Karl says he would coach again
With Patroons and NBA teams on his resume, he’d take offers
Truth: George Karl hasn’t felt this healthy in 15, maybe even 20 years. He’s playing plenty of golf, bike riding and finding time for yoga.
Basketball: The longtime NBA coach who has fought cancer three times is keeping the door open for getting back into the business, maybe as a head coach or possibly as an assistant.
Truth + Basketball: The title of the 69-year-old Karl’s new, speak-his-mind podcast that he’s finding “soulful.”
He may be leading a quasi-retired lifestyle but make no mistake — he’s not retired.
“I love the game as much as I ever have,” said Karl, who hasn’t coached in the league since being let go by Sacramento following the 2016 season. “If the right situation came up, I might coach again.”
Karl coached the Continental Basketball Association’s Albany Patroons in 1988-89 and 1990-91. He has 1,175 career regular-season NBA wins in stints with Cleveland, Golden State, Seattle, Milwaukee, Denver and Sacramento.
Karl’s name recently surfaced in an episode of “The Last Dance,” an ESPN and Netflix 10-part documentary series about Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. Karl was called out by Jordan for not greeting the basketball great and fellow North Carolina Tar Heel while they were at the same restaurant during the 1995-96 NBA Finals. Karl says he was in the restaurant and didn’t go over. He doesn’t recall ever walking by Jordan. In the 1995-96 NBA Finals, Karl warned all his players not to fraternize with Jordan and the Bulls during the series.
These days, Karl’s eating well, getting plenty of exercise and living a “lifestyle of less stress.” He says he hasn’t felt this healthy in a while.
Karl was treated for prostate cancer in 2005. In February 2010 he announced he had neck cancer, and took a leave of absence from the Nuggets for treatment. He missed the postseason (a first-round loss to Utah). Years later, he revealed he was diagnosed with melanoma of the eye.
“I don’t wake up worrying about cancer,” Karl said. “But if my back hurts, I think it’s cancer. If my shoulder hurts, I think it’s bone cancer. The first thing I think is cancer.
“Once you have cancer, you have a higher risk of getting another cancer. I know that. But my health is probably as good as it’s been in about 15 or 20 years.”