Thunder: George Karl’s Oklahoma City odyssey
I wrote a column about Nuggets coach George Karl in Wednesday’s paper. He’s had quite the career. And that career involved Oklahoma City from the old CBA days, as I mentioned.
Wednesday afternoon, I heard from Chip Land, the managing partner of the old Oklahoma City Cavalry, and Land shared a hilarious story from the CBA days. I ran the gist of it by Karl, and he confirmed. So I thought I would share it with you, in Land’s words, reciting the story he got from Karl.
“The Cavs’ first season, ’90-’91, and George Karl was obviously the coach of the best team in the league, with guys like Mario Elie & Vince Askew, but was still nth-degree driven (he had been in THE league, wanted back in THE league and had not much compassion for anyone/anything that might postpone his return).
“The game before the (Albany) Patroons came to OKC, George had been kicked out, in a legendary incident that made its way to Hollywood. He got so mad arguing a call that he approached the referee midcourt, snatched the ball from the ref and proceeded to PUNT it, all the way into the empty upper deck of the Albany arena. These days it would’ve been immortalized via YouTube, but back then it just became an instant buzz throughout the CBA.
Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl watches from the bench during the second quarter of an NBA basketball playoff game against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Oklahoma City, Sunday, April 17, 2011. Oklahoma City won 107-103. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
“The legend had legs though, as much later, Will Ferrell did the exact same routine in the semi-laughable ‘Semi-Pro.’ I don’t know who the movie people might say ‘wrote’ that skit, but it had to be the enduring legend of George Karl in Albany.
“So, George came to OKC under a one-game suspension, ‘ball abuse,’ no doubt. He and I did acquaint and become fairly friendly during his stay here, largely because he was introducing me to his assistant and head-coach-in-the-making, Terry Stotts, as a possibility to come to OKC should (Cavalry coach) Charley Rosen ever ‘move on.’ “We had a few meals together, threatened some golf, and actually did discuss the possibility of HIM coming to OKC and just bringing Terry with him.
“But the punchline to this is the next day after our game (I’m sure they dispatched us rather handily), George called me with this recap, as closely as I can reconstruct):
“‘I’m exiled out of the entire building (the Myriad) and resigned to just listen to the game up in my room (across the street in the original Sheraton). Well, the damn bedside alarm clock radio won’t work, so I demand another room, which they won’t give me. They suggest I go to the hotel bar, but the bartender says they don’t have a radio and even if they did, the reception in the building isn’t worth a ****. So, with tipoff close, I run to the basement (of the old Sheraton Century Center), where I saw an Enterprise Rent A Car sign. I have to pay my own cash, to get some kind of little Ford Fiesta thing, and sure enough, bartender, there’s no reception in there.
“‘So, I have to go for a drive in a strange city, where all I want is to listen to the damn game. I somehow get onto I-40, looking for elevation/reception, and do, finally and indeed, get the game broadcast. But that’s when I find out how big this conspiracy against me really is, because I’m listening to this whoever-the-hell your radio guy is (the incomparable Chris Needham), calling the game, and he’s like “City K lofts into Big O at the post, who kicks out to Sweet Lou, who finds BU for the dial-9 three!” and now I’ve listened to a half a ****ing game and have no ****ing idea who the hell is playing in it!’
“I think I passed out three times during that story, which I promise was much better from him. George told me not to mention the job here again, because he NEVER wanted to come back to OKC again, ever. George said the only way he’d come back to OKC was to kill that homer Chris Needham guy. Haha. Chris would be ultimately flattered by that.”
So there you have it. George Karl thinks he had trouble in Oklahoma City this week. It was nothing like 20 years ago.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
This scene was done well before Semi-Pro. Nick Nolte, everyone:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHrSY3qzXwY&feature=player_detailpage#t=218s
Priceless!