“Carmelo was a true conundrum for me in the six years I had him,” Karl writes in the book, excerpts of which were published Thursday. “He was the best offensive player I ever coached. He was also a user of people, addicted to the spotlight, and very unhappy he had to share it. Wait. There’s more.”
Karl goes on, taking unvarnished jabs at Anthony, the former Knicks J. R. Smith and Kenyon Martin, and others. In perhaps his most biting critique, Karl writes that Martin and Anthony “carried two burdens: all that money, and no father to show them how to act like a man.”
Kenny Smith says George Karl will suffer consequences & repercussions for his verbal assault on Carmelo Anthony & Kenyon Martin ... never being trusted in NBA circles again.
We got Kenny out at LAX and asked him about Karl's thoughts on his two former players ... thoughts that include him saying the guys had character issues because they lacked fathers in their lives.
Kenny says Karl's statements were totally wrong ... because you shouldn't air out the dirty laundry of the NBA inner circle for public consumption.
As a matter of fact ... Kenny says he doesn't see how any ex-association guys will be able to feel comfortable with George ever again.
"You gotta watch what you say, you gotta check him for mics."
Milwaukee Buck guard Jason Terry never played for Karl, but he is from Seattle, worked against George (in his estimation) “30 or 40 times” during his playing career, and JET remains quite verbose. This is why it’s no surprise that Terry would discuss a pre-NBA conversation he had with the then-SuperSonics coach, after Terry’s sophomore season at college, on Sirius XM recently:
“When I was a sophomore at the University of Arizona, I used to work George Karl’s basketball camp in Seattle. I was at a banquet, George walked up, he approached me, shook my hand and then whispered over to me and said, ‘You’ll never make it to the NBA. You’re never serious. You’re a joke.’ That’s what he told me. Word for word.
“And so I always kept that in the back of my mind, and every time I either faced a George Karl’s team or when I’d see him, I always had a little extra motivation. Yeah, no question. But that’s just George. I mean, if you know George, you know, for better or worse, that’s just him. That’s his personality. And he’s always been like that and I can see why guys had a tough time playing with him or for him.”
The 18-year veteran went on to say that he presumed Karl drunk at the time of his little observation. It did not sound as if Jason was speaking with tongue placed in cheek when he allowed us that aside.
Stephen Jackson just went in on George Karl -- claiming the guy was straight "out of line" when he criticized Carmelo Anthony and Kenyon Martin for not having a father figure in their lives.
Then he fired this shot -- "George Karl's son probably wouldn't have made it to the NBA if he wasn't a coach. He would have never got the opportunity."
FYI, George Karl's son is Coby Karl -- who was undrafted out of college but played for a handful of NBA teams from 2007 to 2010.
Jackson never played for George Karl -- but as a player who grew up without a father, he's clearly offended by Karl's comments in his new book in which he writes:
"Kenyon and Carmelo carried two big burdens: all that money and no father to show them how to act like men."
Jackson says if those comments came from a RESPECTED coach like Gregg Popovich, people wouldn't be so outraged ... but since Karl didn't make an effort to help his players, he shouldn't speak on the matter.
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George Karl Says Carmelo Was A "Conundrum"
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