College - North Carolina


NBA coaching legend George Karl was introduced as the 19th head coach in Nuggets history on Jan. 27, 2005 and has since overseen one of the most successful eras in team history.

In just 5½ seasons, Karl’s 278 wins are already the second-most by a coach in Denver’s NBA history, while his .618 winning percentage is unmatched. His run of six-straight postseason appearances is the second-longest in Nuggets history to Doug Moe’s nine-consecutive (1982-90). Denver joins Dallas and San Antonio as the only teams in the NBA to have made seven-straight playoff appearances.

The seventh-winningest coach in NBA annals, Karl has amassed 986 wins in his 22 seasons in the NBA. In fact, of the six men ahead of him on the all-time wins list, only three: Phil Jackson, Pat Riley and Jerry Sloan have a better winning percentage. He has also notched 74 career playoff victories, good for 12th all-time.

This past season was one of highs and lows for Karl. He helped lead Denver to an overall record of 53-29, earning the Nuggets their second-straight Northwest Division title and their third-straight 50-win campaign. In the process, Karl became the first coach in the team’s NBA history to post consecutive 50-win seasons. He also recorded his 18th straight non-losing season, third only to Riley (19, 1981-02) and Jackson (19, 1989-present) in NBA history. He also earned NBA Coach of the Month honors for the month of January and was the head coach of the Western Conference at the 2010 NBA All-Star Game in Dallas.

Unfortunately, Karl’s 2009-10 season was cut short because of throat and neck cancer. He made the diagnosis public two days after the All-Star Game but coached the Nuggets for three weeks while going through radiation and chemotherapy treatment. Karl did not return to the bench after a March 16 victory over Washington, and Denver went 7-7 in its final 14 regular-season games and lost to the Utah Jazz in six games during the first round of the playoffs.

During the 2008-09 season, Karl guided the Nuggets to arguably the best season in team history. With an overall record of 54-28, Denver claimed the Northwest Division title and tied the team record for most wins in a season. In the 2009 NBA Playoffs, Karl coached the No. 2 seeded Nuggets to their first Western Conference Finals appearance since the 1984-85 season before falling to the eventual NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers in six games.

In 2007-08, Karl guided the Nuggets (50-32) to their first 50-win campaign since 1987-88. The 50 victories also matched the third-highest single-season total in the team’s NBA history.

In 2006-07, Karl led the Nuggets to a 45-37 mark, including a franchise-record 22 road wins. Karl remains the only Denver coach to have won 20+ road games in an NBA regular season (also won 21 road games in 2008-09). The Nuggets finished with the sixth-best record in the Western Conference – their highest finish since 1988-89 (sixth).

In 2005-06, Karl steered an injury-riddled Nuggets team to 44 wins and a Northwest Division title – the club’s first division crown since 1987-88. He became the fifth coach in NBA history to lead at least three different teams to division titles (also Milwaukee and Seattle).

Another of his remarkable accomplishments in Denver came in 2005. After taking over as head coach in January, he engineered one of the greatest turnarounds in NBA history. When he was hired, the Nuggets were 17-25 and stood in 11th place in the Western Conference – a full six games out of the playoffs. Karl led the Nuggets to a 32-8 record and a No. 7 seed in the postseason. His .800 winning percentage is the best in NBA history for a coach that took over in the middle of the season and coached at least 20 games. The Nuggets went 25-4 after the All-Star break, notching the fifth-best post-All-Star break record ever in the NBA.

During the 2004-05 season, Karl was named Western Conference Coach of the Month for February and March and finished fifth in voting for NBA Coach of the Year. He garnered 10 first place votes despite being on the bench for just over three months. He has earned 10 Coach of the Month honors, which is tied for the fourth-most in NBA history.

Prior to joining the Nuggets, Karl served as head coach for the Milwaukee Bucks (1998-03), the Seattle SuperSonics (1991-98), the Golden State Warriors (1986-88) and the Cleveland Cavaliers (1984-86).

During Karl’s tenure in Seattle, the Sonics averaged 59 wins per season and won 384 games – second only to Chicago during that span. He led the Sonics to three 60-win seasons, had just one losing month and never had a losing streak longer than three games. Only three coaches have led their teams to more 60-win seasons in NBA history: Riley (seven), Jackson (six) and K.C. Jones (four).

In five seasons in Milwaukee, Karl led the Bucks to a record of 205-173 and four playoff berths, highlighted in 2001 by the team’s first trip to the conference finals since 1986.

One of the keys to Karl’s success has been putting players in positions to succeed. During his coaching career, Karl’s players have made 27 All-Star appearances, earned 16 All-NBA honors, made 11 All-Defensive teams and won two Defensive Player of the Year awards.

Karl broke into coaching as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs (then in the ABA) under Nuggets coaching icon Doug Moe. He landed his first head coaching position with the Montana Golden Nuggets of the CBA in 1980 and went on to become one of the most successful coaches in that league’s history. A three-time CBA Coach of the Year (1981, ’83 and ’91), Karl compiled a 176-66 (.727) record in five CBA seasons. He led the Albany Patroons to a league-record 50-6 mark in 1990-91, including a perfect 28-0 at home. He also coached two years in Spain with Real Madrid.

In 2001, Karl was selected as the head coach of USA Basketball’s 2002 World Championship Team that competed in the 2002 FIBA World Basketball Championships in Indianapolis.

As a player, Karl averaged 6.5 ppg and 3.0 apg over 264 games and five seasons between the ABA and NBA. He attended the University of North Carolina, where as a junior, he helped lead the Tar Heels to the 1972 NCAA Final Four, and during his sophomore season (1970-71), helped UNC to an NIT title. Although drafted by the New York Knicks in the fourth round of the 1973 NBA Draft, he signed with the San Antonio Spurs of the ABA.

Karl’s foundation, Friends of Hoop, annually hosts King Holiday Hoop Festivals – high school basketball tournaments held in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King – in Seattle and Milwaukee.

Five years before his battle with throat and neck cancer, Karl was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which led to his active involvement with both the American Cancer Society and the Prostate Cancer Education Council. Additionally, he recently served as a spokesman for Hoops for St. Jude, an NBA fundraising effort to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. He also has donated tickets to each home game for less fortunate families since his arrival in Denver.

He has three children – daughters Kelci and Kaci and son Coby, who was on Denver’s roster at the end of the 2009-10 season. In 2007-08, Coby and George became just the third father/son duo to face each other in an NBA game and the first to do so in a postseason game as Denver took on Coby’s Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the 2008 NBA Playoffs. According to Elias Sports Bureau, there are no known instances of a player appearing in an NBA game with his father as his head coach in NBA history.