: Kendall Gill #13 of the Seattle SuperSonics looks to pass against Dee Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics during a game played circa 1994 at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees tha
  Dick Raphael/Getty Images
  The report of migraines was not a lie, Gill says:

  "I've had cluster headaches since I was eight years old. The weather in Seattle triggered my migraines. I'd have four or five a day when I was in a cycle. I'd be throwing up, passing out."

  Gill has them under control now as a Chicago Bulls TV analyst, he says, but back then the migraines were treated with a combination of ice, oxygen and a drug administered via a shot in the shoulder. The shots were supposed to be limited to two a day, but Gill sometimes gave himself as many as seven hoping to curb the symptoms. After several sleepless nights, he finally took a few days away from the team.

  "George didn't know the details," Gill says.

  Despite the misunderstanding—as well as Karl saying Gill "hated me"—Gill says, "George was one of the best coaches I ever played for. He should be in the Hall of Fame. He should've won several championships. His ego gets in the way. Hell of a coach. Questionable person."

  Karl's ire is not reserved for players. He also complains in the book that the GMs who employed him didn't always keep him in the loop on pending moves. And perhaps that was by design. Two executives who worked in the league during Karl's tenure say that he had a reputation for not being able to keep a secret.

  In the case of his book, however, Karl kept his secrets perhaps too well, declining to disclose the book's contents to any confidants before publication, although several cautioned him when they simply heard he planned to write a book.

  DENVER - OCTOBER 12: Earl Watson, Kenyon Martin and Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets listen to head coach George Karl before practice at the Pepsi Center on October 12, 2005 in Denver, Colorado. NBA TV visited camp to shoot the team's practice for
  Garrett Ellwood/Getty Images

  "'Are you sure you know what you're doing?'" Karl recalls them saying. "'Are you sure you want to do this?' They were worried about what it might entail, and they were probably more right about it than me."

  "Furious George" made an initial splash, in part because of derogatory comments he made about Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony and former power forward Kenyon Martin, both of whom played for Karl in Denver. Karl blamed being raised without fathers for their shortcomings as players.

  Kenyon Martin is among a handful of players who felt betrayed by Karl's comments about them in his book.
  Kenyon Martin is among a handful of players who felt betrayed by Karl's comments about them in his book.Noah Graham/Getty Images
  "I think we did some things poorly and could've written them better," Karl says now. "I said the father rip thing poorly. To bring that topic up and not elaborate on what I was thinking in more detail was shallow on my part."

  Those critical of the book have portrayed Karl as simply too irascible and out of touch for the times, a condemnation that another long-time coach, Phil Jackson, also has faced in how he's handled his current role as president of the New York Knicks.

  That isn't a function of simply being old. How is it that the approach of San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, 68—three years older than Karl, three years younger than Jackson and equally irascible and demanding—is considered as relevant as ever?

  SAN ANTONIO, TX - MARCH 27: Head Coaches Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs, left, and George Karl of the Denver Nuggets greet before their game on March 27, 2013 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and
  D. Clarke Evans/Getty Images
  Before you chalk it up to San Antonio's consistent title contention, think again. For all the talk of the Spurs being a dynasty, they've won one title in the last nine years. Coaches have been routinely fired of late after 50-win seasons, advancing in the playoffs and earning Coach of the Year awards. Karl wasn't re-signed after a 61-21 season. Jackson was let go a year after guiding the Lakers to the Finals—and his 11 championship rings haven't put him above reproach.

  Popovich, meanwhile, is set to succeed Mike Krzyzewski as the U.S. National Team coach—a role that relies on his ability to help entice the league's brightest stars to sacrifice several offseasons for a taxing, ableit patriotic cause.

  LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 2: Head Coach George Karl of the Denver Nuggets (R) is greeted by Head Coach Vinny Del Negro of the Los Angeles Clippers before their game at Staples Center on February 2, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User exp
  Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images
  "At the end of the day, it's about how you make people feel," says Vinny Del Negro, who played for both Karl and Popovich during his 10-year playing career before he, too, became an NBA head coach. "And Pop makes people feel empowered and valued.

  "We'd be in a meeting and Pop will ask us questions: 'What's your view on this?' He doesn't have to ask anyone anything. He has the answers. But it's not having an ego. It's thinking, 'Maybe there's another idea out there.' He doesn't think he knows everything. He's always willing to learn."

  A key distinction from Karl, Del Negro notes, is the selfless manner in which Popovich has worked to promote others, within the Spurs or to another organization.

  Del Negro, Avery Johnson, Terry Porter, Mike Budenholzer, Monty Williams, Jacque Vaughn, Brett Brown and Steve Kerr all are part of Pop's head-coaching tree. And Dennis Lindsey, Rob Hennigan, Sam Presti, Sean Marks, Danny Ferry and Dell Demps are all present or former GMs who spent formative years in the Spurs' organization.

  Gregg Popovich's willingness to listen to his players has allowed him to adapt to his players' changing styles and needs.
  Gregg Popovich's willingness to listen to his players has allowed him to adapt to his players' changing styles and needs.Ronald Cortes/Getty Images
  "Look at how many lives he's changed, how many people have jobs in the league because of him," Del Negro says.

  While Karl has had four former disciples become head coaches—Sam Mitchell, Nate McMillan, Terry Stotts and Dwane Casey—he also has been accused of angling for jobs before they've actually been vacated, a level of self-interest frowned upon within the coaching fraternity.

  SACRAMENTO, CA - MARCH 1: Head coach George Karl of the Sacramento Kings speaks with Head coach Terry Stotts of the Portland Trail Blazers prior to the ame on March 1, 2015 at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly ackno
  Rocky Widner/Getty Images
  In an interview with New York Magazine's David Marchese promoting the book, he also put Stotts, now head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, in a tough spot by speculating the team's struggles this season might be due to a lack of leadership from star point guard Damian Lillard. Karl said he has since texted Stotts but Stotts did not respond.

  "He just let it go," Karl says.

  The harsh reactions by Anthony and Martin weren't fueled by Karl's pop psychology alone. A league source says that those two players, in particular, felt betrayed because of their role in having Karl's son, Coby, on the Nuggets at the end of the 2010 season. Then-GM Mark Warkentien suggested to Martin and Anthony, the team leaders, that it would buoy Karl's spirits to have his son on the roster as he fought his second bout with cancer. They agreed and Coby was signed to an unspecified deal in April for the remainder of the season.

  LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 21: Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl (R) playfully greets his son Coby Karl #11 of the Los Angeles Lakers after their game at Staples Center on January 21, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly ackno
  Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images
  "It's about family at that point," says Martin. "Did we want him on the team? No. Did he deserve to be on the team? No. But we did it for George. It was bigger than basketball."

  That summer, Karl received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the ESPYs, recognizing his fight on behalf of all cancer victims. Martin says he was the only member of the Nuggets organization to attend—and he did so despite wearing a brace after undergoing knee surgery.

  "Ain't nobody else supporting you and then you're going to talk about me like that?" Martin asks.

  MILWAUKEE - JANUARY 28: Head coach George Karl of the Denver Nuggets talks with Kenyon Martin #6 during a game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center on January 28, 2005 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The Nuggets defeated the Bucks 106-100. NOTE TO
  Gary Dineen/Getty Images

  The two crossed paths again last summer at an annual offseason training camp in Las Vegas run by former Karl assistant Tim Grgurich. They spoke briefly, but there was no mention of the upcoming release of the book.

