Tag: George Karl

George Karl thinks LeBron James is no longer an NBA superstar

Did former NBA head coach George Karl throw some major shade at LeBron James?

These days, people are living longer and aging more gracefully than in decades past. The trend is especially true in sports, where it is no longer unusual to see someone play 20 seasons as a pro athlete, especially in the NBA.

It’s one thing to be able to play that long, but it’s another to excel after so many years. LeBron James not only just finished his 21st NBA season, but he also was very productive, averaging 25.7 points, 8.3 assists and 7.3 rebounds a game while shooting 54% overall and a career-high 41% from 3-point range.

That production allowed him to set a record with 20 All-Star game selections and appearances, surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. There is also a good chance the Los Angeles Lakers linchpin will be named to one of the three All-NBA teams for an unbelievable 20th time.

Yet former NBA head coach George Karl found an urge to throw shade at the 39-year-old by saying he’s no longer a superstar.

Karl has been on a Laker-hating roll lately. He said the team’s 2020 world championship doesn’t count, and he implied Anthony Davis didn’t deserve to be named to the league’s 75th anniversary team.

On the other hand, Karl also recently said that he thought James is one of the game’s two best players along with Nikola Jokić, who was recently named the regular season MVP for the third time in four years.

George Karl: LeBron James is one of the NBA’s two best players

Former Nuggets head coach George Karl may be a Lakers hater, but he apparently still thinks highly of LeBron James.

Former Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl has spent a great deal of time lately taking potshots at the Los Angeles Lakers. Several months ago, he suggested their 2020 NBA championship doesn’t count because it was won inside the Walt Disney World Resort bubble.

More recently, he implied Anthony Davis didn’t deserve to be named to the NBA’s 75th-anniversary team and criticized the Lakers for their habit of switching head coaches every couple of years.

But he also gave their most valuable player a huge compliment.

While appearing on Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson’s “Scoop B Radio Podcast,” he said LeBron James is still the best player in the world, or at least second right behind Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokić (h/t Sports Illustrated).

“I still wanna give LeBron No. 1,” Karl said of the league’s oldest player. “So I guess LeBron would be No. 2 in my mind (behind Denver Nuggets MVP Nikola Jokić), but it’s really a young/old thing going on and the old guys know how to win, they know how hard it is to win and that’s what’s coming at these young guys that they have to learn in the next couple of weeks.”

On Wednesday, Jokic was awarded his third regular-season MVP award, which puts him in rarefied air. James has won four MVPs, and while he may not be the best player in the game anymore, on any given night, he can play as if he is.

In the Lakers’ first-round series loss to the Nuggets this year, he averaged 27.8 points, 8.8 assists and 6.8 rebounds a game while shooting 56.6% from the field and 38.5% from 3-point range. While Jokic outplayed him in that series, the gap between both superstars’ production wasn’t that wide.

How the Inside the NBA crew gave a life-changing gift to a 13-year-old sports fan in 2000

This is such a beautiful story.

Inside the NBA on TNT is one of the most beloved programs on television, especially with longtime host Ernie Johnson leading the panel.

Johnson, who has worked for the network for more than three decades, is considered unlikely to leave Turner Sports any time soon.

But considering that TNT may lose broadcasting rights for the NBA and Barkley could become the most coveted sports media free agent, the future of the program remains uncertain.

RELATED: Ernie Johnson on life behind the scenes as the host of Inside the NBA

With such uncertainty, fans of the show like author Ben Kaplan are paying tribute to Inside the NBA while it still exists.

Kaplan tweeted a thread about a Bar Mitzvah gift that he received from his father.

Back in 2000, Kaplan’s father called the folks at TNT to ask if they would record something for the occasion. Johnson was interested and sent back a VHS tape.

Johnson was joined by Kenny “The Jet” Smith, who is still a co-host of the show more than 20 years later.

They parodied an episode of Inside the NBA to report that Kaplan would skip high school and go straight to the pros.

While the two did not yet have Charles Barkley (who joined the show later that year) and Shaquille O’Neal (joined in 2011, this particular panel included former NBA head coach George Karl and veteran reporter Pete Vescey.

Karl and Vescey do not exactly have the same star power as Barkley and O’Neal. Kaplan, however, found Vescey’s message to him particularly funny.

Vescey joked that Kaplan needs an attitude adjustment, called him a selfish ball hog, and should require random drug testing.

While the part of the story involving Vescey is very silly, there is also an incredibly heartwarming aspect as well. Kaplan shared that in 2022, his dad was fighting a rare cancer diagnosis and Johnson stepped up yet again.

Johnson recorded a special message for Kaplan’s father’s 72nd birthday, and he called it the best gift he ever received. The two began texting, especially while Kaplan’s father received treatments.

