George Karl rips Carmelo Anthony for not having a dad, references "posse"

DENVER, Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Former NBA coach George Karl likened coaching Carmelo Anthony to having a blister.

Karl writes in his upcoming book: Furious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection, that when Anthony was traded from the Denver Nuggets to the New York Knicks, it felt like popping that blister.

The New York Post and Newsday released several excerpts from Karl's new book on Thursday. In the book, Karl doesn't mince words when taking shots at J.R. Smith and Kenyon Martin. He refers to Smith's group of friends as a "posse," the term that put Phil Jackson in hot water last month when Jackson said the same thing about LeBron James' friends. Jackson used the term in an interview with ESPN's Jackie MacMullan.

"It had to hurt when they lost LeBron," Jackson told MacMullen in November, referring to Pat Riley and the Miami Heat. "That was definitely a slap in the face. But there were a lot of little things that came out of that. When LeBron was playing with the Heat, they went to Cleveland and he wanted to spend the night. They don't do overnights. Teams just don't. So now [coach Erik] Spoelstra has to text Riley and say, 'What do I do in this situation?' And Pat, who has iron-fist rules, answers, 'You are on the plane, you are with this team.' You can't hold up the whole team because you and your mom and your posse want to spend an extra night in Cleveland."

Karl coached the Nuggets from Jan. 2005 to Feb. 2011.

"Carmelo was a true conundrum for me in the six years I had him," Karl wrote in his book. "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."

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

Karl, 64, has a 1,175-824 career record as a head coach for six NBA franchises.

"Furious George" will be released next month, but its doubtful Anthony, Martin, or Smith will be fans of Karl's work.

A signed edition of Furious George is available for $20.38 at Barnes & Noble.