  "I kept it cordial," Martin says. "I had nothing against George personally, but then you show me the other side of you."

  Though a key memory for Martin, Karl's bouts with cancer aren't addressed until page 195 of the 228-page book. He has considered writing a separate book about it.

  "If you go off on that subject, I don't think a chapter or even three chapters is enough to explain everything in detail," he says.

  Indeed, it is a complicated issue, even for his former players. Boykins remembers one story that didn't make the book. When Coby was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, George approached Boykins, as he knew he had survived the same condition.

  DENVER - APRIL 19: Head coach George Karl of the Denver Nuggets talks to his teammate Earl Boykins #11 during the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on April 19, 2005 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. The Nuggets won 119-115. NOTE TO USER: U
  Garrett Ellwood/Getty Images
  "He came to me on the team plane and told me he was scared and worried," Boykins recalls. "I said, 'George, worrying doesn't change anything.' I told him how I dealt with it. I met with Coby."

  Boykins holds no ill will toward Karl, because he never took what he said seriously.

  "I always looked at him as an angry old man," Boykins says. "I thought, 'There's no way you can believe the things you're saying.' Anything outside basketball, I always thought he was saying it to get a reaction. A coach develops an environment where he excels best. I think he felt comfortable going back and forth with people."

  LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 1: Head Coach Vinny Del Negro of the Los Angeles Clippers and Head Coach Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs share a laugh before their game at Staples Center on December 1, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. The coaches are
  Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images
  In contrast, Popovich never works with ulterior motives, according to del Negro:

  "Pop is going to sit you down and tell you, 'This is what I see, this is what we expect, this is what we want.' and if you can't accept that, then you're not going to be there very long. He's a great personality reader. He does a great job of knowing what buttons to push."

  Despite the fallout, Karl says he is not convinced the book sabotaged his shot at another head-coaching job, and he may be partly right. One owner, on condition of anonymity, said that Karl "had no chance of getting a job before the book. Drama queen."

  Meanwhile, Popovich keeps rolling along in San Antonio, adding to his legacy. Should he never write a memoir—and he has been approached plenty of times to do just that—he is sure to be captured in those written by others.

  If Boykins is right, that is precisely the recognition Karl hoped to enjoy himself but never did—inspiring him to write a book that may now discourage anyone from giving it to him. Ever.

  Ric Bucher covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter: @RicBucher.

• USA Today - https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2017/01/20/george-karl-doesnt-hold-back-in-first-book/96850646/

  George Karl doesn't hold back in first book
  AP Published 4:27 p.m. ET Jan. 20, 2017 | Updated 4:55 p.m. ET Jan. 20, 2017
  FILE - In this April 13, 2016, file photo, Sacramento Kings coach George Karl yells to his players during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets, in Houston. George Karl looks terrific as he ambles into the Tattered Cover Bookstore for a signing of his recently released "Furious George" memoir that so infuriated Kenyon Martin. He's lost more than 50 pounds from his peak. He's eating right, drinking less and enjoying a peaceful existence after surviving cancer — twice — along with his lifelong addiction to the stress of coaching. But he'd jump right back into the grinder in a heartbeat if any owner decides to give him another chance. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan, File)
  (Photo: The Associated Press)
  CONNECT
  TWEET
  1
  LINKEDIN
  COMMENT
  EMAIL
  MORE
  DENVER (AP) — George Karl ambles into the Tattered Cover Bookstore for his first signing of his recently released "Furious George" memoir, and he looks refreshed, having dropped from near three bills to 230-some pounds.

  "I feel terrific," said Karl, 65, who's eating right, drinking less, sleeping more and generally enjoying a peaceful existence as a two-time cancer survivor taking what he hopes is just a brief respite from the stress of NBA coaching.

  "I think I'm going to win again," reads Karl's conclusion in "Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs and Poor Shot Selection." (HarperCollins, $27.99) "I think I'm going to help kick cancer's ass once and for all. I think I'm going to win an NBA championship. So I think the book of my life will have one more chapter, maybe two."

  He'll be hard-pressed to generate as much buzz with the sequel.

  Karl's first book is as in-your-face as any of his Seattle SuperSonics defenses. It's as brutally honest as any of his emotional postgame assessments during a career in which he amassed more victories (1,175) than all but four men in league history.

  In between breakdowns of his coaching philosophies, Karl shows how the same combative style that made him an All-American at North Carolina and a scrapper with the San Antonio Spurs transferred into his roller-coaster coaching career as he stood up to spoiled superstars, meddling management, onerous owners, and rambunctious referees.

  Just to name a few.

  More on Karl book

  George Karl: Terry Stotts 'was right' to be angered by Lillard comments
  George Karl wants Sacramento Kings 'to have success'
  George Karl says he regrets controversial 'fatherhood' comments
  George Karl answers criticism to his book
  Adam Silver addresses George Karl's suggestion of PED use in the NBA
  He doesn't hold back on his criticism of Ray Allen, Kenyon Martin and other superstars with whom he clashed, either.

  Karl said he and co-author Curt Sampson "talked about the pushback that we might get. But I still think my desire was to have a conversation with the fan, the coach, and I wanted them to feel what I was feeling. I don't think it was expressing my animosity toward these guys. Because as I've gotten older, basketball coaching is not personal, you know? I'm the basketball policeman."

  Yet, for all his media savvy, Karl is a novice at this latest endeavor.

  "I know very little about the book industry," he said.

  So, he was taken aback by the blowback he got when excerpts were published of his candid account of managing eggshell egos.

  He compared three of his Nuggets players — J.R. Smith, Carmelo Anthony and Kenyon Martin — to "spoiled brats you see in junior golf and junior tennis." He added that Anthony and Martin "carried two big burdens: all that money and no father to show them how to act like a man."

  While Smith tweeted that it was sad Karl was "still trying to stay relevant," Anthony called Karl's criticism irrelevant and suggested any detailed response would wait for his own memoir "Staying Melo." He added, "I just hope he finds happiness in what he's doing and his book."

  "Melo was actually pretty good about it," Karl said.

  Not so Martin.

  Upon learning Karl had written that Martin was teased for his stutter and skin color as a kid raised by a single mom, Martin unleashed a series of angry tweets , the tamest being, "Having a lot of wins doesn't make you a good coach."

  Karl said he didn't write anything in the book that he hadn't said to their faces.

  "I might not have said it as directly as I said it in the book, but I've said it in other ways. I've had individual meetings with all these guys and they know what I didn't like about their games," Karl said. "You don't want to say point-blank. Yeah, you put some icing on it."

  He doesn't go into great detail in his critiques of the stars, just a quick jab here and there.

  The book, he said, was about "my love for the game of basketball expressed through the stories and situations that I was in. And I thought the fans deserved a little bit of a peek behind the curtain. But come on, man, there's a lot more behind that curtain."

  He said he'd be happy to play golf with Allen or break bread with Anthony, Martin and Smith anytime.

  In the book, he writes that while he may not have gotten along with his very best players, he certainly got the very best out of them.

  And he acknowledges his failures, suggesting, "I just wish someone had managed me, like a coach or GM does with a talented player."