Kaplan’s father died in 2022 and as these stories resurfaced, Johnson tweeted his thoughts:

Ben, my friend. You think you do, but you have no idea what this series of events meant to me. My only explanation for the opportunity and the timing is, as @petermayermusic writes in his song “Loose in the World” is that this was all “the hand of the Divine.” Blessings on you and your family.

This is such a beautiful story the encapsulates what Inside the NBA means to so many people around the world.

[lawrence-auto-related count=5 tag=757945]

George Karl slams the Lakers for firing Darvin Ham

Former Nuggets head coach George Karl has attacked the Lakers organization again — this time for firing Darvin Ham.

In a move many saw coming from a mile away, the Los Angeles Lakers fired Darvin Ham on Friday after he had been their head coach for two seasons. He had been the recipient of significant criticism throughout the season, and fans are very happy that he is gone.

However, some across the NBA landscape believe the Lakers were hasty or unjustified in firing Ham. These people believe more of the blame should fall on the team’s players or front office, and not necessarily on Ham.

Former NBA head coach George Karl took the Lakers to task not just for deposing Ham, but also for their tendency to switch head coaches every couple of years.

He even attacked their 2020 NBA championship, claiming it “doesn’t count” because it was won inside the Walt Disney World Resort bubble during the nadir of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Karl, who used to coach the Denver Nuggets, the team that has eliminated the Lakers from the playoffs the last two seasons, has gone at the Purple and Gold multiple times in the recent past. He attacked the legitimacy of their 2020 world title last October, and he implied superstar big man Anthony Davis didn’t deserve to be named one of the NBA’s top 75 players of all time.

George Karl implies Anthony Davis shouldn’t have been named a top 75 player

George Karl threw shade at Anthony Davis after the Lakers’ Game 2 loss to the Nuggets, even though Davis played outstanding basketball.

A couple of years ago, the NBA celebrated its 75th anniversary, and the Association marked the occasion by naming its 75 greatest players of all time.

One of the active players named to the list was the Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis. The selection was met with some criticism, especially since Davis had been injury-prone for much of his career.

He has played outstanding basketball so far in his team’s first-round playoff series against the Denver Nuggets. In Game 2, he was virtually unstoppable for a long stretch, and he is averaging 32 points on 61.9% shooting, 12.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocked shots a contest in this series.

Unfortunately, the Lakers trail in the series, 2-0, after their devastating loss on Monday when they blew a 20-point second-half lead. Former Nuggets head coach George Karl used it as an opportunity to imply that perhaps Davis didn’t deserve to be named one of the NBA’s 75 greatest players ever.

English was a very good player in the 1980s, and he was almost a walking bucket for those Nuggets squads. But he didn’t excel in any other phase of the game. Thus it would be utterly foolish to claim he was a better player than Davis, who is an outstanding scorer, rebounder, shot-blocker and overall defender.

Social media reacts to George Karl calling Carmelo Anthony overrated

Social media reacts to former UNC player turned NBA head coach George Karl calling Carmelo Anthony overrated.

Many damaged coach-player relationships have existed in sports, but none has had the amount of bad blood like former UNC player turned NBA coach [autotag]George Karl[/autotag] and [autotag]Carmelo Anthony[/autotag].

Karl coached Anthony for the Denver Nuggets, and ever since their breakup that saw Anthony get traded to the New York Knicks, the two have shared jabs. Well, we now have a bit more insight into what went wrong between the two, with Anthony describing how everything went wrong as soon as Karl was hired for the head coaching job.

Karl already had a coaching career that spoke for itself with 16 seasons already under his belt, including the 90s Seattle Sonics team led by Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, and Sam Perkins. However, never getting the ultimate prize of an NBA championship, Karl had plenty to prove and was paired up with the 3rd overall pick to get that job done.

Anthony revealed on his Podcast that in the first meeting with Karl, he called him overrated. Karl confirmed this story on the X platform while sharing the viral snippet.

 

The wild exchange sent social media into a frenzy, with hoop fans taking sides between the two. Since posting the snippet Friday, it has garnered more than 5 million views.

Let’s take a look at how social media reacted to Karl calling Anthony overrated.

Ex-NBA coach compares Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic to Spurs legend Tim Duncan

Former NBA coach George Karl recently compared Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic to San Antonio Spurs legend Tim Duncan.

This year’s iteration of the San Antonio Spurs is a far cry from what the organization once was. Obviously, the team hopes to get back to the same heights they once reached with Victor Wembanyama at the help, but while he develops and their young core grows, they’re stuck at the bottom of the West.

Meanwhile, atop the NBA lies the Denver Nuggets, who are captained by two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, who just led his squad to their first championship in franchise history last season. Jokic’s dominance has been incredible to watch for the past few years, and one former NBA coach compared him to a Spurs legend who dominated at a similar level.

Former long-time NBA coach George Karl took to Twitter the other day, comparing Jokic’s greatness to Spurs legend Tim Duncan.

