George Karl didn’t want to give Michael Jordan any added fuel. But by avoiding him at a Chicago restaurant prior to the 1996 NBA Finals, he did anyway, as “The Last Dance” documentary revealed Sunday night. “He walks right past me,” Jordan said in the show. “And I look at Ahmad [Rashad] and I said, ‘Really? Oh, so that’s how you’re gonna play it?’”
Tag: George Karl
“It is true. I had Brendan Malone on my …
“It is true. I had Brendan Malone on my staff from the Detroit Pistons, and he said, ‘Michael plays head games with you all the time,’ and he said ‘you don’t want to mess with him in the series,” Karl said. “Say hello at the beginning of the series, shake his hand at the end of the series, but during the series don’t let him use anything to motivate himself to be a better player than the greatest player in NBA basketball.”
George Karl: Jerry Krause wasn’t liked …
George Karl: Sam (Cassell) and I always …
George Karl: Sam (Cassell) and I always had a good relationship. Still do. Glenn (Robinson) is the quiet one so he didn’t he didn’t really know how he felt. And I think Ray (Allen) was the guy that thought I ruined the team. I bring it right down. I mean me by bringing in Anthony Mason. And I think that that relationship did deteriorate. And you know, I think it was the kind of the beginning of players wanting to have relationships with owners and Ray and Senator Kohl and Senator Kohl and Ray’s mom, they always had a really good relationship. And I just felt there was pressure there to divide us in different ways that because of it became more of a distraction. Other than as an amazing was the wrong guy for our team.
George Karl: I mean, the whole the …
George Karl: I mean, the whole the whole thing is, it was a tough situation. You know, and it might have been my leadership, being confrontational to a fault. Anthony Mason was a guy that was confrontational to his to his teammates and to me, and so there was maybe too much confrontation. That created a lot of negative energy that is hard to deal with. I would have to say Ray would prefer not that to be in his locker room. But I mean, I think we all probably made mistakes. I mean, we probably, you know, talked to and said the wrong things.
George Karl: If Ray would reach out to …
George Karl: If Ray would reach out to me I’d be glad to meet with him. I think vice versa. I’ve seen Ray a couple times when I worked with ESPN. You know, we exchanged pleasantries we weren’t unfriendly. Talking out this situation it’s going to take a day or half of day, you know, golf and go and drink some beers. This is not something you’re gonna talk out in five minutes. It just doesn’t happen that way. Ray’s one of the few players I wish I would have had more time with because I think he’s one of the more special talents that I’ve had in the NBA.
George Karl: I looked back at my career …
George Karl: I looked back at my career and the one thing I’ll stand up for is I’ve only had one Hall of Fame basketball player on my roster. And I’ve loved the game. I’ve won a lot of games. I think my teams have played at a high level of excellence, almost every year of my career.
Karl has not coached in the NBA since …
Karl has not coached in the NBA since leaving the Kings. Cousins has suffered a number of serious injuries. And so, on April Fools’ Day, Karl decided to joke about a potential reunion, saying that both were headed back to the Kings.