  Facebook
  Twitter
  Google+
  LinkedIn
  2016-17 NBA photo of the day
  Fullscreen
  Atlanta Hawks forward Ersan Ilyasova (7) reaches for
  April 11: Atlanta Hawks forward Ersan Ilyasova (7) reaches for a loose ball past Charlotte Hornets forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (14) in the second quarter at Philips Arena. Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports
  FULLSCREEN
  Atlanta Hawks forward Ersan Ilyasova (7) reaches for1 of 150
  Apr 10: Philadelphia 76ers mascot Franklin reacts with
  April 9: Russell Westbrook powers his way to the bucket
  April 8: Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown celebrates
  Denver Nuggets guard Gary Harris drives to the net
  Philadelphia 76ers forward Dario Saric (9) reacts on
  April 5: Warriors guard Stephen Curry gets drilled
  Toronto Raptors forward PJ Tucker and guard DeMar DeRozan
  Minnesota Timberwolves guard Tyus Jones (1) pulls up
  April 2: The Oklahoma City Thunder's Russell Westbrook
  Minnesota Timberwolves forward Adreian Payne attempts
  Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon (00) dunks the ball
  March 30: Rockets guard Eric Gordon (10) drives to
  March 29: Russell Westbrook celebrates after setting
  Miami Heat guard Goran Dragic (7) celebrates a last
  Cleveland Cavaliers small forward LeBron James (23)
  The Houston Rockets' Sam Dekker (7) is fouled by the
  Toronto Raptors forward Serge Ibaka (9) passes the
  Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) shoots the ball
  March 23: The San Antonio Spurs' Kawhi Leonard saves
  March 22: Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) dunks the
  Mar 21: Chicago Bulls guard Rajon Rondo (9) knocks
  Mar 20: Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13) dribbles
  Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside (21) blocks the
  March 18: Atlanta Hawks center Dwight Howard (8) sits
  March 17: Wizards guard John Wall (2) goes up and under
  March 16: Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James
  March 15: Dallas Mavericks guard Yogi Ferrell (11)
  March 14: New Orleans Pelicans forward DeMarcus Cousins
  March 13: Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried (35)
  Houston Rockets forward Trevor Ariza (1) controls the
  Cleveland Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith (5) controls the
  March 10: Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10) makes an
  March 9: Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James goes
  Warriors guard Shaun Livingston, right, defends a shot
  Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki makes a jumper over
  Mar 6: Houston Rockets shooting guard James Harden
  March 5: Phoenix Suns guard Tyler Ulis is lifted up
  Miami Heat guard Tyler Johnson drives to the basket
  San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard passes the
  March 2, 2017: Suns forward Alan Williams dunks against
  Mar 1: Magic guard Evan Fournier dunks on Knicks forward
  Feb 28: Washington Wizards center Ian Mahinmi (28)
  Feb 27: Philadelphia 76ers guard Justin Anderson fouls
  74. Russell Westbrook (Feb. 26 vs. Pelicans) - 41 points,
  Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32)
  Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler hangs on the rim
  Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) moves
  Phoenix Suns forward Derrick Jones Jr. (10) attempts
  U.S. Team guard Jonathon Simmons of the San Antonio
  Feb 16: Wizards center Marcin Gortat dunks against
  Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday, left, and forward Anthony
  Feb. 14: Lakers forward Larry Nance Jr. fouls Kings
  Feb 13: Washington Wizards forward Markieff Morris
  Feb 12: New York Knicks owner James L. Dolan sits between
  Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook attempts
  New York Knicks point guard Brandon Jennings and Denver
  Celtics forward Gerald Green reacts while dunking over
  Feb 8: Los Angeles Clippers power forward Blake Griffin
  Feb 7: Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki stretches
  Feb 6: Phoenix Suns center Tyson Chandler misses a
  Feb 5: LA Clippers forward Paul Pierce kisses the parquet
  Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James looks to pass
  Feb 3: Chicago Bulls guard Dwyane Wade and Houston
  Feb 2: Houston Rockets guard James Harden is fouled
  Feb. 1: A young fan reacts as Los Angeles Clippers
  Feb 1: Orlando Magic guard C.J. Watson falls on the
  Jan 31: San Antonio Spurs small forward Kawhi Leonard
  Jan. 30: Detroit Pistons guard Ish Smith goes up to
  Jan. 29: It was King Cake Baby bobblehead head night
  Jan. 28: Stephen Curry (30) celebrates after making
  Jan 27: Houston Rockets guard James Harden attempts
  Jan. 26: Phoenix Suns center Alex Len misses a dunk
  Jan. 25: Hawks center Dwight Howard (8) throws down
  Jan. 24: Phoenix Suns forward P.J. Tucker (17) and
  Jan 23: Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James dunks
  Jan 22: Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon dunks against
  Jan. 21: San Antonio Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard (2)
  Jan 20: Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler is fouled
  Jan 19: Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23)
  Jan 18: Philadelphia 76ers forward Dario Saric (9)
  San Antonio Spurs point guard Tony Parker fakes a shot
  Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) collides
  Oklahoma City Thunder center Steven Adams (12) extends
  Jan. 14: Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) fights for rebound
  Jan. 13: Boston Celtics center Al Horford (42) acknowledges
  Jan. 12: Dallas Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki signs
  Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) reacts
  Jan. 10: Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2) shoots
  New Orleans Pelicans power forward Anthony Davis (23)
  Jan. 8: Houston Rockets guard James Harden reacts after
  Jan. 7: Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook
  Minnesota Timberwolves center Karl-Anthony Towns (32)
  Jan 5, 2017: Toronto Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan (10)
  Jan. 4: Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30)
  Jan. 3: Wizards guard Bradley Beal dunks and hangs
  Jan. 2, 2017: Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook
  Jan 1, 2017: Atlanta Hawks guard Kyle Korver fights
  Dec 31, 2016: Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James
  Dec 30, 2016: Houston Rockets guard James Harden (13)
  Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (0) battles
  Dec 28, 2016: Washington Wizards forward Kelly Oubre
  Dec. 27, 2016: Rockets forward Nene, right, exchanges
  Dec. 26, 2016: Mavericks defender Salah Mejri (50)
  Dec. 25, 2016: Cavaliers forward LeBron James throws
  Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) gets
  Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner (33) dunks against
  Milwaukee Bucks forward Jabari Parker (12) drives to
  Dec. 20, 2016: Charlotte Hornets guard Kemba Walker
  Dec 19, 2016; Washington Wizards guard John Wall (2)
  Dec. 18: Tim Duncan's retired No. 21 jersey is unveiled
  Indiana Pacers center Al Jefferson (7) fights for the
  Dec. 16, 2016: Grizzlies guard Mike Conley (11) passes
  Dec. 15, 2016: Bucks players wore special warm-up shirts
  Dec. 14, 2016: Rockets defender Montrezl Harrell (5)
  Dec. 13: Knicks and Suns players get into a scuffle.
  Dec. 12, 2016: Raptors guard Kyle Lowry (7) passes
  Dec. 11, 2016: Thunder guard Russell Westbrook rises
  Dec 10, 2016: Milwaukee Bucks center Greg Monroe (15)
  Dec. 9, 2016: Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook
  Dec. 8, 2016: 76ers center Joel Embiid (21) swats away
  Dec. 7, 2016: Knicks defender Kristaps Porzingis (6)
  Dec. 6: Spurs guard Nicolas Laprovittola trips in the
  Dec. 5, 2016: Warriors star Klay Thompson celebrates
  Dec. 4, 2016: Sacramento Kings center Kosta Koufos
  Dec. 3, 2016: Chicago Bulls guard Isaiah Canaan (0)
  Dec. 2, 2016: Sacramento Kings center DeMarcus Cousins
  Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) dunks
  Nov. 30, 2016: Boston Celtics point guard Terry Rozier
  Nov 29, 2016: Clippers head coach Doc Rivers is restrained
  Heat guard Rodney McGruder dunks on Celtics center
  Dallas Mavericks forward Dwight Powell (7) and New
  Nov. 26, 2016: Washington Wizards forward Markieff
  Nov. 25, 2016: LA Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6)
  Nov. 23, 2016: Atlanta Hawks guard Malcolm Delaney
  New York Knicks guard Derrick Rose (25) drives to the
  Boston Celtics center Al Horford (42) after dunking
  Atlanta Hawks center Dwight Howard (8) misses the pass
  Miami Heat center Hassan Whiteside (21) spins as Washington
  Nov. 18, 2016; Nuggets guard Jameer Nelson passes the
  Nov. 17: Rockets forward Montrezl Harrell dunks against
  Nov 16, 2016: Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) reacts
  Nov. 15, 2016: LeBron James fights for position with
  Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook (0) makes
  Orlando Magic guard Elfrid Payton (4) drives to the
  New York Knicks guard Derrick Rose (25) drives to the
  Nov. 11, 2016: Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving
  Nov. 10, 2016: A fan displays his support for former
  Nov. 9, 2016: Wizards guard John Wall (2) continues
  Nov. 8, 2016: Timberwolves forward Andrew Wiggins (22)
  Next Slide
  150 Photos
  2016-17 NBA photo of the day
  The book takes the reader into the energy and nervousness of the locker room before a game, on the bus rides through the old minor leagues or across small outposts in Europe where Karl honed his strategies and coaching style.

