George KarlFurious George: My Forty Years Surviving NBA Divas, Clueless GMs, and Poor Shot Selection

It's a 5 star rating from be because I have been following the NBA since 8 years and I have always had a huge amount of respect for coaches like Phil Jackson, George Karl, Don Nelson to name a few. I had read Phil Jackson's book 11 rings soul to success but I was always curious about George Karl for quite sometime. This book is must read for those who follow the NBA upclose

This was an interesting look into the career of George Karl. As a long time Nuggets fan, I really enjoyed his years as our coach and was interested in reading more about him.The book title makes you think that he is mad at everyone and everyone else is impossible to deal with. He certainly has things to say about some of his former players or bosses, but i don't believe it is anything that fans of the game would disagree with.Mostly, the book is a trip down memory lane. Karl shares details about his emotional journey through the NBA.The book jumped around a lot. Probably due to the fact that he's a coach not an author. This made it occasionally hard to follow.Overall, I think the book was a good read for any fan of Karl's. In my mouth be it doesn't deserve the bad press I've been hearing about it.

This review is really more like 4.5/5 star review. This is a great book and a fun read. Any casual to die-hard NBA fan should read this book. Everybody is getting way too worked up over George Karl's comments involving the subject of Carmelo Anthony and Kenyon Martin not having fathers in their lives. This is just people being overly sensitive, because these comments were not meant to be offensive. George Karl does not hold back his opinions related to players he coached and other people he was involved with in the NBA.The reason I am not giving this 5 stars is because it was short, and George Karl does not go into any detail about his involvement with the Sacramento Kings and their players, specifically Demarcus Cousins.

This book has gained media attention for some of the seemingly out of touch quotes. There are plenty of times George Karl seems like the old guy who doesn't get it but overall I enjoyed his insight. As a big NBA fan and as a fan of the 90's Sonics and 00's Bucks I wished there were separate books for those teams and those periods. I felt this book just scratched the surface. Karl also brings up his battles with cancer and the battle his son had with cancer, which changed the feeling of the book, but again was quickly moved aside. I would have loved more and I think there is room for more. His coaching career is not over, so we'll see what happens next.

I have never had an opinion on George Karl as a person, but was a big fan of his teams, especially the Sonic's. Sadly, Mr. Karl uses this book to castigate everyone who ever presented him a challenge, especially his players. We all know that multi-millionaire athletes that go from poverty to riches can develop attitude and ego issues, but Mr. Karl is just plain mean in his analysis and public airing of personal grievances.Basically, George Karl appears to be an unhappy person who, in spite of his denials, was a heavy drinker (beer), an overeater, and judging by his language, must have been in the navy ("swears like a sailor"). Also. It is hard to respect any guy who puts his job and career above his family, so no sympathy here for his divorce. Own up, George, others have a busy profession but do not sacrifice their family at the corporate altar.From this book, you get the feeling that George was insecure and a nerd much of his life, so overcompensates with crude language, hanging with the guys every night having beers instead of being with his family and building a legacy as a good husband and father. The important things in life have no priority but he does grind the axe for everyone he feels didn't' show him the ultimate respect he feels he's due.Yes, this is a harsh critique of a harsh book. Surely there were positives he could present but this is just a convenient platform for him to trash other coaches and players who he feels slighted him. Maybe a hit with other beer-guzzling, fat middle-aged men who sit in bars and commiserate their failed marriages, but pretty worthless as a serious book on a very fun sport.

This George Karl autobiography is worth a read for every basketball buff. How does a basketball junkie, very good college player but weak pro turn in to one of the best/most winning coaches ever? Well, he demanded a lot. And he had great influences (starting with Dean Smith), and he perfected a style that worked great for those who worked hard. And for those who were stars and didn't want to work hard, well, this was probably not the coach you want. And he describes quite a few of those by names that made headlines when the book released.But this book isn't just about basketball as he had cancer prognosis as did his son while still in college. Overall, this is an excellent book that I can recommend to all basketball fans.