Memo to the Denver Nuggets: Fire George Karl Before He Poisons the Team Further

Like an episode of The Apprentice, Denver Nuggets’ owner Stan Kroenke should blow dry his hair until it looks like a small animal nesting atop his head, put on his finest suit, and call head coach George Karl into his office.

Once Karl sits down, Kroenke needs only say two words, and emphatic, “You’re Fiaad!” in his best Donny Trump impression.

By all means, George Karl is a good coach, but not a great one.

From 2006-08, Karl has made the same promises to fans, “We will have a commitment to defense.” The Nuggets, though, got worse during those years. They went from allowing 100.1 points per game in ’06, to an atrocious 107 per in ’08.  

For years I have defended George Karl among friends, fans, and talkative bar-goers, and today it ends.

Some have asked, “Why do the Nuggets have this guy? He doesn’t call plays, or even yell at the players or refs.”

To this I argued, “He has made it to the playoffs in 16 straight years and he yells sometimes.”

It’s funny sometimes how loyalties can get in the way of seeing things clearly.

Sure Karl has made the playoffs 16 straight years, but how many championships does he have to show for it? That’s right, the big goose egg. None.

When it comes to encouraging his team or working the refs, Karl does little of either. George Karl was quoted saying, “I just let tell them ‘Go out and play’”. 

The Denver Nuggets are a young team and need a leader, not just another sit-down-and-observe coach like Mike Brown (Brown said it himself after Lebron had 55 the other night!).

George Karl has had beef with Kenyon Martin and J.R. Smith. Martin exploded at Karl during their first-round playoff exit against the Clippers. Karl and Smith weren’t even on speaking terms for the first half of this season. Carmelo Anthony can be seen ignoring George during timeouts.

He doesn’t have the respect of the players, so what good is he doing?

Tim Grgurich, the oldest coach on the bench is the one seen yelling at players and refs the most. So it can’t be that George Karl is too tired to yell.

At times, Karl does have conversations with referees, but does not have the pull that other top-tier coaches do.

Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs is the best at working the refs in-game and especially during the playoffs. He is constantly on their back about missed calls, and at times gets T’d up. As a result, his team is consistently at the top of the league in foul-shot attempts, even though they are one of the most physical teams in the NBA.

During the Nuggets-Celtics game on Monday, I watched over and over again as Boston coach Doc Rivers encroached the court, yelling at his team until he was horse. Even when Boston was up by more than 20, Rivers was giving criticism to his players.

What do the Celtics and Spurs have in common? They are both great teams, and their coaches are a huge reason why.

Karl is either incompetent or indifferent at this point of his career, neither are qualities the Nuggets need in a coach.

The Denver Nuggets need a guy that will do anything for his team, including getting kicked out, if it means it will fire them up.

Before this season George Karl sounded like a broken record as he pledged to have a better defensive team. I became wary as the Nuggets started the season playing half-hearted defense.  Luckily for Karl, the early trade for Chauncey Billups has made him look like a genius.

If it weren’t for Billups’ on-court leadership and infectious defensive play, the Nuggets would be looking at another year in the basement of the NBA, defensively speaking.

The Nuggets need a coach that will improve the team with actions and intellect, not one that makes empty promises.

Overall, the Denver Nuggets must have a change. Possibly a young, fiery coach is what Denver needs; like Avery Johnson, who had two stints with the Nuggets during his playing career. Or, maybe this young team needs an older, veteran coach like a Pat Riley. He can’t be happy as just a GM right?

Whatever the Nuggets do, they need to do it fast, if Denver is to have a chance at a playoff series victory this year because with George Karl at the helm, Denver has yet to advance past the first round in four attempts.