It’s one thing for a NBA team to be competitive and play hard defense, but it’s another to accuse a coach of intentionally trying to injure an opposing player. Such was the case during 2013’s first round match up between George Karl‘s Denver Nuggets and Mark Jackson‘s Golden State Warriors, and Karl has an idea why.
At the time, Jackson publicly stated that he received a tip from an insider, who said Karl hoped to injure Warriors guard Stephen Curry. Months later, Karl revealed a hunch: The mole was former Nuggets forward Andre Igoudala, who coincidentally signed a $48 million contract with the Warriors over the summer.
During a Q&A with Dave Krieger, Karl’s replied, “No question,” when asked if he thought Igoudala was the informant. See an excerpt from the interview below.
Q: Do you think Andre Iguodala was Mark Jackson’s “mole”?
A: No question.
Q: Does that bug you?
A: I just think that’s media hype. I mean, that series was not a physical series. Everybody wants to be more aggressive with the guy kicking your ass, so . . . .
Q: The media didn’t say it. Jackson said it.
A: I thought Mark had a lot of tricks in that series that were bush- . . . I don’t know. I don’t know what they were. Almost high-schoolish. They were beneath the NBA level. And they might have worked. They might have motivated his young team in a good way. You know, he’d announce a starting lineup and start another guy. C’mon, man. You think we’re not ready for that?
Do you think there’s some truth to Karl’s accusations? Give us your thoughts in the comments.
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