Kenyon Martin: George Karl's new book 'full of lies and deceit'
— -- Hours after an advance copy of former NBA coach George Karl's new book revealed a series of critical remarks aimed at his former Denver Nuggets players, several of the players fired back at Karl on Twitter.
Former NBA center Kenyon Martin and current? Cavaliers guard J.R. Smith?were among players whom Karl called out in his book, "Furious George," according to an advance copy obtained by the New York Post. Karl compared those two, along with current? Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, to "the spoiled brats you see in junior golf and junior tennis."
Of Anthony and Martin, Karl wrote they were negatively affected by not having fathers in their lives.
"Kenyon and Carmelo carried two big burdens: all that money and no father to show them how to act like a man," Karl wrote.
Martin didn't take long to respond, unleashing a series of tweets directed at Karl later Thursday.
Karl also wrote that Smith had "a huge sense of entitlement" and referred to his group of friends as a "posse," a phrase over which Knicks president Phil Jackson took heat last month when he used it to describe Cavs star LeBron James' business partners.
Smith tweeted in response to Karl: "Still trying to be relevant. Sad just sad."
Anthony was asked for his thoughts on Karl's book before the Knicks' game against the? Orlando Magic?on Thursday night. He responded, "No way."
Karl coached Anthony in Denver from January 2005 to February 2011, when Anthony's demand for a trade was fulfilled and he joined the Knicks. Karl said the trade was "a sweet release for the coach and the team, like popping a blister."
"Carmelo was a true conundrum for me in the six years I had him," Karl wrote in the book. "He was the best offensive player I ever coached. He was also a user of people, addicted to the spotlight and very unhappy when he had to share it.
"He really lit my fuse with his low demand of himself on defense. He had no commitment to the hard, dirty work of stopping the other guy."
Fired by the Nuggets after the 2012-13 season, Karl served as an ESPN analyst before returning to the sideline with the Sacramento Kings in February 2015. An acrimonious season-and-a-half in Sacramento ended with Karl's firing after the 2015-16 campaign.
Karl, who has also coached the Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, Seattle SuperSonics and Milwaukee Bucks, has a career record of 1,175-824.
In the wake of Karl's criticisms of Anthony, Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek was asked about his experience with the veteran forward.
"Carmelo, for us, has been great," Hornacek said before tip-off Thursday. "Whatever happened in the past that guys talk about, I know none of that. All I can go by is what I've seen out of Carmelo here. He's done everything we've asked, and what the coaches want him to do. He's been a great leader for our team. So that's it, simply, for me."
Karl's criticism of Anthony is the second that has been directed at him recently by a major NBA figure, though the first criticism was much tamer than Karl's. Earlier this month, Knicks president Jackson said Anthony can fill the same role in the triangle offense that Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant did with the Bulls and Lakers, respectively, but that Anthony had a propensity to hold onto the ball for too long. Anthony and Jackson met in Los Angeles to clear the air days after Jackson made the comments.
Hornacek commended Anthony on Thursday for the way he has handled criticism in general lately.
"I'm sure he hears it. But he knows that's in the past, whatever it is," Hornacek said. "His focus has really been on this team, with the new players that we have, trying to be a leader for our team. I think he ignores a lot of stuff, which is hard to do, but very commendable that he's doing that."
ESPN's Ian Begley contributed to this report.
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