Former Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl has been beefing with Carmelo Anthony on social media, even calling the former Nuggets star overrated. Karl and Anthony have had a rocky relationship since their days in Denver. However, the feud resurfaced following Anthony’s claim that Karl called him overrated the very first day he joined as Nuggets’ head coach in 2005 when Melo was a Sophomore in the league. The veteran coach ended up confirming the 10-time All-Star’s claim, which prompted a heated response from one of Melo’s former Nuggets teammates.
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On the latest episode of the Gil’s Arena podcast, Kenyon Martin, Anthony’s teammate in Denver at the time, lashed out at his former coach. The retired NBA star said,
“How can a guy who was the third pick in the draft, who should’ve won Rookie of the Year, that led his team to the playoffs as a rookie…how is that guy overrated?…These are facts, I was there.”
Martin claimed Karl was prejudiced towards Anthony from the jump and wanted to tame him. The 46-year-old then challenged the head coach to give up the accolades he won with Anthony. He said,
“If you think he’s [Melo] overrated and we are such bad people and we are such bad basketball players, forfeit them f**king wins! Forfeit them if we are such bad people. How’d we get to the playoffs every year? Not because of you dude. We made the playoffs, but not because of you. We [and our] talent got us there. We got there despite of you. You handicapped us. If we had a different coach, we’d have won a championship.”
DeMarcus Cousins also weighed in on the subject and told Karl to stop being bitter and “ride off into the sunset.” He’s right. The retired head coach should avoid stirring the pot so many years after his retirement. The two of them last worked together 13 years ago, and the drama between them is juvenile and unnecessary.
George Karl and Carmelo Anthony’s beef
The back-and-forth between George Karl and Carmelo Anthony commenced when the retired NBA superstar revealed his bizarre first interaction with the former head coach. He said on the 7PM in Brooklyn podcast,
“He got the job a couple days before we play Milwaukee Bucks. … We get to Milwaukee after shootaround, call me to his room, and tell me, ‘Hey man, look, I think you overrated. You have a lot of work to do.'”
Karl stirred the pot on X, formerly called Twitter, with a post claiming Anthony was overrated and he wished he played like Detlef Schrempf.
Karl could’ve opted to diffuse the situation but instead doubled down. Anthony did not address his former coach’s unnecessary shot directly, but given their history, there are likely more chapters in this story.