  It also touches on his health and his son Coby's fight with cancer.

  The title is a play on the children's classic "Curious George," but "it should be 'Frustrated George to Friendly George' because over the last seven, eight, nine, 10 years, I'm mellow compared to frustrated," Karl said. "But don't get me wrong. We still get frustrated, unless you just have an elite basketball team.

  "Twenty-five of the NBA coaches are probably thinking what I'm thinking or feeling what I'm feeling. Even in winning or in success, there's always someone ticked, there's always someone got an ego out of joint."

  Had he learned to better navigate the negativity when he was younger, Karl suggested, "I probably wouldn't have had as many cancers. The stress of it, it's not a healthy lifestyle."

  Not enough sleep, too much beer and pizza.

  Karl, who last coached with Sacramento last season, said his outlook on life changed five years ago when he almost died from head and neck cancer, forcing him to change his diet for good, becoming an aficionado of veggies and juices more so than steak and hops.

  "Basketball was my life," he writes. "Now, life is my life."

  For all his successes and runs at that elusive NBA championship, Karl writes that his greatest moment in coaching came when his Nuggets squared off against the Lakers in the playoffs when his son Coby was with L.A.

  Coby has followed his father's path into coaching, too, running the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Developmental League. When Karl can't catch his son in person, he watches his games on Facebook Live.

  "It's a pretty powerful gift," Karl said. "I think right now it's my escape."

  Soon enough, though, March Madness will be here and then the NBA playoffs will begin. That's when Karl knows not being on the hardwood himself and trying to get the most out of another star will start to ache.

  He wants another shot to put all of life's lessons to work and take aim once more at that gold ball he's been chasing all his life.

  "If it's in the cards, it'll happen," Karl said. "I don't think there's a lot of good coaching going on. So, maybe someone will go, 'Karl was pretty freaking good. He might be an idiot but he's pretty freaking good.'"

  ___

  Follow Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapleton

  CONNECT
  TWEET
  1
  LINKEDIN
  COMMENT
  EMAIL
  MORE
  Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

• Seattle Times - http://www.seattletimes.com/sports/nba/george-karl-invents-new-term-chaortic-to-describe-his-time-in-seattle/

  Larry Stone / Columnist
  George Karl invents new term, chaortic, to describe his time in Seattle
  Originally published January 21, 2017 at 4:54 pm Updated January 21, 2017 at 9:08 pm
  George Karl, hugged by Shawn Kemp when he was coach of the Sonics, has taken heat for his book “Furious George,” in which he criticized some of his former players. (Tom Reese/The Seattle Times)
  Former Sonics coach George Karl’s new book is “Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection.”

  1 of 2
  George Karl, hugged by Shawn Kemp when he was coach of the Sonics, has taken heat for his book “Furious George,” in which he criticized some of his former players. (Tom Reese/The Seattle Times)

  The word, which means a blend of chaos and order, sums up his time with the Sonics well. It was the pinnacle of his career and the city loved his team.

  Share story
  By Larry Stone
  Seattle Times columnist
  The title of his book is “Furious George,” but George Karl makes it clear that the moniker doesn’t really describe him anymore. Not after two bouts of cancer changed his perspective and led to a spiritual awakening.

  “Maybe that was the case in Seattle and Milwaukee,’’ he said with a laugh. “Now it’s friendly George.”

  Karl is doing the promotional heavy lifting that comes with the territory. His book, co-written with Curt Sampson, is subtitled “My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection,” and has already caused a stir with criticism of Kenyon Martin, Carmelo Anthony and others.

  But I’m more interested in talking to him about his Seattle years, from 1991-98, and it’s a topic that energizes him, even amid a grueling day of nonstop interviews. Now 64 and nine months removed from being fired by the Sacramento Kings — the sixth NBA team to hire Karl and then part ways — he has plenty of time for reflection.

  Featured Video

  Mariners manager Scott Servais discusses his team's 8-2 loss to the Phillies (3:22)
  Most Read Stories
  ‘Bubbly kid’ was fatally shot by King County deputy hours before high-school graduation
  New Washington state budget would provide $7.3B more to public schools over four years
  Horizon Air cutting hundreds of flights this summer due to pilot shortage
  Why Russell Wilson's improved health and lower weight may be the biggest Seahawks' story no one is talking about
  Proposed Washington state budget boosts spending by 13.5%
  Save over 90% on select subscriptions.
  Karl notes that he had long runs in Seattle, Milwaukee and Denver, but when pushed, he says that his time with the Sonics was the pinnacle of his career.

  “The city was alive,’’ he tells me. “Averaging 59 wins a year was so much fun. Even though we failed in a couple of first-round series, when we finally broke through to the conference finals, it was wild.”

  He spends two fascinating chapters in the book discussing his Seattle years, with particular emphasis, not surprisingly, on his relationship with Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton (volatile but ultimately rewarding) and GM Wally Walker (not good — “Wally and I just didn’t like each other,” he writes).

  Karl also goes into great depth on the Sonics’ first-round ouster by the Denver Nuggets in 1993-94, considered one of the great upsets in NBA history — he flat-out calls it a choke in our phone conversation — and their loss to Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the 1995-96 NBA Finals.

  Karl beats himself up a little for not initially letting Payton have the primary responsibility guarding Jordan, opting instead for a team concept led by Hersey Hawkins and an injured Nate McMillan. When the Sonics lost the first three games of the series, Karl describes Payton coming into his office and saying, “Nothin’ to lose now. Let me take him.”

  With Payton harassing Jordan, he was not nearly as dominant in the next two games, both Seattle victories, before they fell in Game 6.

  ADVERTISING

  “Gary had a little leg injury and I said, well, ‘Hawk is giving us great defense, Nate can cover him. Let’s try a team thing, rather than mano-y-mano,’’ Karl said. “It was probably a wrong move.”

