That being said, coaches-coaches like George Karl and Greg Popovich have been schooling players and molding franchises for decades on such a consistent basis that it seems unfair to oppose them. George Karl with more than 1,000 wins in his illustrious 25 year coaching career, nine of which with the Denver Nuggets has been placed seventh in the NBA’s all-time win record as well as being placed on the unemployment list as of this past month.
With one year left on his contract, negotiations failed in the front office to keep Coach Karl in the driver seat with hopes of bringing in former Grizzlies coach Lionell Hollins and once Laker great Brian Shaw. While Shaw is praised for his championship experience both as a player and coach he has been twice overlooked by teams, most recently the Brooklyn Nets.The newly refurbished Brooklyn Nets turned down Shaw and placed high hopes on the newly retired and newly proclaimed coaching candidate Jason Kidd.
Wait… let me get this straight. George Karl, who was named this years Coach of the Year and is tenth in all-time playoff victories was fired after leading his sub-talented and injured Nuggets to the playoffs, one year shy of his tenure; Jason Kidd was named head coach of his former NBA team within one week of his retirement at the age of 40 and Madonna is still making music.
George Karl will surely find a home as a head coach in the NBA, for gods-sake the man defeated NBA legends AND three types of cancer. If Jason Kidd doesn’t come out of retirement out of sheer frustration next season, the Heat will fire Mike Spolstra and name LeBron James the first player/coach since Bill Russell and Jackie Moon.
NBA Coaching Shuffle 2013…where every player coaches and wins don’t matter.