George Karl Quotes

“You always spend a little more time watching the guys you coached, to see how they're playing. And there's no question that when I check scores, I still go to the Nuggets scorer faster than any other scores. I have a lot of love for the players and a lot of love for the city.”

— George Karl

“In coaching, you don't ever really have that joyful fun, but there's no question that it's enjoyable.”

— George Karl

“I want to be the team that creates the action more than be the reactor.”

— George Karl

“The truth of basketball is done in competition and fundamentals and team, but there's a lot of other junk that goes around the game.”

— George Karl

“Coaches don't sleep for a reason. They don't sleep because it's a danger zone every night. Very seldom do you ever get two or three days off ... The lifestyle of coaching in the NBA is a tremendous challenge that gives you tremendous highs but also tremendous lows.”

— George Karl

“I think we, as pro coaches, should have a consciousness towards having an image and a role model mentality for kids.”

— George Karl

“I truthfully think, a consistent coach over 30 years, probably, I'd rather be that than having one championship and mediocrity for years.”

— George Karl

“In the NBA, you win, and you think you're going to win tomorrow. But as soon as you lose, you don't think you're ever going to win again.”

— George Karl

“The best player I ever coached was Gary Payton.”

— George Karl

“Who is the ally of the coach? Who's going to write, 'Man, that was a well-coached game.' Players win, coaches lose.”

— George Karl

I kind of lived by the code of 'I'm going to be a hard-working guy.' And no matter how successful, there is something I can do better. That's kind of the drive I live on.

— George Karl

I want to try to prove the world wrong - that you can run and win in the NBA, and you can win big if you keep running. The problem is, can you run for 82 games every minute, every possession of every game?

— George Karl

“One thing I'll tell you is the food in Sacramento is off the charts. You've got good Asian food, the farm system where everything is natural, which I believe in. I like organic.”

— George Karl

“The great player, so much of the greatness, in my mind, is in his heart and his head. It's not in his body, in his skill set. It comes from having great talent but wanting to mold that and fit it together into being special. And being special means winning championships.”

— George Karl

“There should not be an entitlement that because you get paid the most money, that you should finish every game. But if you don't do it, then the agents are going to call, and the players are going to mope, and so you negotiate that. It's a compromise as a coach.”

— George Karl

The truth of the matter is, we're not far away from where we should be. We can complain about the problem or we can go out and solve the problem. I choose to go out and try to solve the problem.

— George Karl

Good teams don't care about who scores. Good teams just care about scoring; they don't care who does it.

— George Karl

“A coke machine can get a rebound in 20 minutes.”

— George Karl

“I would never predict a run like that. Last season, that's beyond reality. I think we can go 25-14. I think we can play 10 games over .500, even more than (that) over .500, and that would be a great run. Any time you go 30-15 or something like that, that's pretty incredible basketball.”

— George Karl

“Everyday we are going to fight lazy and soft. It's completely unacceptable. You have to be demanding”

— George Karl

“When your best player puts it on the line every day, the other guys can't cut corners”

— George Karl

“Financial literacy is not an end in itself, but a step-by-step process. It begins in childhood and continues throughout a person's life all the way to retirement. Instilling the financial-literacy message in children is especially important, because they will carry it for the rest of their lives. The results of the survey are very encouraging, and we want to do our part to make sure all children develop and strengthen their financial-literacy skills.”

— George Karl

“Just because we play in the NBA or coach in the NBA doesn't mean we are not human. We are supermen. For me, getting shot is scary.”

— George Karl