After a successful career as a player under UNC basketball legend Dean Smith, George Karl played professionally for five years before embarking on a nearly 40-year career as a coach.
Karl quickly became one of the NBA's most famous coaches, bouncing around six different destinations around the league on his way to coaching just shy of 2,000 regular season games. The 73-year-old won 1,175 regular season games as a coach and led the Seattle SuperSonics to the 1996 NBA Finals.
Also read: Former UNC guard Caleb Love considers next move
Seattle lost that series to UNC basketball great Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in six games, and the Bulls' victory began the second three-peat in a 1990s Bulls dynasty. Despite losing that series, Karl still takes great pride in making the playoffs, as evidenced by his social media post Wednesday night.
In response to a post by FS1 analyst Nick Wright, who criticized Karl's decision not to have Jordan play against Hall of Famer and defensive specialist Gary Payton until the Sonics lost the series 3-0, The coach was critical. References to lights.
Carl's response included some disdain for Wright being picked last during school recess, but the best team in league history without Nate McMillan, whom Carl called the Sonic's “glue” It also contained content defending Wright's decision against one of the issues. He also sarcastically offered to teach the critic “Hoops 101” for free.
He added the following post the next day:
His defense of Nick Wright's criticism this week wasn't the first newsworthy social media activity by Carl, who is willing to speak his mind. In addition to defending the Tar Heels and occasionally taking jabs at Duke fan posts, Karl has also been known for his support of former NBA superstar Carmelo, whom Karl coached when he was with the Denver Nuggets from 2004 to 2011.γ»He also became a hot topic due to his argument with Anthony.
And he's not shy when it comes to combating the hype of Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.
Funny George Karl, who will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022, didn't play for the Tar Heels until 1970, when he came to Chapel Hill in 1969, as the NCAA had not yet made freshmen eligible. It lasted only three seasons from 1973. In his senior season, he averaged 17.0 points and 5.8 assists, leading UNC to a third-place finish in the NIT.
stay tuned All Tar Heels from SI Click here for more UNC basketball news.