George Karl longing for one last shot to coach in NBA

Two years removed from his last coaching job, George Karl wants an opportunity to return to the NBA sidelines in the very near future.

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George Karl has whipped cancer twice, has won 1,131 games and coached a host of All-Stars during his career, one that Karl wants to resume. Soon.

“I’m into the game. There’s excitement to my thoughts on the game,” said Karl, who was fired by the Denver Nuggets after the 2013 season. “I’m not bored. I’m not dull. I’m kind of like pumped to get that opportunity. So there’s a youthful enthusiasm and energy that comes when you don’t work for a year and a half.”

So, is there room for the 63-year-old Karl, currently an analyst for ESPN?

Karl made no bones about his desire to return to the NBA when the Sacramento Kings fired Michael Malone on December 15. A sprint of social media helped fuel speculation that Karl was coming to Northern California, yet the Kings made the decision to keep interim coach Tyrone Corbin for the remainder of the season.

Once the season ends, however, George Karl’s name will be front and center when it comes for potential candidates for the Kings’ position should they decide to move on beyond Corbin.

For all the renewed vigor that flows through Karl, he admitted in his USA Today interview that not-so-positive moments kick in on occasion, feelings he believes won’t change until he’s back coaching.

“There are days where I get down,” he said. “”There are days where I’m disappointed that the phone’s not ringing. But I would say that on the majority of my days, I say, ‘George, you can’t get bitter now, because you’ve been blessed.”

A new-found blessing may not come in Sacramento, as there will be a host of potential openings across the NBA, including with teams such as Chicago and Oklahoma City, where both current coaches Tom Thibodeau and Scott Brooks, respectively, are under fire with disappointing squads.

Karl would be a very intriguing fit with the Thunder, where his uptempo style would greatly benefit All-Stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. The duo would give George Karl more firepower than what he had in Denver, where Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson helped Karl to the Western Conference finals in 2009. A scenario of Karl in Chicago would also provide him with another top-tier point guard in the form of Derrick Rose.

In an increasingly win-or-else environment in the NBA, the addition of a coach who has won 60 percent of his games to go along with an incredible basketball mind would be a huge jolt to any team that has an opening this summer. It would be a shame if the 2015-16 season started with George Karl not on the sidelines doing what he does best: coach.

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