George Karl says NBA should abandon push for season relaunch
With no finalized plans in place for how or when to relaunch the 2019-20 NBA season and/or playoffs, George Karl voiced his opinion on the matter.
In a weekend tweet sent out to his 90,200-plus Twitter followers, Karl insisted that it’s time for the NBA to turn the metaphorical page and begin preparations for next season. The fluidity and complexity of the situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic factored into George Karl’s comments.
“It’s just my opinion and I don’t have all the facts,” George Karl wrote on Sunday. “But, as a huge hoops fan, I think it’s time to call the NBA season. Honors the game better.
“We stay on a more regular schedule and we can come back healthy and strong next season!”
George Karl is one of nine NBA coaches with 1,000 or more victories. As a bench boss, he coached in 1,999 NBA games, winning 1,175 of them.
During his distinguished coaching career, the former University of North Carolina player has guided the Cleveland Cavaliers (1984-86), Golden State Warriors (1986-88), Seattle SuperSonics (1992-98), Milwaukee Bucks (1998-2003), Denver Nuggets (2005-13), and Sacramento Kings (2015-16). The 69-year-old has also coached in the now-defunct Continental Basketball Association and the Spanish Liga ACB.
2019-20 NBA season update
The current season was suspended on March 11 due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Last week, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said “he is aiming for a 2-to-4 week timetable on the decision about whether to resume season,” NBC Sports reported.
Meanwhile, Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Chris Paul offered a different viewpoint than the longtime coach about the 2019-20 NBA season.
“A lot of hard conversations that have to be made, a lot of hard decisions,” Paul said in a recent conference call. “But with the team around us, I think ultimately we’ll get to where we want to. Obviously we want to play. Oh man, we want to play. We want to play bad. And I think that’s a consensus for the guys around the league. We want it to be, obviously, as safe as possible. But the biggest thing is, we miss the game.”