Former Coach George Karl Takes Shot At Carmelo Anthony For His Comments At Introductory Presser
When asked about his desire to win a championship this season with the Lakers, Carmelo Anthony said that it is "the one thing that keeps me up at night, that motivates me because I don't have it." While the 37-year-old's sentiment appeared innocuous, his former head coach in Denver, George Karl, had a more visceral reaction.
And it kept our coaching staff up at night a decade ago when we were stressing the importance of team play and defense! 😆 https://t.co/riomQd667N
— George Karl (@CoachKarl22) August 10, 2021
Carmelo was a true conundrum for me in the six years I had him. 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 lamented in his book.
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.
I want as much effort on defense -- maybe more -- as on offense. That was never going to happen with Melo, whose amazing ability to score with the ball made him a star but didn't make him a winner. Which I pointed out to him. Which he didn't like.
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