  Payton and Kemp blossomed into superstars during Karl’s tenure, and he loved coaching them, despite the occasional blowups, disputes and distractions. In the book, in fact, Karl says Payton is now one of his five best friends.

  “I don’t think we go out every time I see him, but we hang,’’ he told me.

  In the book, Karl ribs Kemp for fathering children with numerous different women, writing that he said to Kemp one day, “Shawn. Vasectomy.” But he wrote, “Shawn, incidentally, stepped up and took care of everyone. I’m proud of him.”

  Karl told me, “They played the game the right way when it counted. I can’t say Gary and I had a great relationship sometimes in practice. Sometimes his habits drove me crazy. And Shawn tended to be late. Those are the little frustrations of basketball. But I loved our Seattle team because they were tough-minded and played hard. It was team basketball, and they were leaders of that.”

  Once a year, Karl revealed in the book, he would go out drinking with Payton and Kemp as a bonding exercise, usually in September just before camp opened. He did that with other players, too, but usually one-on-one. He felt it more appropriate to fraternize with these two as a pair.

  “If you think Gary can talk on a normal day,’’ he writes, “you should hear him after he’s had a glass of something strong.”

  A couple of those outings took place on Payton’s yacht. “I don’t think anything got too crazy,’’ he told me.

  Karl also provides some background to the infamous fight between Payton and Ricky Pierce at halftime of Game 2 in the Denver series. The Sonics had led the NBA with a 63-19 record that year, and with Jordan off playing baseball, thought they would sail to the NBA title. They won the game in question to go up two games to none, but the fractures were starting to show that allowed the Nuggets, barely a .500 team during the season, to sweep the final three games.

  “I didn’t see it then, but in hindsight maybe we were starting to crumble,’’ he wrote. “Gary and Ricky screamed at each other in the halftime locker room, something about Ricky taking a shot when there should have been another pass. I’m pretty sure they swung fists at each other. And I’m pretty sure one or both of them said something about getting a gun.”

  Karl says now, “It was crazy because of the timing. If it happened during the season, we could have worked it out. But it came in a crucial, pressurized situation, and it takes energy from what we needed to focus on. We weren’t mentally strong enough. Yet.”

  Karl describes the Sonics as “chaortic,” a blend of chaos and order, which is a perfect description for those often-turbulent years. Karl doesn’t shy away from the fact that he was responsible for a good portion of the chaos, which tended to follow him throughout his career.

  “I think all NBA teams have chaortic decision-making processes,’’ he said. “Our Seattle team was emotional. We didn’t have any problems exchanging our ideas and opinions, and a lot of times we had combative confrontations because of it.”

  Despite all that, and despite the absence of the NBA title the team felt was on the verge of happening on more than one occasion, Karl looks at it all fondly. Even the messy departure of Kemp after he became jealous of Jim McIlvaine’s contract that dwarfed his — not the only contract dispute on Karl’s watch.

  “Shawn and Gary both wanted to be paid at a high level, a better level than they were,’’ Karl said. “In the same sense, both had loyalty to Seattle, which is a compliment. It doesn’t happen much anymore where players have loyalty to their city.”

  Karl lives in Denver now, and he says life is good. After prostate cancer in 2005 and neck and throat cancer in 2010, he feels great. He is a grandfather now, and has remarried and became a father again when he was 53. Hip and knee replacement has given him a bounce in his step, albeit a slower one.

  “I don’t have a lot of pain in my body when I walk, for the first time in 15 years,’’ he said. “I’m happy.”

  Furious George no longer.

6/30/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1498868074741 1/3
Print Marked Items
Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA
Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection
Wes Lukowsky
Booklist.
113.8 (Dec. 15, 2016): p16.
COPYRIGHT 2016 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection.
By George Karl and Curt Sampson.
Jan. 2017. 256p. illus. Harper, $26.99 (9780062367792). 796.323.
Karl, in his mid-sixties and fifth on the all-time NBA coaching wins list, has almost always fielded competitive teams
that improved when he arrived and got worse when he left. He's also outspoken. If he thinks he's coached badly, he'll
say so; if a star player doesn't play defense, he'll bench him. Honesty makes for a good memoir, and, not surprisingly,
he delivers great anecdotes on life in the NBA, many of them lighthearted and self-deprecating. Beyond the basketball,
Karl has come to grips with some hard truths. He was so focused on his career that he was a poor husband and father.
Some of the clarity he displays here came to him during two bouts with cancer and through helping his son, Coby,
through his own cancer diagnosis and treatment. Great NBA insider stuff, family advice, health tips, and unequivocal
candor, all in one book. Expect considerable demand where NBA interest is high.--Wes Lukowsky
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Lukowsky, Wes. "Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection."
Booklist, 15 Dec. 2016, p. 16. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA476563425&it=r&asid=d96ad8eb19efb4168706f6468286e34b.
Accessed 30 June 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A476563425
6/30/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1498868074741 2/3
Karl, George & Curt Sampson. Furious George:
My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless
GMs, and Poor Shot Selection
Chris Wilkes
Library Journal.
141.18 (Nov. 1, 2016): p85.
COPYRIGHT 2016 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution
permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
Karl, George & Curt Sampson. Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot
Selection. Harper. Jan. 2017.256p. ISBN 9780062367792. $27.99; ebk. ISBN 9780062367815. MEMOIR
Karl (b. 1951) provides a candid account of his career as a player and head coach in professional basketball. His
philosophy of passionate, team-orientated play led him to over 1,100 wins as an NBA head coach with half a dozen
teams, notably the Seattle Supersonics and the Denver Nuggets. This memoir recounts the difficulties of managing a
team's competing egos as players vie for more playing time, exposure, and money. Karl also shares his criticisms of
everything from NBA officiating to myopic owners that fire winning coaches to the work ethic and playing style of
current players, especially his former players Carmelo Anthony and Demarcus Cousins. On a personal level, Karl
provides insight into how the grind of an 82game season contributed to the dissolution of his first marriage but created
comradery between coaches over pregame rituals and late-night drinking. He describes the frustration of his coaching
failures, in particular the sixth place finish of the U.S. team at the 2002 World Championships. Karl's bond with his son
and his battle with cancer are softer moments that define this narrative.
VERDICT This well-written memoir will interest basketball fans looking for a coaching counterpoint to Phil Jackson's
Eleven Rings.--Chris Wilkes, Tazewell Cty. P.L., VA
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
Wilkes, Chris. "Karl, George & Curt Sampson. Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs,
and Poor Shot Selection." Library Journal, 1 Nov. 2016, p. 85. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA467830383&it=r&asid=a6d76f56a00c35422338dd0b7da8af37.
Accessed 30 June 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A467830383
6/30/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1498868074741 3/3
Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA
Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection
Publishers Weekly.
263.43 (Oct. 24, 2016): p70.
COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection
George Karl, with Curt Sampson. Harper, $26.99 (256p) ISBN 978-0-06-236779-2
In his first book, Karl, a successful, well-traveled NBA head coach (most recently of the Sacramento Kings), writing
with Sampson (The Masters), promises to settle old scores and get in the last word. Given his history of talking openly,
this is a delightful promise--but his work soon proves annoying and guarded. There are highlights, such as his
descriptions of what it's like to coach a game and how his intensity for work isolated himself from his family, including
his son. He examines his relationships with mentors such as Dean Smith to players they coached. He says Knicks
forward Carmelo Anthony was a "conundrum" and a "user of people," and his star player in Sacramento, DeMarcus
Cousins, "was the most disrespectful person I've ever been around," but his criticism is more petty than revealing.
Though Karl talks about how his 2010 diagnosis of throat and neck cancer changed his approach to work and diet, he
mostly fails to address his own performance at his six NBA coaching stops--all of which ended on less than congenial
terms. After a rocky, abbreviated stint in Sacramento, the 64-year-old Karl hints that he'd like to coach again. That may
explain the frustrating honesty-with-limits approach employed here. Agent: Byrd Leavell, Waxman Leavell Literary.
(Jan.)
Source Citation (MLA 8
th Edition)
"Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection." Publishers Weekly,
24 Oct. 2016, p. 70. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA468771852&it=r&asid=7bc6bcc27ed6f7f12a60e91dca2913cc.
Accessed 30 June 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A468771852

