Kenyon Martin Lashes Out at George Karl’s Comments About Not Having a Father
A number of George Karl’s former players aren’t very happy about his upcoming book. The retired NBA coach, who is behind only Don Nelson, Lenny Wilkens, Jerry Sloan and Pat Riley in career wins, has a book coming out next month titled, Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection. As you might expect from the title alone, Karl didn’t exactly hold back when it came to talking about his time in the NBA, which he spent with the Seattle SuperSonics, Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings from 1992 until 2016.
Based on an advanced copy received from the New York Post, Karl calls current New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony a “true conundrum” because he was “a user of people, addicted to the spotlight and very unhappy when he had to share it.” However, while there’s a lot more where that came from, Karl found himself the talk of social media on Thursday due to one passage in particular: “Kenyon and Carmelo carried two big burdens,” Karl writes. “All that money and no father to show them how to act like a man.”
Once Martin caught wind of what Karl had to say, he responded in a series of tweets:
The Nerve of an AWFUL AND COWARD ASS COACH. More to come
— Kenyon Martin Sr. (@KenyonMartinSr) December 22, 2016
I didn’t have a father going up. We all know that. What’s George Karl excuse for being a terrible person
— Kenyon Martin Sr. (@KenyonMartinSr) December 22, 2016
Everyone that’s played for that awful person and coach can’t stand the ground he walks on
— Kenyon Martin Sr. (@KenyonMartinSr) December 22, 2016
Having a lot of wins doesn’t make you a good coach. He was blessed with great talent
— Kenyon Martin Sr. (@KenyonMartinSr) December 22, 2016
Since we were so bad as players. Tell him to forfeit those Denver wins
— Kenyon Martin Sr. (@KenyonMartinSr) December 22, 2016
George Karl is selfish,unhappy,missable,,cowardly person. No wonder he’s be fired every place he has coached
— Kenyon Martin Sr. (@KenyonMartinSr) December 22, 2016
Martin wasn’t alone, either. While Anthony said there’s “no way” he’d discuss what Karl wrote, Al Harrington, J.R. Smith and Reggie Evans all weighed in on the subject.
Still trying to be relevant. Sad just sad.
— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) December 22, 2016
I had some good Denver Nuggets Teammates. That dude is old and unhappy with himself.
— ReggieEvans30 (@ReggieEvans30) December 22, 2016
Karl also calls the trio of Anthony, Martin and Smith “AAU babies” in his book and says Smith carried a “huge sense of entitlement” as well as a “distracting posse.” Remember, Knicks president Phil Jackson was criticized for using the word “posse” when talking about LeBron James’ business partners earlier this season. James said he lost all respect for Jackson because of it.