On Thursday night, the ESPN broadcast discussed how Carmelo Anthony seems to be more bought in to playing defense for the Portland Trail Blazers than he has in the past.
Mark Jackson added, “There’s a shared responsibility for whoever allowed that defense to be played. Because, for some reason, he has bought in with this culture and he’s committed to it. This is energy and effort off of the defensive pick-up full-court.”
Notice that George Karl — who was his coach for five-plus years in Denver — wasn’t named. But if you’re Karl, I get that you might feel you’re being called out, even if Anthony went on to have other head coaches and assistants who could have had that “shared responsibility.”
Which explains why Karl tweeted this:
I heard @MarkJackson13 is taking shots at my defensive coaching during tonight’s broadcast.
Remind me, how many all-star teams did you coach, Mark? How many DPOYs? How many Finals appearances? How many of my teams became dynasties right after I left?
— George Karl (@CoachKarl22) August 21, 2020
Fiery! Jackson replied that he wasn’t thinking about Karl at all:
Wasn’t even thinking of u!
Btw I never lost to u in the playoffs as a Player or as a Coach! God Bless u and urs! https://t.co/MdIPN7Z26H— Mark Jackson (@MarkJackson13) August 21, 2020
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