Former Denver Nuggets coach George Karl says he wants one more chance to coach in the NBA, one more team with which he can chase a championship -- and, surely, one more opportunity to teach Mark Jackson a lesson.
Karl, dismissed by the Nuggets after they lost to Jackson's Warriors in the first round of the playoffs last season, has not yet found another job in the NBA. He also has not found peace with what he perceives as mind games being played by Jackson during that series.
During a recent breakfast with Dave Krieger, a Denver radio host and former sports columnist, Karl conveyed open disrespect for the tactics Jackson utilized during that series, won by the Warriors in six games.
According the Karl, Jackson's tactics were, "bush" league, "high-schoolish" and "beneath the NBA level."
Karl was referring to Jackson's tendency to avoid naming a lineup, or change his starting lineup, at the last possible minute -- matters that did not go unnoticed or unaddressed during that series.
Karl, who coached the Warriors for two seasons ending in 1988, also made clear his displeasure with Jackson implying the Nuggets were playing dirty in an attempt to manhandle his players, particularly star guard Stephen Curry. Karl denied this, of course, but Jackson at the time insisted he had received the information from an "inside man" among the Nuggets.
That inside man, it was and is widely speculated to be Andre Iguodala, the former Nuggets star who signed with the Warriors two months after that playoff series.
A 62-year-old cancer survivor never shy with opinions or willing to hide his emotions, Karl clearly has plenty of both regarding Jackson and the Warriors. It won't mean much, however, unless he is hired as an NBA head coach.