Lukowsky, Wes. "Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection." Booklist, 15 Dec. 2016, p. 16. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA476563425&it=r. Accessed 30 June 2017. Wilkes, Chris. "Karl, George & Curt Sampson. Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection." Library Journal, 1 Nov. 2016, p. 85. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA467830383&it=r. Accessed 30 June 2017. "Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection." Publishers Weekly, 24 Oct. 2016, p. 70. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do? p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA468771852&it=r. Accessed 30 June 2017.

• The Root
  http://www.theroot.com/ex-nba-coach-george-karl-pens-bitter-tell-all-book-blas-1790858276
  Word count: 487

  Ex-NBA Coach George Karl Pens Bitter Tell-All Book Blasting Former Players

  Stephen A. Crockett Jr.
  12/23/16 10:17amFiled to: NEWS
  422

  Then-head coach George Karl of the Denver Nuggets talks with Carmelo Anthony April 27, 2005, during their game against the San Antonio Spurs during the 2005 NBA Western Conference first round in San Antonio.
  Brian Bahr/Getty Images
  George Karl was once an NBA coach. He wasn't a good NBA coach, even with top talent like Carmelo Anthony, so Karl was fired from every NBA coaching job he ever had. Now the sorry ex-NBA coach is releasing a tell-all book about his days of coaching players who were better served under better coaches. In his upcoming book, Furious George, due out in January, Karl takes potshots at just about every player he ever coached.

  Karl, who coached the Denver Nuggets in the 2000s, blasted former players Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith and Kenyon Martin. He called the trio a bunch of "AAU babies" like "the spoiled brats you see in junior golf and junior tennis," according to the New York Post, which got an advance copy of the book.

  The low blows don't stop there; Karl, who coached Anthony from 2005 to 2011, also lambasted the power forward's work ethic and willingness to share the spotlight.

  “Carmelo was a true conundrum for me in the six years I had him,” Karl wrote. “He was the best offensive player I ever coached. He was also a user of people, addicted to the spotlight and very unhappy when he had to share it."

  Karl continued: "He really lit my fuse with his low demand of himself on defense. He had no commitment to the hard, dirty work of stopping the other guy. My ideal—probably every coach’s ideal—is when your best player is also your leader. But since Carmelo only played hard on one side of the ball, he made it plain he couldn’t lead the Nuggets, even though he said he wanted to. Coaching him meant working around his defense and compensating for his attitude."

  And as if that weren't enough, Karl took aim at the fact that Martin and Anthony grew up without fathers in their lives.

  "Kenyon and Carmelo carried two big burdens: all that money and no father to show them how to act like a man," Karl wrote.

  It didn't take long for players to react, with many taking to social media to blast the "coward" coach for trying to remain relevant with his new book.

  Martin wasn't the only one to blast his former coach. Reggie Evans, who played with Martin, also took to Twitter.

  And I think it's pretty clear who J.R. Smith is referencing with this tweet:

  Read more at the New York Post.

• New York Daily News
  http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/george-karl-accuses-nba-stars-steroid-abuse-new-book-article-1.2925397
  Word count: 432

  George Karl accuses NBA stars of steroid abuse in new book — ‘It’s obvious some of our players are doping’

  Tweet

  email

  Autoplay: On | Off
  BY
  BRETT BODNER
  NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
  Tuesday, December 27, 2016, 10:23 AM
  Knicks star Carmelo Anthony got off easy.

  After trashing Anthony’s character and play in his new book, “Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection,” the former coach went after the rest of the league, making serious accusations about steroid abuse.

  “It’s obvious some of our players are doping,” reads an excerpt from the book obtained by NBC Sports. “How are some guys getting older — yet thinner and fitter? How are they recovering from injuries so fast? Why the hell are they going to Germany in the off-season? I doubt it’s for the sauerkraut.”

  Not Released (NR)
  George Karl's book "Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection" features shots at the NBA and players he's coached. (EZRA SHAW/GETTY IMAGES)
  Karl suggested players are finding substances that don’t show up in most drug tests.

  Follow the Daily News Sports on Facebook. "Like" us here.
  “More likely it’s for the newest, hard-to-detect blood boosters and PEDs they have in Europe. Unfortunately, drug testing always seems to be a couple steps behind drug hiding,” Karl wrote in the book.

  “Lance Armstrong never failed a drug test. I think we want the best athletes to succeed, not the biggest, richest cheaters employing the best scientists. But I don’t know what to do about it.”

  Not Released (NR)
  George Karl had harsh words for Carmelo Anthony, but the Knicks forward chose to take the high road when addressing the comments. (KEVORK DJANSEZIAN/GETTY IMAGES)
  Karl started making headlines last week when excepts from his book started surfacing when he called Anthony, Kenyon Martin and J.R. Smith “spoiled brats.” Karl also said trading Anthony from the Nuggets to the Knicks in 2011 was like “popping a blister.”

  Anthony took the high road and shrugged off the comments by his former coach, calling the comments “irrelevant.”

  By saying nothing on Karl, Carmelo spoke volumes
  Karl’s book comes out January 10. He last coached in the NBA last year when he was head coach of the Sacramento Kings. He was fired after a disappointing season where the team went 33-49.

• Sacramento Bee
  http://www.sacbee.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/ailene-voisin/article122901099.html
  Word count: 1206

  BOOKMARK FOR LATER
  Former Kings coach George Karl discusses his firing, future plans and DeMarcus Cousins 2:44

  FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL SHARE
  Ailene Voisin visits former Kings coach George Karl at his home in Carmichael. He talks about his disappointment, anger, Kings situation and his recovery from knee replacement surgery. Ailene Voisin The Sacramento Bee
  Ailene Voisin
  Ailene Voisin
  Let’s talk about the Kings, 49ers, baseball and more
  AILENE VOISIN
  DECEMBER 24, 2016 7:30 PM
  George Karl not making friends with ‘Furious George’
  BY AILENE VOISIN
  avoisin@sacbee.com
  My feed
  I enjoyed the book. No, I really, really enjoyed the book, or at least 90 percent of it. George Karl’s soon-to-be-released memoir, “Furious George,” is an entertaining, intimate journey around the NBA, a revealing, often angry account of 40 years on the job.

  This is George unplugged – zany, combative, innovative, insightful, forever on the edge. But this is also why Kenyon Martin, Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith and several of his former players approached the holidays afire, why many of his friends are shaking their heads, and why he probably will never get another head-coaching job. The fifth-winningest coach in NBA history ignored the delete button on his laptop. He used a machete when a scissor would have sufficed, attacked when discretion would have been more appropriate.

