Karl slams Melo in upcoming book

George Karl's forthcoming book is bound to ruffle some feathers around the NBA, but the 65-year-old former coach has seemingly exhausted his supply of hoots to give.

Having already burned bridges in Sacramento, Karl torches a few more from his Denver days in "Furious George," according to Marc Berman of the New York Post, who obtained an advance copy of the yet-unpublished memoir.

Karl notably goes in on Carmelo Anthony, who he coached for parts of six seasons with the Nuggets, ripping the now-Knicks star for his attitude and lack of defensive effort.

"Carmelo was a true conundrum for me in the six years I had him." Karl writes, according to Berman. "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. My ideal - probably every coach's ideal - is when your best player is also your leader. But since Carmelo only played hard on one side of the ball, he made it plain he couldn't lead the Nuggets, even though he said he wanted to. Coaching him meant working around his defense and compensating for his attitude.

" ... I want as much effort on defense - maybe more - as on offense. That was never going to happen with Melo, whose amazing ability to score with the ball made him a star but didn't make him a winner. Which I pointed out to him. Which he didn't like."

Karl, whom Anthony and other former players of his have referred to as a snake in the grass, also reportedly questions Anthony's character in the book, specifically citing his - and Kenyon Martin's - fatherless upbringing.

"Kenyon and Carmelo carried two big burdens: All that money and no father to show them how to act like a man," Karl writes, according to Berman.

Anthony lost his father to cancer at a young age.

Karl also suggests the Nuggets won the trade that sent Anthony to the Knicks, calling the move "a sweet release for the coach and the team, like popping a blister."

Karl is also critical of J.R. Smith, invoking an inflammatory term that has stirred up plenty of negative emotion already this season. Karl writes that Smith has a "huge sense of entitlement, a distracting posse, his eye always on the next contract, and some really unbelievable shot selection."