Ex-Denver Nuggets coach George Karl is eager for another chance to coach. The most likely landing spot for him reportedly is the Sacramento Kings, largely because of his connections with members of the Kings' front office and the style of offense he coaches.
Karl hasn't been shy about sharing his willingness to return to coaching, and he spoke in length on Wednesday to USA Today about it.
"The things that we did in my last year in Denver, I think can be bigger and better than they were that last year," he said. "I'm into the game. There's excitement to my thoughts on the game. I'm not bored. I'm not dull. I'm kind of like pumped to get that opportunity. So there's a youthful enthusiasm and energy that comes when you don't work for a year and a half."
When Sacramento fired Mike Malone in December, Karl's name immediately came up as a possible replacement for two reasons. First, because of his relationships with Kings general manager Pete D'Alessandro and Kings advisor Chris Mullin. Karl knew D'Alessandro from their days in Denver, where the latter worked in the front office as a consultant in 2010 and then the Vice President of Basketball Operations in 2012, and he coached Mullin at Golden State for two seasons from 1986 to 1988.
Second, unlike Malone, Karl runs the kind of up-tempo style of offense that second-year Kings owner Vivek Ranadive reportedly wants.
Karl admitted in his interview that his phone hasn't been ringing with job offers, but that he had spoken informally with Sacramento.
"There's obviously been communication. But have they ever talked to me about being the head coach? We've talked around it, but we've probably never talked about that situation," he said. "Do I feel I'm on their list? Yes, but I think they made it very clear when they made the decision to give (interim coach Tyrone) Corbin the opportunity to coach that that was what they were going to do."
It's hard to deny Karl's success as a head coach. In his eight-and-a-half seasons with Denver, he always had a winning record and never once missed the postseason. His problem, though, was his inability to lead the team beyond the first round of the playoffs. Denver advanced from the first round only once in their nine playoff appearances under him, with that one time coming in the 2008-09 season when they reached the Western Conference finals.
Despite being named the 2013 Coach of the Year, Denver fired him after their first-round loss to Golden State.
Karl's stiffest competition for the job appears to be Corbin, who could earn the job permanently if he can turn around the 16-26 team by the end of the season, and ex-Golden State coach Mark Jackson.
Jackson, who's currently an analyst on TV for ESPN, met privately with D'Alessandro, Mullin and Kings star DeMarcus Cousins in December.
Per USA Today:
"(On Dec. 16), after the Kings fell to the Oklahoma City Thunder 104-92, another possible candidate emerged in the most convenient of ways: former Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson. After calling the game courtside for ESPN, Jackson had a lengthy meeting with Mullin, Kings general manager Pete D'Alessandro and franchise centerpiece DeMarcus Cousins inside the 'Chairman's Lounge' where they had requested that arena workers and others give them some privacy. ...
"D'Alessandro joined them approximately 20 minutes into the meeting, and the group finally exited just before midnight, long after the room had been cleared so that they could have a moment to discuss, well, connect the dots yourself."
D'Alessandro denied the meeting was anything other than old friends catching up. Jackson and Mullin have been friends since high school, and D'Alessandro was the video coordinator at St. John's High School during Jackson's senior year.
