It's no secret that former Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl has had his fair share of player squabbles during his time in the NBA. His beef with former player DeMarcus Cousins immediately stands out. However, for those who have been following the league for a much longer period, you might remember George Karl's highly-controversial altercation with ex-Nuggets star Kenyon Martin.
In 2006, Martin got suspended by the Nuggets for actions that were deemed detrimental to the team. This was after he had a heated confrontation with Coach Karl in the middle of a playoff game after the latter opted not to give Martin his usual minutes. In a recent interview, Martin shared the details of his altercation:
“I threatened his life and everything,” Martin admitted.
The former All-Star also revealed that he truly wanted to beat up George Karl at that point in time — a feeling that apparently, he hasn't been freed from after all these years:
“Man, f— George Karl, first of all,” Martin said. “I know it’s early in the morning, it’s seven o'clock, but that’s just the way I feel about George Karl. … No love lost at all, as you can see.”
Karl has now responded to his former player recently reliving their beef. The 72-year-old got brutally honest with is reaction:
“It made me sad. It disappoints me that I can get a person that angry, that disappointed in me,” Karl said. “I want to love my players. I want to care for my players. But I am also the leader and the policeman of my team. And my response in that game, I don’t think was out of control or unusual. I was doing something I thought I had to do for my team. I might have been wrong. When those things happen, you want to move forward and not backwards. The suspension in that situation was very difficult for the organization. I know it was very difficult for him. You know, I just want to tell you that he was one of the brightest defensive players I ever coached.”
George Karl took the high road here, but I doubt that it will change Kenyon Martin's feelings toward him. It's been nearly two decades since this incident went down, and it is clear that Martin still feels aggrieved to this very day. Reconciliation does not sound like an option between these two.
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