Coach of the year: Hoping George Karl’s prophecy rings true
“Where does George go from here? Well, much like his teams are “one and done” in the playoffs, he will be “one and done” as coach of the Denver Nuggets. Perhaps “one more and done” is more appropriate. “
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“Coach of the year? I’m not sure I want that legacy. Have you seen what happens to guys who win coach of the year?” – George Karl, Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Only one month ago the future looked bright for the Denver Nuggets. Having amassed a team record in regular season wins, the team was barreling toward the post-season with a full head of steam. Punching the gas pedal was George Karl, the legendary NBA head coach with a history of success in thick of the season and a long resume of failures in the playoffs. Optimism was high, however, that this year would be different. The Nuggets had earned a lofty third seed and were virtually assured of a trip to the second-round. It looked as if Golden State would be their first playoff opponent and would be an easy out for the Nuggets.
Still, George Karl wasn’t interested in accolades. He bristled at the Denver Post
columnist Mark Kiszla’s suggestions that he deserved consideration for the NBA’s “Coach of the Year” award. He told the assembled scribes at Pepsi Center than he had no interest in such an award, particularly because “Coach of the Year” had a tendency to be a death knell to the careers of head coaches in the league. The reward that George Karl was interested in was a shot at a Western Conference title.
Then the playoffs started. And, well, we all know what happened then. The ghosts of George Karl’s past post-season performances came home to roost and the Nuggets, heavily favored in their first-round series, were decimated by the young Warriors. A star was born in Steph Curry and the Nuggets 2012 / 2013 campaign wound up a smoldering wreck for yet another year. All of the promise the team displayed in the regular season meant nothing when the rubber hit the road.
And today George Karl is the NBA Coach of the Year.
Fate has crapped upon George Karl once more. The very award that he didn’t want because it might hasten the end of his career is his. Fifty-seven regular season wins were enough to prompt enough votes for Karl to be honored – despite his consistent failure to deliver the goods in the playoffs – because “Coach of the Year” is a regular season award and George Karl is a regular season coach.
Where does George go from here? Well, much like his teams are “one and done” in the playoffs, he will be “one and done” as coach of the Denver Nuggets. Perhaps “one more and done” is more appropriate. Karl will coach the Nuggets again next season and fan expectations, regardless of how his roster changes, will remain the same. He will have another fantastic regular season then crash the Nuggets hard into the ground in the playoffs. His defenders will make all the same old arguments about how Karl got his troops to overachieve all season and that the cream rises to the top in the playoffs and how Karl had disguised the Nuggets’ flaws with his masterful coaching and that finally their lack of talent caught up to them…
And then George Karl will finally be gone.
His contract expires at the end of the 2013 / 2014 season and it will not be renewed. George Karl predicted this himself when he told the media that he did not want to be named Coach of the Year. He sees the end coming. Thankfully now we all do, too. Here’s hoping George Karl’s prophecy rings true.
