Former Denver Nuggets coach George Karl reportedly wants to become the next head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Cleveland, who appears to have casted a wide net in their search for a coach, is said to be eying Mark Jackson, Lionel Hollins, Mike D'Antoni and a number of other candidates.
Karl, who didn't coach this season after the Nuggets fired him last summer, is by all accounts eager to return to the NBA. Cleveland reportedly is at least one of the teams Karl would love to take over.
"One thing (I) keep hearing out of Chicago: George Karl really wants Cavs coaching job," Sam Amico of Fox Sports tweeted on Thursday. "Obviously, Karl is interested in any opening, really wants to get back into it. But Cavs are where career started (in 1984). He's a big Kyrie (Irving) fan."
Karl, the 2013 NBA Coach of the Year, is also expected to be a candidate for teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors.
Cleveland, meanwhile, reportedly has a long list of potential coaching candidates. The list, according to ESPN, includes Jackson, Hollins, D'Antoni, Alvin Gentry, Nate McMillan, John Calipari, Adrian Griffin, Vinny Del Negro, Jerry Sichting, Alex Jensen and Mark Price.
The Cavaliers fired coach Mike Brown on Monday and named David Griffin as the new general manager.
"This is a very tough business. It pains all of us here that we needed to make the difficult decision of releasing Mike Brown," Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert said in a statement released Monday through the team website. "Mike worked hard over this last season to move our team in the right direction. Although, there was some progress from our finish over the few prior seasons, we believe we needed to head in a different direction.
"We wish Mike and his family nothing but the best."
