George Karl shades ‘overrated’ Carmelo Anthony after their first encounter story goes viral
Apr 8, 2022; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Carmelo Anthony (7) warms up before the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
There still appears to be some bad blood permeating between Carmelo Anthony and the team that drafted him.
Anthony, who was selected by the Denver Nuggets in the 2003 NBA Draft, recently made headlines when he called his former team out for an alleged “petty” move they pulled involving Nikola Jokic.
Now, the Syracuse alum seems to be beefing with his former Nuggets coach George Karl.
In a recent episode of Melo’s eponymous “7PM in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony & Kid Mero” podcast, the 10-time All-Star revealed his rather stunning first conversation with Karl.
Anthony claimed the veteran coach started off their relationship by calling his new star player “overrated” and comparing him to 2-time Sixth Man of the Year Detlef Schrempf.
Karl later responded on X and even doubled down on the Schrempf comment.
“Hey Carmelo Anthony let’s not do this. You’re telling stories that are 20 years old. Let’s move fwd [sic]
“And u were overrated and u wish your game was as efficient as Detlef’s,” Karl wrote.
Hey @carmeloanthony let’s not do this. You’re telling stories that are 20 years old. Let’s move fwd 💪
And u were overrated and u wish your game was as efficient as Detlef’s. 😆
— George Karl (@CoachKarl22) February 16, 2024
Schrempf was hardly a slouch. The former Seattle SuperSonics forward made three All-Star teams and even earned an All-NBA nod in 1995. But the man never averaged over 19.1 points per contest, whereas Anthony ended up averaging 22.5 points per game over his entire 19-year career.
Karl replaced Jeff Bzdelik as Nuggets coach midway through the 2004-05 season. The Nuggets started off 13-15 that year, which led to Bzdelik’s firing. Despite the awkward first encounter with Anthony, Karl coached the Nuggets to a 49-33 finish that season.
Anthony enjoyed his best postseason run under Karl in 2009 when the Nuggets made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals. Perhaps some of the tough love eventually worked on Melo.