LISTEN: George Karl Says Carmelo Anthony Has Improved Since Nuggets Days
NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Former NBA coach George Karl said he's been "somewhat" surprised with the reaction to excerpts from his new book.
Karl joined WFAN's Mike Francesa Tuesday to discuss his career, thoughts on how the NBA has changed over the years and his autobiography, "Furious George," which went on sale Tuesday.
The longtime coach made headlines for his critical remarks in the book about how Carmelo Anthony, whom he coached with the Denver Nuggets, was a selfish-yet-talented player who wasn't interested in doing the "hard, dirty work" to improve his defense.
Karl also blamed the discipline problems of both Anthony and Kenyon Martin on the fact that they grew up without fathers. And he wrote that J.R. Smith's father urged him to shoot the ball as often as possible and that Smith carried "a huge sense of entitlement, a distracting posse, his eye always on the next contract and some really unbelievable shot selection."
MORE: Keidel: George Karl Should've Spent More Time Getting To Know Carmelo Anthony, Less Time Judging Him
Karl, who coached six teams, including the SuperSonics and Bucks, also generated media buzz for writing that he suspects some NBA players are getting away with using performance-enhancing drugs.
"Most of the stories that have created a lot of the upheaval are old -- are 10, 15 years old," Karl told Francesa. "I'm just talking about how I felt in that moment. That doesn't mean that's how I felt right now. The thing I love about the NBA is you've got to move on, you've got to evolve, you've got to change every year."
Karl said he believes Anthony has improved since being traded to the Knicks nearly five years ago. He said Anthony was the best shooter he ever coached.
"The frustration usually came of trying to get him to do other things, to try to put the work in to be more consistent at the rebounding, more consistent as a playmaker, more consistent as a defender," Karl recalled. "Because he could. There's nothing he can't do.
"Since he's been in New York, I think he's gotten better in all those areas. But again, coaches, they want results now."
To listen to the full interview, click on the audio player above.
