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NBA: Carmelo Anthony ripped by former coach in new book

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Agence France-Presse

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/entertainment/12/23/carmelo-anthony.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Knicks forward and former Nuggets player Carmelo Anthony says harsh criticism hurled at him by former coach George Karl is &quot;irrelevant at this point.&quot; <em>Photo by Adam Hunger, USA Today Sports</em></div></figcaption></figure></div><p>Former Denver Nuggets coach George Karl is harshly critical of New York Knicks star Carmelo Anthony in an unsparing new memoir in which he calls the player a &quot;user of people.&quot;</p><p>Anthony spent his first seven-and-a-half NBA seasons with the Nuggets, playing six-and-a-half of those campaigns — from 2005 until early 2011 — for Karl.</p><p>&quot;Carmelo was a true conundrum for me in the six years I had him,&quot; Karl writes, according to multiple New York media outlets that obtained an advance look at his book &quot;Furious George.&quot;</p><p>&quot;He was the best offensive player I ever coached . . . 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 . . .</p><p>&quot;Since Carmelo only played hard on one side of the ball, he made it plain he couldn&#x27;t lead the Nuggets, even though he said he wanted to. Coaching him meant working around his defense and compensating for his attitude.&quot;</p><p>In the book due out in January, Karl adds that he believes Anthony could have become &quot;the best defender at his position in the NBA.&quot;</p><p>&quot;That was never going to happen with Melo,&quot; Karl says, &quot;whose amazing ability to score with the ball made him a star but didn&#x27;t make him a winner.&quot;</p><p>Anthony declined to get into a verbal spat with Karl on Thursday night but did say he was pleased to see others speaking up for him.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s irrelevant to me. It&#x27;s irrelevant at this point,&quot; he said. &quot;The truth of the matter is, everybody else is kind of speaking up for me from their own experience. So I really don&#x27;t have to speak on it.&quot;</p><p>Anthony isn&#x27;t the only one of Karl&#x27;s former players to come in for criticism.</p><p>Retired Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin and former Nuggets guard J.R. Smith, now with the Cleveland Cavaliers, are dubbed, along with Anthony, &quot;spoiled brats.&quot;</p><p>Martin, Smith and former Nuggets player Reggie Evans shot back at Karl.</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">The book he is writing is full of lies and deceit. By far the worst coach that ever played for</p>— Kenyon Martin Sr. (@KenyonMartinSr) <a href="https://twitter.com/KenyonMartinSr/status/812072504747433984">December 22, 2016</a></blockquote><script async="" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Still trying to be relevant. Sad just sad.</p>— JR Smith (@TheRealJRSmith) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheRealJRSmith/status/812018653101195265">December 22, 2016</a></blockquote><script async="" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">I had some good Denver Nuggets Teammates. That dude is old and unhappy with himself.</p>— ReggieEvans30 (@ReggieEvans30) <a href="https://twitter.com/ReggieEvans30/status/811994596293091329">December 22, 2016</a></blockquote><script async="" src="http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charSet="utf-8" type="text/javascript"></script><p>Karl spent 27 seasons on NBA sidelines coaching the Nuggets, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, Seattle Supersonics, Milwaukee Bucks and Sacramento Kings.</p><p>His most recent stint was as a failed two-year stop in Sacramento from 2014-16, with the Kings going 44-68.</p><p>Overall, Karl built a record as a head coach of 1,175-824, and ranks all-time fifth on the NBA&#x27;s coaching victories list. His 22 playoff appearances include a runner-up finish in the 1995-96 NBA Finals with Seattle.</p><p>For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com/"><em><strong>ABS-CBN Sports website</strong></em></a>.</p>

<p>Former Nuggets coach George Karl is harshly critical of Carmelo Anthony in an unsparing new memoir in which he calls the player a "user of people."</p>

Former Nuggets coach George Karl is harshly critical of Carmelo Anthony in an unsparing new memoir in which he calls the player a "user of people."