George Karl

George Matthew Karl (born May 12, 1951) is the current head coach of the Sacramento Kings and former ABA and NBA player. On December 10, 2010, he became the seventh coach in NBA history to record 1,000 wins.

Biography

Karl was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of Penn Hills, Pennsylvania. After a college career at the University of North Carolina he signed with the ABA's San Antonio Spurs in 1973. When the Spurs joined the NBA in 1976, Karl began his two-year NBA playing career.

Early coaching career

After his playing career, Karl became an assistant coach for the Spurs. Karl then moved on to the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) as head coach of the Montana Golden Nuggets (Great Falls). As coach of the Golden Nuggets, Karl won CBA Coach of the Year twice, in 1981 and 1983.

In 1984, Karl became the head coach of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, taking them to the playoffs in 1985. He was dismissed by the Cavs in 1986 near the end of the season.

In the 1986–87 season, Karl coached the Golden State Warriors and took them from a record of 30–52 the year before, to the playoffs for the first time in ten years. They reached the semifinals against the Magic Johnson led Los Angeles Lakers, Game 4 of which is still shown on TV in the NBA's Greatest Games series. Sleepy Floyd hit 12 straight field goals in the fourth quarter that gave him two NBA playoff records (29 points in a quarter, 39 in a half) and finished with 51 points in Golden State's 129–121 win.