George Karl
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| Position(s) | Guard |
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| Jersey #(s) | 22 |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Listed weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Born | May 12, 1951 Penn Hills, Pennsylvania |
| Career information | |
| Year(s) | 1973–1978 |
| NBA Draft | 1973 round 4 pick # 14
Selected by New York Knicks |
| College | North Carolina |
| Professional team(s) | |
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| Career stats (NBA and ABA) | |
| Points | 1,703 |
| Rebounds | 369 |
| Assists | 795 |
| Stats @ Basketball-Reference.com | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Coaching | |
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George Matthew Karl (born May 12, 1951) is a former National Basketball Association (NBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA) player. He is the current head coach of the Denver Nuggets.
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[edit] Biography
Karl was born in Penn Hills, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. After a college career at the University of North Carolina he signed with the ABA's San Antonio Spurs in 1973. When the Spurs joined the NBA in 1976, Karl began his two-year NBA playing career.
[edit] Early Coaching Career
After his playing career, Karl became an assistant coach for the Spurs. Karl then moved on to the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) as head coach of the Montana Golden Nuggets (Great Falls). As coach of the Golden Nuggets, Karl won CBA Coach of the Year twice, in 1981 and 1983.
In 1984, Karl became the head coach of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers until he was fired in 1986. He later coached the Golden State Warriors until 1988, achieving a winning record and a first-round playoff upset in his first season. He was fired after a terrible start to the 1987–88 campaign. Karl returned to the CBA in 1988 as coach of the Albany Patroons, winning the coach of the year award in 1989. He also spent two years in Spain coaching the Real Madrid basketball team in 1989–90 and 1991–92.[1]
[edit] Seattle
Karl returned to the NBA as coach of the Seattle SuperSonics from 1991–1998, leading them to the NBA Finals in 1996 where they lost to the Chicago Bulls in six games. In all seven of his seasons in Seattle, the team made the postseason, winning three division titles, and eclipsing the 50-win mark in every year that he was the full-time coach.
The biggest disappointment of Karl's tenure in Seattle came in 1994, when the 63-win Sonics were upset in the first round by the Denver Nuggets, marking the first time in NBA history that an eight seed defeated a number one seed.
[edit] Milwaukee and FIBA
In 1998, Karl moved to the Milwaukee Bucks as head coach, lured by an excellent contract. He rebuilt a struggling team in his first three years, steadily increasing win totals, and guiding the team within one game of the NBA Finals in 2001. However, his team collapsed down the stretch in 2002, falling from the number one spot in the Eastern Conference in January to a season that ended out of the playoffs. He was fired after another underachieving season in 2003, where his team made the playoffs with a win total of just over the .500 mark.
He coached the US national team in the 2002 FIBA World Championship.[2]
[edit] Denver
He returned to the NBA in 2005 when he became head coach of the Nuggets, taking over from interim head coach Michael Cooper on January 27 and leading the team on an incredible run to the postseason. On July 27, 2005 the Nuggets announced that Karl had prostate cancer. Karl enjoyed a resurrection of his career with the Denver Nuggets, guiding them to an unprecedented 32–8 record in the second half of the 2004–05 season. Karl's son Coby was a reserve guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, after a career as starting point guard for Boise State University. Coby came out for the 2006 NBA Draft after a bout with thyroid cancer, but withdrew his name before the draft and returned to Boise State for his senior year.
On December 28, 2006, Karl became just the 12th coach in NBA history to reach the 800-win mark when his Denver Nuggets defeated the Seattle SuperSonics 112–98.
On December 31, 2008, Karl reached 900 coaching career wins with his Denver Nuggets as he beat the Toronto Raptors, 114-107.
During the 2008-09 season, the Nuggets, led by Karl, the newly acquired Chauncey Billups and Carmelo Anthony 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[3] 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 points[4].
