Over the last couple of weeks, various pieces of former NBA Head Coach George Karl’s new book Furious George have leaked or been released. Some of them included parts where Karl rips Carmelo Anthony, the discovery that the Kings were excluded, and also led to heated quotes/tweets from Kenyon Martin.
On Wednesday, more information about the book came out and this time it centers around George Karl being a bit of a conspiracy theorist. No not the political kind dominating the news today, but instead an NBA fixing games conspiracist.
In an interview David Marchese, Karl was asked about the portions of his book where he’s asked if he thinks the NBA fixes games. Here’s how the interview read:
DM: Probably the most controversial idea you put forward in your book is that the league uses the refs to influence the outcome of games. But you really only insinuate. So let me ask you: Do you believe that the NBA sometimes attempts to determine which teams win and which teams lose?
GK: That’s my interpretation. I’m a conspiracist about this. The NBA is a multi-billion-dollar business and has a financial interest in certain teams and players doing well. Do I know the league tries anything funny? No. But things are suspicious.
DM: The examples you use are when your Seattle Supersonics had officiating calls go against them in the playoffs in ’93 against the Phoenix Suns and then again in the ’01 playoffs when your Milwaukee Bucks were playing the Philadelphia 76ers. In both cases you say that the league wanted the MVPs — Charles Barkley and Allen Iverson — in the finals. This isn’t just retrospective sour grapes on your part?
GK: Look, when I got into the early ’80s, the NBA was a struggling business. You could buy a franchise for 10 or 12 million dollars. David Stern, with the help of Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, and Michael Jordan, did an incredible job of turning the league into a big-money venture. I have trouble recognizing that the NBA is primarily a business and not a sport. That’s probably going to be my ultimate downfall with the league.
Karl, 65, wants to coach in the NBA again one day, but has acknowledged that his book probably hurts his chances. The last team he served as head coach for was the Sacramento Kings from 2015-2016.
As a result of his desire to coach again one day in the league, Karl tried to walk back on some of his conspiracy theory statements:
DM: So I’m still not totally clear on your answer to my question. Does the league try to manipulate outcomes via the referees?
GK: There are days I think it does. But deep down in my heart I have to believe it doesn’t.
So Karl does believe the NBA does “fix” some games. In that case, maybe he should pray that the Indiana Pacers have an opening sometime soon. Paul George made similar statements about the refs not treating his team fairly since they’re the “little brother” of the league.
