Furious George by George Karl

Furious George

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

George Karl, Curt Sampson

HarperCollins · Print & ebook · January 10, 2017

The most outspoken and combative coach in NBA history—and one of the most successful, amassing more than 1,175 victories, the sixth best winning record ever—reflects on his life, his career, and his battles on and off the basketball court in this no-holds-barred memoir A man of deep passion and intensity, George Karl earned his bad boy reputation while playing at the University of North Carolina, a rap that continued through the five years he spent with the San Antonio Spurs—and long after he stopped playing.

Buy on Amazon

We earn from qualifying purchases.

Who it’s for
An outspoken coach reflects on NBA pressure, conflict, setbacks, and resilience.
Themes
NBA coaching career, Conflict and confrontation, Resilience through illness
Genres
Sports Lives, Sports, Basketball Coaching

Nearest books

Matched by what the books are about, then ordered by what their readers also loved. Most of these share its genre: Sports Lives.

  1. Legends and SolesSonny Vaccaro, Armen Keteyian58% matchAlso shares Sports
  2. A Damn Near Perfect GameJoe Kelly, Rob Bradford56% match
  3. A Hollywood EndingYaron Weitzman55% matchAlso shares Sports
  4. BadassesPeter Richmond52% match

For younger readers: Hoops, Champion, Basketball Stars

Start with three books, and this one can be the first.

Members get a new edition every morning: a route out from their books to essays, research and talks, with the reason for each.

Start with this book

About this book

The most outspoken and combative coach in NBA history—and one of the most successful, amassing more than 1,175 victories, the sixth best winning record ever—reflects on his life, his career, and his battles on and off the basketball court in this no-holds-barred memoir A man of deep passion and intensity, George Karl earned his bad boy reputation while playing at the University of North Carolina, a rap that continued through the five years he spent with the San Antonio Spurs—and long after he stopped playing.

Continue reading

Karl’s beery nights, fistfights, and barking followed him into a thirty-five-year coaching career. In a game defined by big stakes and bigger egos, rabid fans and an unforgiving media, Karl was hired and fired a dozen times. After leading a team beset by injuries and with no superstar to its best season of all time—an achievement that earned Karl the title NBA Coach of the Year—he was dumped by the Denver Nuggets in 2013. Less than a year and a half later, Karl was at the helm of the Sacramento Kings, snarling and bellowing on the sidelines before being cut loose in May 2016. Intense, obstinate, and loud, Karl has never backed down from a confrontation, whether with management, officials, or star players, as NBA legends from Allan Iverson to Gary Payton to Carmelo Anthony to Demarcus Cousins can attest. Telling his story, Karl holds nothing back as he speaks out about the game that has defined his life, including the greed, selfishness, and ass-covering he believes are characteristic of the modern NBA player, and the rampant corruption that leads all the way to the office of the NBA commissioner, David Stern. Karl also reveals how he’s learned to deal with the personalities, the pressure, and the setbacks with a resilience he acquired from his three bouts with cancer. Raw, hard-hitting, and brutally honest, Furious George is as thrilling, unpredictable, and entertaining as the game that has defined Karl’s life.

Courtside Candor

An outspoken coach reflects on NBA pressure, conflict, setbacks, and resilience.

Come here for

  • A coach’s blunt view of basketball’s egos and power plays
  • The strain of a career marked by confrontation and setbacks

Expect

  • Unvarnished reflections on players, coaching, and league leadership
  • A personal account of facing pressure and three bouts with cancer

Where it sits

Sports Lives73%
Basketball Coaching71%
Sports61%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Sports Lives
  • Baseball Coaching
  • Sports
  • Boxing
Show all 8 publisher categories
  • Cycling
  • Sports History
  • Hunting
  • Skateboarding
Authors
George Karl, Curt Sampson
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published
January 10, 2017
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
NBA coaching career · Conflict and confrontation · Resilience through illness
Reading lane
Sports Lives