Karl coached the Western Conference All-Stars at the 2010 NBA All-Star Game on February 14 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.[5] 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 Coach Karl was diagnosed with treatable neck and throat cancer. [6] Karl was placed on leave of absence from the Nuggets while being treated.[7] Assistant coach Adrian Dantley filled in as Acting Head Coach for the rest of the season, and the team finished poorly, and went from the second to fourth seed. Although Karl was not ruled out of coaching the second round, Nuggets were eliminated by the Utah Jazz in 6 games.[8]
[edit] Coaching record
| Legend | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L% | Win-loss % | |
| Post season | PG | Games coached | PW | Games won | PL | Games lost | PW–L% | Win-loss % | |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CLE | 1984–85 | 82 | 36 | 46 | .439 | 4th in Central | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | Lost in First Round |
| CLE | 1985–86 | 66 | 25 | 42 | .373 | (fired) | — | — | — | — | — |
| GSW | 1986–87 | 82 | 42 | 40 | .512 | 3rd in Pacific | 10 | 4 | 6 | .400 | Lost in Conf. Semifinals |
| GSW | 1987–88 | 64 | 16 | 48 | .250 | (fired) | — | — | — | — | — |
| SEA | 1991–92 | 42 | 27 | 15 | .643 | 4th in Pacific | 9 | 4 | 5 | .444 | Lost in Conf. Semifinals |
| SEA | 1992–93 | 82 | 55 | 27 | .671 | 2nd in Pacific | 19 | 10 | 9 | .526 | Lost in Conf. Finals |
| SEA | 1993–94 | 82 | 63 | 19 | .768 | 1st in Pacific | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | Lost in First Round |
| SEA | 1994–95 | 82 | 57 | 25 | .695 | 2nd in Pacific | 4 | 1 | 3 | .250 | Lost in First Round |
| SEA | 1995–96 | 82 | 64 | 18 | .780 | 1st in Pacific | 21 | 13 | 8 | .619 | Lost in NBA Finals |
| SEA | 1996–97 | 82 | 57 | 25 | .695 | 1st in Pacific | 12 | 6 | 6 | .500 | Lost in Conf. Semifinals |
| SEA | 1997–98 | 82 | 61 | 21 | .744 | T-1st in Pacific | 10 | 4 | 6 | .400 | Lost in Conf. Semifinals |
| MIL | 1998–99 | 50 | 28 | 22 | .560 | 4th in Central | 3 | 0 | 3 | .000 | Lost in First Round |
| MIL | 1999–00 | 82 | 42 | 40 | .512 | 5th in Central | 5 | 2 | 3 | .400 | Lost in First Round |
| MIL | 2000–01 | 82 | 52 | 30 | .634 | 1st in Central | 18 | 10 | 8 | .556 | Lost in Conf. Finals |
| MIL | 2001–02 | 82 | 41 | 41 | .500 | 5th in Central | — | — | — | — | Missed Playoffs |
| MIL | 2002–03 | 82 | 42 | 40 | .512 | 4th in Central | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | Lost in First Round |
| DEN | 2004–05 | 40 | 32 | 8 | .800 | 2nd in Northwest | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | Lost in First Round |
| DEN | 2005–06 | 82 | 44 | 38 | .537 | 1st in Northwest | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | Lost in First Round |
| DEN | 2006–07 | 82 | 45 | 37 | .549 | 2nd in Northwest | 5 | 1 | 4 | .200 | Lost in First Round |
| DEN | 2007–08 | 82 | 50 | 32 | .610 | 2nd in Northwest | 4 | 0 | 4 | .000 | Lost in First Round |
| DEN | 2008–09 | 82 | 54 | 28 | .659 | 1st in Northwest | 16 | 10 | 6 | .625 | Lost in Conf. Finals |
| DEN | 2009–10 | 82 | 53 | 29 | .646 | 1st in Northwest | 6 | 2 | 4 | .333 | Lost in First Round |
| Career | 1657 | 986 | 671 | .595 | 167 | 74 | 93 | .443 |
[edit] References
- ^ ACB
- ^ 2002 USA Basketball
- ^ Game 4 Recap
- ^ 2009 Western Conf. Finals Recap
- ^ http://www.nba.com/2010/allstar/2010/01/29/west.coach/index.html
- ^ http://www.nba.com/2010/news/02/16/nuggets.karl/?ls=iref:nbahpt2
- ^ http://www.sportingnews.com/blog/The_Baseline/entry/view/56091/george_karl_undergoing_treatment_for_neck,_throat_cancer;_will_take_leave_from_nuggets
- ^ 2010 Utah Series Recap
[edit] External links
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tom Nissalke |
Cleveland Cavaliers head coach 1984–1986 |
Succeeded by Gene Littles (interim) |
| Preceded by Johnny Bach |
Golden State Warriors head coach 1986–1988 |
Succeeded by Ed Gregory (interim) |
| Preceded by K. C. Jones |
Seattle SuperSonics head coach 1992–1998 |
Succeeded by Paul Westphal |
| Preceded by Chris Ford |
Milwaukee Bucks head coach 1998–2003 |
Succeeded by Terry Porter |
| Preceded by Michael Cooper (interim) |
Denver Nuggets head coach 2005–present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
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