George Karl responded on Monday to some comments from one of his former players.
Kenyon Martin, who was the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2000, played under Karl in Denver from 2005-2011. Martin appeared in an interview with FanDuel TV’s “Run it Back” last week and was asked for his thoughts on his former coach. Martin did not hold back in bashing Karl, saying that he was happy to do so at any time.
“F— George Karl, first and foremost. No love lost at all,” Martin said. “I don’t like George Karl to this day.”
Martin remains upset with Karl for not playing him during the 2006 playoffs after Martin returned from a knee injury. Martin confronted Karl during halftime of a playoff game, threatened the coach physically and was later suspended by the team for the rest of the postseason.
“I let George have it. I threatened his life and everything,” Martin admitted.
Karl, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame last year as a coach, joined “Run it Back” on Monday and was asked about his relationship with Martin. He expressed contrition that Martin views him that way.
“It made me sad … It disappoints me that I can get a person that angry … I want to love my players. I want to care for my players, but I am also the leader and the policeman of my team,” Karl said.
Karl then praised Martin while analyzing the former All-Star’s character as a player.
“I thought [Kenyon Martin] was one of the brightest defensive players I’ve ever coached, and I thought he would make a hell of a coach because he’s a competitive guy. I really think Kenyon is a competitive S.O.B. Tough to handle at times. Difficult to handle for his teammates and for the other team. But he played the right way — he played to win. … He was the nucleus of our defense,” Karl said.
Martin is not the first nor the last player to have difficulty with Karl, who is a self-admitted disciplinarian as a coach. In addition to Martin, JR Smith and big man DeMarcus Cousins are other players to recently have beef with Karl.
Here is the video clip of Karl:
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