Carmelo Anthony is looking forward to the next chapter of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers. His old coach on the Denver Nuggets, George Karl, won't let him off the hook from his past so easily.

Carmelo recently spoke out on his championship aspirations after joining LeBron James on the Lakers. His sleepless take on trying for the title drew a rather spicy remark from Karl on Twitter.

The response was so strong against his take that the longtime coach even received death threats from angered fans. But George Karl recently cleared up his comments against the Lakers' new star on an appearance on CBS Sports Radio's Tiki & Tierney:

Via Orlando Silva of Fadeaway World:

“90% of the things I write on Twitter are never controversial,” Karl stated on the new Lakers addition. “The only thing that gets controversial is when you bring up a feeling. Melo was a great player for me. I can't deny that he turned the franchise in Denver around — it was him more than anybody else. He's a powerful player.

But he's an individualist, and he likes to score more than he likes to play defense. My criticism was just to poke the bear a little bit on something that happened eight years ago, and have fun with it. Unfortunately Twitter gets angry and wants to start a battle.”

RECOMMENDED (Article Continues Below)
lebron james nikola jokic

Michael Corvo ·

Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell and Rui Hachimura with the Lakers arena in the background, Gabe Vincent Nuggets NBA Playoffs

David Yapkowitz ·

Magic Johnson holding a coaching board with the faces of D'Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent, Austin Reaves and D'Angelo Russell on it. LeBron James looking serious

Angelo Guinhawa ·

Beyond justifying his earlier shot against Carmelo Anthony's title aspirations with the Lakers, Karl did indeed point some blame at himself as well.

“Don't get me wrong, my reaction was, those sleepless nights were about the coaches — trying to figure out how to motivate Melo, how to motivate Melo to understand that he's good enough to win championships. And in a lot of ways, we failed..”

Despite the lack of postseason success, Carmelo Anthony has still had a career worth of a spot in the Hall of Fame. Melo's shot with the Lakers serves as his best chance to cap off his career with a title, something George Karl was never able to achieve, with or without him.