“The Truth is that we’ve never really seen a unicorn like Jokic before. But the best comp for him is Tim Duncan. Complete and utter Greatness. 💪🏼,” Karl tweeted.

Karl coached in the NBA from 1979 to 2016, enjoying head-coaching stints with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, Seattle Supersonics, Milwaukee Bucks, Nuggets, and Sacramento Kings.

However, Karl began his career with the Spurs as an assistant coach in the 1979-80 season. It was his only season with the Spurs and his only season in the NBA as an assistant.

Jokic has some catching up to do in terms of rings if he wants to catch Duncan, but in terms of their on-court dominance, the parallels are clearly there.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

George Karl disses Lakers and says their 2020 championship doesn’t count

Current and former members of the NBA champion Nuggets remain unusually obsessed with the Lakers.

After getting swept by the Denver Nuggets in last season’s Western Conference finals, the Los Angeles Lakers gained their first crack at Nikola Jokic and company in their 2023-24 season opener on Tuesday.

Unfortunately, they fell short to the Nuggets, 119-107, in what seemed a repeat of what transpired last May.

Since May, the Nuggets have been incessantly talking trash about the Purple and Gold. In particular, head coach Michael Malone has rubbed it in while whining that the media was supposedly paying more attention to the Lakers than the Nuggets, even after the conclusion of the series.

It continued on Wednesday when former Nuggets head coach George Karl threw some major shade at the Lakers. He said that in the last 15 seasons, they have exactly as many NBA championships as the Nuggets and that their 2020 bubble title doesn’t count (h/t Lakers Daily).

Actually, in the last 15 seasons, the Lakers have won two championships, other than the one they claimed in 2020. Meanwhile, Denver never won it all until last season.

Karl implying that the Lakers’ rings are worth less because many came “as a direct result of four icons” is dubious. Many believe Jokic is on his way to icon status himself, not to mention the fact that any sports franchise needs an icon to win many rings.

One has to wonder why the Nuggets remain so obsessed with the Lakers when, at least for now, they’re clearly the better team and have a world championship ring to show for it.

George Karl criticizes Sixers’ Joel Embiid for having bad body language

Former NBA coach George Karl criticizes Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid for having bad body language.

At this stage of the season, Philadelphia 76ers star big man Joel Embiid has vaulted himself into the favorite role to win his first MVP award after finishing as the runner-up to Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic for two consecutive seasons.

Embiid has scored 30-plus points in nine straight games, a Sixers franchise record, and he is leading the league in scoring at 33.5 points while shooting an efficient 54.6% from the floor. He has been absolutely phenomenal on both ends of the floor.

However, not everybody sees him as such. Former NBA coach George Karl hopped on Sirius XM Radio and had this to say about Embiid:

I don’t want to bad mouth Embiid because I think he’s really, really good. A lot of my assistant coaches were in Philadelphia when he was a young player, they kept telling me that he was going to be the best guy to ever play the game. I see him moving in that direction, but he takes too many possessions off. He has lazy, body language. He gets angry at things that we don’t understand why. I just don’t know if he’s that NBA pro that we all love because he’s a competitive SOB. From what I know in Philadelphia, everybody says he’s playing great. In games I’ve seen, he played really really well. He’s played great in the fourth quarters, came up with a lot of comeback wins. I can only like one big guy, and I take Jokic over Embiid.

Embiid has been absolutely terrific since the All-Star break as he has been terrific on both ends of the floor. He has been dominant offensively and he has taken his defensive intensity to another level. Does he take some plays off here and there? Sure, but there shouldn’t be any questions about his dominance out on the floor.

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f5k5xtr64thj7fw2 image=]

[lawrence-related id=77078,77072,77069]

Ex-Nuggets coach George Karl calls for Broncos to fire Nathaniel Hackett

Ex-Nuggets coach George Karl said it’s time for Broncos GM George Paton to “make the move.”

Denver Broncos fans are unhappy with coach Nathaniel Hackett, and they’re not alone.

Former Denver Nuggets coach George Karl took to Twitter after the Broncos’ 17-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday and called for Hackett to be fired.

“Make the move, Paton. It’s unfortunately time,” the ex-NBA coach tweeted.

Karl, of course, was referencing Denver general manager George Paton, who has hiring and firing power for the team’s coaching staff.

Hackett’s first season in charge has not gone well as the Broncos have started with a 3-6 record, putting them well outside the playoff picture.

Karl had a six-year career as a player in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs from 1973-1978 before transitioning to coaching. He coached the Nuggets from 2005-2013, reaching the playoffs in all nine seasons, including a conference finals run in the 2008-2009 season.

Karl won NBA Coach of the Year honors in 2013 and later spent two seasons coaching the Sacramento Kings before being fired in 2016. His coaching career ended with a win-loss record of 1,175-824 and eight first-place division finishes.

Follow the Broncos Wire Podcast:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Podcasts

[vertical-gallery id=620142]