Denver Nuggets: George Karl Honored As Coach of the Year
By Phil Watson
George Karl won his first NBA Coach of the Year award on Wednesday, May 8, after guiding the Denver Nuggets to an NBA franchise-record 57 wins in 2012-13. (Flickr.com photo by Keith Allison)
The NBA announced on Wednesday, May 8, that George Karl of the Denver Nuggets has been named the association’s Coach of the Year.
It is the first such award for Karl, who completed his 25th year as an NBA coach by leading the Nuggets to an NBA franchise record 57 victories—the fourth-best record in the league—despite beginning the season with the third-youngest roster in the NBA at 24.9 years.
Additionally, Denver didn’t have a player average more than 16.7 points per game this season.
Karl is the most experienced coach to ever become a first-time winner of the Red Auerbach Trophy. Lenny Wilkens of the Atlanta Hawks was in his 21st season when he won his only Coach of the Year award in 1993-94.
With 1,131 victories, Karl ranks third all-time behind Don Nelson and Wilkens and the 2012-13 season marked his record-tying 21st straight season without posting a losing record, tying Phil Jackson for the most in NBA history.
Karl becomes just the second Nuggets’ coach to win the award, joining Doug Moe, who was honored in 1987-88.
Karl received 62 of the 121 first-place votes cast, easily outdistancing runner-up Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat, who was named first on 24 ballots. Voting for the award is listed below:
| Coach, Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | TOTAL |
| George Karl, Denver | 62 | 26 | 16 | 404 |
| Erik Spoelstra, Miami | 24 | 17 | 19 | 190 |
| Mike Woodson, New York | 6 | 28 | 13 | 127 |
| Gregg Popovich, San Antonio | 11 | 16 | 17 | 120 |
| Frank Vogel, Indiana | 3 | 11 | 12 | 60 |
| Lionel Hollins, Memphis | 6 | 4 | 13 | 55 |
| Mark Jackson, Golden State | 3 | 6 | 14 | 47 |
| Tom Thibodeau, Chicago | 2 | 7 | 9 | 40 |
| Kevin McHale, Houston | 1 | 3 | 3 | 17 |
| P.J. Carlesimo, Brooklyn | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| Vinny Del Negro, L.A. Clippers | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| Larry Drew, Atlanta | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Doc Rivers, Boston | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Scott Brooks, Oklahoma City | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
“I am honored and energized to represent coaching and be their ambassador as coach of the year and continue to symbolize the great coaching there is in the NBA,” Karl said in a statement (per ESPN.com). “There are probably seven or eight guys who are deserving of it and another 10 or 15 other coaches who have done a great job and aren’t getting any recognition.”
For all of Karl’s regular-season success, the postseason has been a different matter. He has taken his team to the playoffs in 22 of his 25 seasons, with a career record in the playoffs of just 80-105. His 1995-96 Seattle SuperSonics team is the only one he has guided to the NBA Finals and Karl’s Seattle team in 1993-94 became the first No. 1 seed to lose in the first round to an eighth-seed—coincidentally enough, the Nuggets.
He has taken teams to the conference finals four times (the Sonics in 1993 and 1996, the Milwaukee Bucks in 2001 and the Nuggets in 2009).
Karl talks about his time coaching Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp in Seattle:
However, in nine years with Denver, he has only won two series—both of them in 2009. This year, the third-seeded Nuggets, with the fourth-best record in the league, were upset in the first round by the Golden State Warriors in six games.
Karl’s coaching career began the year after his playing career ended. Karl was a fourth-round pick of the New York Knicks in the 1973 NBA Draft after averaging 13.8 points per game in his three varsity seasons at North Carolina (1970-71 through 1972-73), including averaging 17 points and 5.8 assists as a senior. As a junior, the Tar Heels reached the Final Four before losing to Florida State in the semifinals and beating Louisville in the national third-place game.
Karl was a sixth-round supplementary draft pick of the ABA’s Memphis Tams in 1973. He eventually signed with the San Antonio Spurs of the ABA after they acquired his rights.
In three ABA seasons as a reserve guard for the Spurs, Karl averaged seven points and 3.2 assists in 18 minutes per game. He stayed with the Spurs when they transitioned to the NBA in 1976, but injured his knee early in the 1977-78 season and retired after making just four appearances in 1977-78.
He joined Moe’s staff as an assistant in San Antonio in 1978-79 and became a head coach for the first time with the Montana Golden Nuggets of the Continental Basketball Association in 1980-81. Karl coached Montana for three seasons, becoming the Cleveland Cavaliers’ director of player acquisition in 1983-84 before becoming the coach of the Cavs the following season. He led Cleveland to the playoffs in his rookie campaign but was fired 67 games into the 1985-86 season.
Karl landed on his feet in 1986-87, taking over as coach of the Golden State Warriors. He led the Warriors to the second round of the playoffs in 1987, but resigned on March 23, 1988, with Golden State sporting a record of just 16-48.
He returned to the CBA in 1988, coaching the Albany Patroons for one season before heading overseas to coach Real Madrid in the Spanish League in 1989-90. In 1990-91, Karl went back to Albany for a final CBA season then went back to Real Madrid in 1991-92.
He left Spain when on Jan. 23, 1992, he replaced interim coach Bob Kloppenburg as coach of the SuperSonics. He remained in Seattle through the 1997-98 season and took over the Bucks after the lockout ended in 1999. He was fired by the Bucks after the 2002-03 season and went to Denver in the middle of the 2004-05 season, taking over for interim coach Michael Cooper with the Nuggets holding a 17-25 record.
Karl guided Denver to a 32-8 finish, setting a record for the highest winning percentage (.800) for a coach that took over in midseason for a minimum of 20 games.
Karl is also a two-time cancer survivor, overcoming prostate cancer in 2005 and more recently surviving a bout with throat cancer in 2010.