George Karl wants NBA coaching job: 'Disappointed that the phone's not ringing'
It's no secret that George Karl wants to coach again, having recently stated his openness to a number of vacancies around the league.
But Karl, who ranks sixth all-time in wins (1131), admitted to USA Today's Sam Amick that the lack of phone calls from interested teams sometimes weighs on him.
"There are days where I get down," Karl said, as reported by Amick. "There are days where I'm disappointed that the phone's not ringing."
Still, Karl remains hopeful that a sixth head coaching job will open up for him.
But I would say that on the majority of my days, I say, 'George, you can't get bitter now, because you've been blessed. You've been given jobs when you probably shouldn't have gotten jobs.' I was given an opportunity when I was 33 years old to coach a (Cleveland Cavaliers) team where I probably shouldn't have been given that opportunity. So I look back at my career as a blessing. I want to do it one more time. My hope and my feeling is that the league will figure it out and give me that opportunity.
Karl's name has been linked to the Sacramento Kings' job, which is being filled by Tyrone Corbin until at least the end of the season after Mike Malone was fired in December.
Karl took over the Cavs in 1984, and enjoyed multiyear stops in Golden State, Seattle, Milwaukee and Denver, totaling 25 seasons. The Nuggets fired him after his ninth season with the team in 2013, following a 57-win campaign that saw him take home the Coach of the Year award.
Of the 57 coaches with at least 600 regular season games coached, Karl's career win percentage of 59.9 ranks ninth. Though he's never won a championship, Karl's teams made the playoffs in 23 of his 25 seasons, placing him sixth all-time in playoff games coached with 185.
His 1995-96 SuperSonics team advanced to the Finals, while he also took the Bucks and Nuggets to the conference finals.