Hot Karling or What to Make of the "Non-Extension"

As I am biding my time today, waiting to see which of the Nuggets will play tonight, I can’t help but wonder about the length of time it is taking for George Karl’s contract extension to go through (By the way, I’m betting Melo, Chauncey, J.R., and A.A.A. all play and Nene does not). Luckily for me Chris Dempsey of the Denver Post made my life much easier today by writing his own article about the Karl contract question.

In Dempsey’s article he argues Karl has every reason to be disgruntled about the lowball offer proffered by Denver’s front office. As of now, Karl makes around three million dollars a year, one million dollars less than the league average and far less than successful contemporaries Larry Brown and Phil Jackson ($7 million and $10 million, respectively). As Karl is the only coach in the league in the same sentence with these two, within his generation, he rightly feels he is not being given his due with an offer of eleven million dollars over the next three years with the last year unguaranteed. As my father was fond of saying, “After the first million, it’s all keeping score.” Since Karl’s score, 968 wins, is just under Brown’s, 1068, and Jackson’s, 1080, it makes perfect sense for Karl to desire relative pay. Karl has said no one in the league coaches for the money, though that’s hard to believe, because the scrutiny put upon every coach is so extreme only the people who truly love the game stick around. His need for equal salary obviously stems from a place of pride.

Based upon these truths and Karl’s track record in the playoffs one might think it unthinkable to make Karl such a low offer. Allow me to surmise on Kroenke and the front office’s thought processes and offer my take on why they may be hesitant to shell out so much cash. As Dempsey points out, with a shrinking salary cap and players like Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups, J.R. Smith, Nene, and Kenyon Martin all having their own contract negotiations coming up in the next year and a half, Kroenke’s plate is full and his pocketbook short when it comes to his team, lately. The NBA is a player first league when it comes to contracts and filling stadiums with fans. If you didn’t notice all five of those players just mentioned are the five most important on the team and deciding what direction to go with them is going to be of the utmost importance.

What has not been mentioned thus far is Karl’s actual value to the team. When he joined the Nuggets in 2005 he took a team on its way to probably not making the playoffs that year to an instant winning streak and an eventual playoff appearance. After this however, the Nuggets basically plateaued. They won more games when Allen Iverson was acquired, but reached the same end every year, exiting out of the first round of the playoffs with either one or zero wins. In case anyone forgets, there was much turmoil back then over Karl’s status as head coach. Andrew Feinstein, now blogger for Denver Stiffs and Karl Lover, created firegeorgekarl.com and received plenty of attention and support over it. Kenyon Martin clashed with the coach in the playoffs as did J.R. Smith and Carmelo Anthony called “people” out after the first round loss to the Lakers saying “people quit” on the team (in case your not getting the quotation marks, they are meant to indicate Karl).

Not until the arrival of Chauncey Billups did the attitude of the Nuggets truly change. We went from a lazy defensive team with no ball movement on offense to an intense, win oriented squad. Chauncey was the example of dedication and winning attitude the Nuggets needed to get their rears in gear and make something of all their talent. Karl has since gotten plenty of accolades for his role as well and I am sure he deserves a bit of the credit, but think how this situation looks from Kroenke’s side. After hearing stories of the Iverson years and his influence on teammates, J.R. and Melo, to stay out most days of the week and party at clubs, I wondered where Karl was to call these guys to task. Imagine if Stan Van Gundy were the coach then. Do you think he would have stood that kind of thing? He calls out his team in the press just for believing their own hype and not playing good enough defense. Stan Van would have lit a fire under some of those guys or had them traded. Couple this with Karl’s unwillingness to talk to J.R. Smith, his unwillingness to defend his players against bad calls in games, and his, at times, sarcastic demeanor and it is no wonder the front office isn’t willing to go all the way with this new deal.

Karl also has a history in the NBA of not being able to get over the hump. Whether it be losing to the Nuggets in the 1994 first round, losing to the Bulls in the Finals in 1996, or losing to the Lakers last year, making it past teams in difficult series has not been Karl’s forte. Perhaps the Nuggets’ organization is thinking we could do better with a younger, more adamant coach who would further push our stars in the playoffs. My only personal reservation is Karl seems to be taking to this team more than ever now. With his and his son’s cancer in the rear view mirror and the window for a championship closing, Karl must want to get that ring before his chance is lost. I’m not sure how much longer the contract negotiations will go on for, but know they will gain national attention very soon.

Bill Simmons does not give much credence to coaches anyway. Maybe I should stop worrying about who the coach is and rather what they represent. I just hope Karl can represent tenacity and winning at least until the end of the season. BEAT DALLAS!