  He uses the word “hate” repeatedly.

  ADVERTISING

  Why? Because rage sells?

  In the book’s introduction, Karl urges the reader to “imagine I am on the next bar stool over and you’ve asked me what it’s really like inside pro basketball. You seem okay, you’re buying, and I want to say what I want to say. I don’t mind a reaction and I don’t mind pissing off 29 teams. The only team I want to be happy is my own.”

  While that makes some sense – and many authors provoke to promote their own works – a kinder, gentler George would have been better received. His harsh depiction of Anthony, Martin and Smith, among others, detracts from an otherwise thoughtful, interesting, often hilarious read. “Getting rid of Carmelo Anthony (in Denver trade to New York in 2011) was a sweet release for the coach and the team, like popping a blister,” Karl writes. “What I got (from J.R.) was a player with a huge sense of entitlement, a distracting posse, his eye always on the next contract, and some really unbelievable shot selection.”

  Of Martin, he says, “I knew right away that our power forward was one of the most insecure, immature players I have ever coached.”

  Karl’s biggest mistake is playing dime store sociologist and suggesting Martin and Anthony, both products of the inner city, “carried two big burdens: all that money and no father to show them how to act like a man.”

  As opposed to acting like a woman? As if a mother is incapable of teaching life skills? The stereotype insults anyone raised by a single mother, and the term “posse” is highly offensive to the league’s black players, as Phil Jackson can attest. (Though an early draft detailing Karl’s brief tenure with the Kings was released to several outlets, the book includes less than two pages about his experiences in Sacramento. His plan is to dissect his troubled relationship with DeMarcus Cousins, his disappointment in general manager Vlade Divac, and his outright disdain for principal owner Vivek Ranadive in an updated version when his contract expires.)

  Even without an in-depth accounting of his tumultuous time with the Kings, “Furious George” is infused with anger, and with insight. There is a lot to inhale here. Karl fully embraces his combative personality and unconventional approach, painfully recounts his Seattle SuperSonics’ crushing loss to the Chicago Bulls in the 1996 NBA Finals, provides delightful anecdotes about life in the minor leagues and on the road, addresses his career-long commitment to playing fast, chronicles his hate-love bond with Gary Payton and constant worries about Shawn Kemp, chides Nuggets management for firing him after a 57-win season, and offers one particularly explosive claim about the use of performance-enhancing drugs within the league.

  “It’s obvious some of our players are doping,” he alleges. “How are some guys getting older – yet thinner and fitter? Why the hell are they going to Germany in the offseason? I doubt it’s for the sauerkraut.”

  NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will chew miserably on that little nugget over the holidays. But for someone who has known Karl since he was named coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1984, and who has long regarded him as one of the most innovative minds in the game, the book truly reads as if he were sitting at the neighborhood bar, diagramming plays, pondering the value of big men, debating the merits of switching defenses, eagerly discussing current events; this is him.

  The most compelling part of the book is when Karl tackles Karl. He is unsparing here, too. In a brutally honest assessment of his personal life, he accepts blame for his failed marriage and admits to poor parenting skills. “Being my son (Coby) was rough for the same reasons it was miserable to be my wife,” he says. He reveals that “depression hit me hard” after Coby was diagnosed with thyroid cancer only months after his own ordeal with prostate cancer. In 2010, more health problems: A malignant lump was discovered below his chin.

  “Five-year survival rates were between 30 and 50 percent,” Karl writes, in chilling detail, “making mine the eighth-most fatal cancer. Bleep.”

  Again, I enjoyed the book immensely, though was left wondering why the future Hall of Famer has so much anger after all these years and all that success. Despite his habit of throwing a wrench into a purring engine, Karl’s accomplishments and exceptional basketball mind are widely acknowledged by both his friends and his critics; everyone knows Crazy George can coach. Is it the daily fear of being a two-time cancer survivor and fearing for his son’s health, though both have been cancer-free for years? The near-miss in the Finals? The firing in Denver? His uncharacteristically short, ill-fated tenure with the Kings?

  RELATED STORIES FROM THE SACRAMENTO BEE
  Reaction to Karl’s book no surprise to his last NBA employer
  Reaction to Karl’s book no surprise to his last NBA employer
  Only Karl has the answers, or maybe, there aren’t any answers.

  But I wish him peace and good health, and good luck with the book sales.

  Ailene Voisin: 916-321-1208, @ailene_voisin

  “Furious George,” the new book by George Karl, above, coaching the Kings in April, offers insight, humor, and a good deal of anger.
  “Furious George,” the new book by George Karl, above, coaching the Kings in April, offers insight, humor, and a good deal of anger. Hector Amezcua Sacramento Bee file
  Never miss a local story.
  Sign up today for a 30 day free trial of unlimited digital access.

• Blazers Edge
  https://www.blazersedge.com/2017/3/17/14915404/book-review-george-karl-furious-george-harper-collins
  Word count: 1091

  Book Review: George Karl’s Furious George
  23
  Longtime NBA coach George Karl led six different franchises in his career, and now spills all the controversial details in his new book, Furious George.
  by Eric Griffith@EricG_NBA Mar 17, 2017, 3:05pm PDT
  TWEET

  SHARE

  PIN

  REC

  Former NBA coach George Karl went out of his way to stir up controversy while promoting his autobiography, Furious George, earlier this year. Karl drew ire for comments about Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard, Performance Enhancing Drugs in the NBA (PEDs), and fatherhood. The concluding chapter about Karl’s tenure with the Sacramento Kings was reportedly so controversial it had to be excised entirely from the final publication.

  Publisher Harper Collins and Karl sent a clear message: this book is an uncensored look at the NBA. According to the dustcover, “Karl holds nothing back, talking candidly about the greed, selfishness, and ass covering he believes are characteristic of modern professional athletes.”

  The actual finished product, however, comes across as less controversial than Karl’s promotional interviews—but still somewhat unprecedented for an NBA insider. He spends time honestly critiquing and evaluating a range of NBA personalities across eras from his perspective as an admittedly acerbic and aggressive coach.

  Readers learn about everything from the evolution of Karl’s coaching relationship with the Cavaliers’ prodigious gunner World B. Free in the ‘80s, to a truce-turned-friendship with the hot-tempered Seattle SuperSonics Guard Gary Payton in the ‘90s. Karl’s ongoing frustration with Carmelo Anthony’s lackadaisical defensive effort for the Nuggets in the 2000s is extensively covered, as well. Throughout, Karl’s single-minded passion for coaching basketball dominates the prose.

  None of his stories is particularly novel in a vacuum—long-time NBA fans already know that Joe “Barely Cares” Barry Carroll would frustrate any intense coach, and that La La Vasquez’s desire to live in New York ultimately undermined Anthony’s future in Denver. And other books have been far more comprehensive in their player profiles—David Halberstam’s Breaks of the Game and Sam Smith’s The Jordan Rules come to mind.

  Even though Karl comes up short of painting a complete profile of his subjects—and despite local media beating him to the punch on the controversies—this is one of the first times a true insider has been willing to name names. With that context in mind, even the boilerplate and clearly one-sided stories take on a degree of intrigue and meaning, given insights unique to the author.

  Reading between the lines, Karl likely published this book because he’s already burned any bridges he cares about in the NBA. The head coaching tenures with each of the six franchises he helmed generally follow a similar pattern: in nearly every city, Karl turned around a moribund organization by cajoling the most efficiency out of the available talent. Eventually, his demanding and unforgiving attitude would lead to a fiery fall from grace, resulting in his departure from the city. Karl pulls no punches about this, admitting to multiple interpersonal conflicts and acknowledging that he was nearly blackballed from the league early in his career.

