“I Never Lost to U”: Former Warriors Coach Mark Jackson Strikes Back at George Karl

Mark Jackson is the name most omitted from the Golden State Warriors dynasty. While Steve Kerr led them to championships, Jackson created the foundation for him to stand and succeed on. He encouraged the shooting development of Klay Thompson and Steph Curry, which eventually exploded under Kerr.

Jackson is an active NBA commentator and covered the games between the LA Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers. During the broadcast, he criticized the former coaches of Carmelo Anthony for allowing him to slack on defense.

Seemingly the former Denver Nuggets’ Head Coach, George Karl, took offense to the comment and tweeted his disdain. Karl was Melo’s coach in Denver.

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Jackson has now responded to Karl himself, reminding him of the result of their only Playoffs meeting.

Mark Jackson and George Karl’s history

Jackson and Karl have always had issues with each other. This is mainly due to the Playoffs series that Jackson speaks about. Karl led the Denver Nuggets into the 2013 NBA Playoffs with the third-best record in the West. His Nuggets met Jackson’s Golden State Warriors (6th seed) in the first round of the Playoffs.

Golden State would upset the higher seed in a six-game series and qualify for the second round. Karl had won Coach of the Year that season for over-achieving with the Nuggets but would be fired after the Playoffs.

Karl was without one of his best players in Danilo Gallinari and couldn’t match the sweet-shooting and fast-paced Warriors.

However, Karl made a controversial comment suggesting that Andre Iguodala leaked information to Mark Jackson that helped the Warriors take the Nuggets down. Iguodala would later join the Warriors that off-season, after spending just one season in Denver.

Both coaches are widely respected. Jackson is still in coaching rumors, due to his reputation as a great coach for young teams. His Warriors development is the biggest proof in his favor.

However, the fact that the Warriors became title contenders instantly after Jackson’s departure is what Karl brought up. Karl is a much older coach, having been around since the 80s.

He is comfortably retired, but clearly takes exceptions to former rival coaches attacking him on national television.

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