George Karl Rips Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith in New Book

George Karl takes some shots at Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith in his new memoir.

When George Karl revealed that he was penning a memoir called Furious George, most people assumed that it would feature him shedding a lot of light on his contentious relationship with DeMarcus Cousins. And while we would assume that there will be some Cousins talk somewhere in the book, the New York Postobtained an advanced copy of Furious George, and it seems Karl saved his most potent venom for his former Nuggets players Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith.

According to the Post, Karl—who coached the Nuggets from 2005 through 2013—calls Carmelo a "conundrum" in his memoir and refers to Smith’s entourage as a "posse," which will no doubt make headlines thanks to Phil Jackson’s recent "posse" controversy involving LeBron James. Karl also refers to Carmelo, Smith, and Kenyon Martin as "AAU babies" in the book and compares them to "the spoiled brats you see in junior golf and junior tennis." And Karl even had this to say about Martin and Anthony: "Kenyon and Carmelo carried two big burdens: all that money and no father to show them how to act like a man."

"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."

Karl added: "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 ever 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."

Elsewhere in his book, the Post notes that Karl accuses Carmelo of once refusing to check into a game during "the last minute or two in a game on the road against the Pistons." He also calls Carmelo’s trade to the Knicks "a sweet release for the coach and the team, like popping a blister."

Additionally, Karl writes about Smith in his book and criticizes Smith’s father Earl Smith Sr., who he says "urged his son to shoot the ball and keep shooting it from the very moment I put him in the game." He claims Smith had "a huge sense of entitlement, a distracting posse, his eye always on the next contract, and some really unbelievable shot selection."

"When we traded J.R. in 2011," Karl wrote, "I was disappointed that I hadn’t helped a clearly talented player advance his game more."

Carmelo hasn't responded to Karl's comments in the book yet, but Smith did send out this tweet on Thursday afternoon that seems to be a response to what Karl had to say about him:

Karl’s book is scheduled to hit stores in January. If he wrote all this about Carmelo and J.R., can you even imagine what those Boogie Cousins chapters will look like? Yikes.

Latest in Sports