George Karl has wondered before whether his son might win an NBA championship before he does.There's now another chance of that happening.
The Denver Nuggets coach told FanHouse on Friday his son, guard Coby Karl, will go to training camp with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and thinks he can make the team. Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry confirmed to FanHouse that Coby Karl will attend Cleveland's camp.
"He's been in (Cleveland working out), and I think it will happen,'' George Karl said of his son going to Cleveland's camp, which starts Tuesday. "If you look at the roster, I think it's a good chance (of Coby Karl making the team). Everybody always is trying to maneuver and get someone, but I think Coby felt pretty good about how he's played there (in Cleveland).''
Coby Karl averaged 1.8 points for the Lakers as a rookie in 2007-08, when they lost in the NBA Finals to Boston. He was a late cut last fall by the Lakers, and then played in Spain.
"I feel I have a pretty good opportunity to make the (Cavaliers),'' said Coby Karl, who said he has been working out the past two weeks in Cleveland and said he got his invitation to camp last Friday. "It's exciting because they're a really good team and are looking to win a championship.''
George Karl never has won an NBA title, although his Nuggets are coming off an appearance in the Western Conference finals. The Cavaliers are the favorite of many to win the Eastern Conference.
"That was tough, being one of the last cuts by the Lakers and then seeing them win the championship,'' said Coby Karl. "I don't want to get ahead of myself, but it would be great to make a team that has a chance to get to the Finals.''
George Karl pushed for his son to be invited to training camp with the Nuggets, but it didn't end up happening. The Nuggets on Wednesday traded for swingman James White and they soon will sign swingman Joey Graham, as was previously reported by FanHouse, to a nonguaranteed contract after Masai Ujiri, a Toronto executive once with Denver, provided the Nuggets with a good recommendation.
"He was good enough to come to our camp,'' George Karl said of his son, who will sign a one-year non-guaranteed deal with Cleveland for the minimum of $736,420. "I thought he was one of those players that deserves guaranteed attention. Not (fully guaranteed), but pay some money to come (to camp). But the jobs (in the NBA) are shrinking.''
Coby Karl believes he deserved an invitation to Denver's camp after averaging 15.0 points for the Nuggets in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.
"I feel I played well enough in the summer league to prove myself to even the last doubters,'' said Coby Karl. "But I think the way the economy is right now and with the way (Denver) ownership is right now in cutting costs, it would have been a tough situation (in Denver). It would have been a tighter fit than in Cleveland. But I'm trying to develop myself as a player away from my father.''
In 2007-08, the Karls faced off once in the regular season and once in the playoffs. The only other coaching fathers to face their playing sons in NBA history are Butch Van Breda Kolff going against Jan Van Breda Kolff in 1976-77 and Mike Dunleavy Sr. regularly facing Mike Dunleavy Jr. this decade. But neither of those father-son combinations ever battled in the playoffs.
No doubt George Karl would love to face Coby Karl again in the playoffs, especially if it's the NBA Finals.
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