After losing Executive of the Year Masai Ujiri to the Raptors earlier last week, the Nuggets have decided to part ways with the NBA's Coach of the Year. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports the Nuggets and George Karl have decided to part ways as the two sides could not come to terms to an extension. Karl had one more year left on his contract.
Denver has parted ways with coach George Karl, league source tells Yahoo! Sports.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 6, 2013
Karl led the Nuggets to a 57-25 record and the third seed in the Western Conference. It was another notch on an already incredible and successful 25-year coaching career. There was talk before the Playoffs that the Nuggets were a dark horse to win the championship with their balanced offensive approach and break-neck pace.
That proved to be short lived. Much like other stops on Karl's long coaching career, he struggled to make good on the potential his roster showed and the high seedings they gained in the regular season.
Denver lost in six games to Golden State and were sent home despite the executive accolades.
The offseason has been a tumultuous one for Denver with Ujiri parting the Nuggets general manager position for the same position with the Raptors. And now this.
According to Wojnarowski, Karl was pushing for a contract extension entering his final year and the Nuggets did not want to deal with an unhappy Karl in the final year of his contract. Not with the high caliber roster they have.
Denver believes it can attract an elite coach with its roster; simply didn't want to deal with an unhappy Karl in final year of contract.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) June 6, 2013
Still, there is no denying how shocking this is to see the NBA's Coach of the Year dismissed after winning the award. Karl posted a .622 win percentage in nine seasons with the Nuggets. However, he only advanced out of the first round once.
So now Karl enters the coaching market and the Nuggets are in need of a new coach and a new general manager.