  Karl also hedges his bluntness on controversial topics by echoing commonly accepted opinions or giving them only a cursory mention. For example, he complains that Charles Barkley and Allen Iverson received preferential officiating during the 1993 and 2001 playoffs, respectively, in order to ensure more popular NBA Finals matches—hardly groundbreaking revelations.

  Throughout the book, Karl throws in offhand paragraphs about the NBA’s PED problem, also making sure to include inflammatory remarks about bloggers. These musings often feel tacked on for the sake of—what else?—ruffling feathers.

  Ironically, Furious George may well derive much of its controversy from Karl’s candid storytelling which reveals an “old-school” coach in tension with modern society. He is unrepentant with comments about “playing like a girl,” and un-nuanced in his hot takes about racial diversity in coaching or the role of fatherhood in America. Multiple times throughout the book, Karl seems to delight in mocking (bullying?) players. He’s clearly been around the game for 40 years and is still adapting to the the mindset of younger generations, but to Karl’s credit, he does talk about the need for compassion and patience when dealing depression and other mental illnesses.

  While the controversial material may have received the most press, most of the book is actually dedicated to exploring Karl’s personality and mind. Basketball coaching dominates the book, with very little mention of his childhood or personal life away from the sport. The majority of the friendships he describes are with fellow coaches like Utah’s Rick Majerus. North Carolina great Dean Smith is also mentioned several times as a key mentor.

  Karl also lets the reader know that his happiest days of coaching involved his son, Coby. His candor feels earnest, but it’s hard not to notice the number of words devoted to his time as an ESPN announcer are probably equal to those spent on his son. It’s apparent that Karl loves his family deeply, but it’s also clear he’s more comfortable discussing his public identity as a coach than anything else.

  Blazers fans will be most interested to learn that Terry Stotts—who followed Karl as both a player and assistant coach—is mentioned repeatedly. However, Karl has an unfortunate tendency to insert Stotts into controversy.

  For instance, he recounts suggesting that African-American former players were receiving head coaching jobs by unfairly jumping ahead of qualified assistants. He used Stotts as an example of a qualified assistant, leading to a media firestorm in 2002. As mentioned above, he also needlessly inserted Stotts into controversy by suggesting that Lillard is a problem for the current Blazers.

  The book is written accessibly for casual fans; they do the courtesy of giving an overview of the Continental Basketball Association and describing basic basketball evolution, among other helpful tidbits. But Karl’s autobiography will be most interesting to the diehards.

  Learning about his reasoning for leaving Gary Payton off Michael Jordan in the 1996 Finals, or hearing Karl’s explanation of how Anthony Mason tanked a promising, young Milwaukee Bucks team in 2002 helps answer questions, or provide new perspectives—but these issues are mostly relevant to hardcore NBA fans specifically.

• Denver Post
  http://www.denverpost.com/2016/12/31/furious-george-book-review-george-karl/
  Word count: 866

  Dempsey: “Furious George” is controversial, but is much more as well
  The former Denver Nuggets coach is angry but also introspective, opening up about many shortcomings in his life
  George Karl, Denver Nuggets head coach.
  John Leyba, The Denver Post Denver Nuggets coach George Karl looks on as his team loses to the Los Angeles Lakers on April 28, 2008, at the Pepsi Center in Denver.
  By ALICIA PING-QUON WITTMEYER | The Denver Post
  PUBLISHED: December 31, 2016 at 12:00 pm | UPDATED: January 1, 2017 at 6:12 pm

  SIGN UP FOR NEWSLETTERS AND ALERTS
  SUBMIT YOUR NEWS TIPS OR PHOTOS
  MOST POPULAR

  “It is really not normal:” Both sides condemn Trump for vulgar tweet about TV host
  Denver man found guilty in federal court of bilking VA on false PTSD claim
  Police: Venus Williams at fault in fatal car crash
  Rob Lowe says he feared death during encounter with bigfoot-like creature
  Disabled protesters arrested at Sen. Cory Gardner’s Denver office after 2-day sit-in
  Guest Commentary: I was paralyzed by a mosquito bite. The GOP health care plan would be devastating for me.

  The irony of the controversy surrounding former Nuggets coach George Karl, in the days since excerpts of his new book “Furious George” were made public, is found in a passage in the pages of his own prose.

  “I just wish someone had managed me, like a GM does with a talented player,” Karl says in the book. “A young NBA coach needs weekly, maybe daily, help from an experienced guy.”

  An old one does too.

  Karl was referencing his repeated party fouls when talking to the media or dealing with individuals in whatever organization he found himself. In short, he needed PR training. He didn’t have it, so he winged it. Winging it wasn’t always the best policy.

  Let’s just say this up front: Karl definitely said stuff he should not have said. We’re talking about the whole “no father” thing in reference to former Nuggets forwards Kenyon Martin and Carmelo Anthony. That was a low blow and wholly unacceptable.

  Karl said other things that maybe he could have left alone, but that wouldn’t be Karl. And that was the whole point of things with this book.

  RELATED ARTICLES

  DECEMBER 22, 2016 George Karl takes aim at Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith, Kenyon Martin in new book. They respond.
  “I need a book — this one — to explain what really happens,” he writes. “For example: I wasn’t able to explain that dealing with egos that are like ostrich eggs — big and fragile — is the hidden reality of what NBA coaches do. It’s even hidden from some owners — like the one in Denver — who don’t appreciate the importance and the time and hard work involved.”

  The book isn’t a complete chop shop of everyone Karl ever hated. Far from it. But beating around the bush isn’t Karl’s style. Running from conflict hasn’t been, either. In explaining the no-holds-barred objectives of his book in the introduction, Karl bluntly takes aim at Martin, about 200 pages before the material that made news shows up.

  “So, sorry Kenyon. I’m not keeping my mouth shut,” Karl writes. “Not now, not ever.”

  George is furious, but he’s just as introspective. He opened up about his feelings after his many firings. He readily admits and beats himself up over all of the shortcomings in his life — from putting his family second to basketball, to not having Shawn Kemp take more jump shots to draw Dikembe Mutombo out of the paint during the Seattle SuperSonics’ first-round playoff loss to the Nuggets in 1994. At its foundation, “Furious George” could easily be titled “The Life and Times of George Karl.”

  As such, he glows about his childhood, he spills the beans on why he and Joe Barry Carroll never saw eye to eye, why he and Kendall Gill were almost always at odds, the evolution of his relationship with Gary Payton, why he loves Tim Grgurich so much, and, of course, his feelings about being fired by the Nuggets the same year he won the NBA coach of the year award.

  Karl recalls telling Nuggets president Josh Kroenke: “This is very stupid,” after being fired. Karl says Kroenke had a “complete lack of respect for the job we’d done.” He continues: “I understood the rarity of the good thing we’d built, but Josh didn’t.”

  There was a bit more. George is still furious about losing his job in Denver. Reportedly, passages that went more in-depth into his time with the Sacramento Kings were removed, and the end of the book reads that way, glancing over it generally before abruptly moving on to other things.

  On several occasions Karl notes that fiery passion is his best and worst emotion, bringing about some of the best and hardest times in his life. A life that’s been lived fast and, yes, furious.

Word Count