Nuggets coach fuels the rumor mill
When it comes to trade rumors, fans and the media alike love to speculate as to who will stay and who will be wearing a new uniform after the Feb 21 trading deadline in the NBA. But who could have guessed that coaches enjoyed to fuel the fire too?
Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl admitted to once purporting false trade rumors for the amusement of him and his staff. Karl said that he once held a contest with his staff to see who could get the most outlandish rumor through the media. Despite being at the expense of a few nervous players, it was all in good fun.
Karl saw the prank more as a way to help his players relax a bit than a malicious attack on anyone in particular.
“There’s this solid anxiety to this period of time for players,” Karl said. “So, how I can calm that and make them feel like, ‘Yeah, a trade could happen, but it’s a small, small percentage.’”
It is funny though, to see how the media can blow some things out of proportion though; when it comes to trades there is always rampant speculation but that’s the point Karl is trying to make: it is only speculation and rarely fact. Still, hopefully no players were put too much on edge as a result of Karl’s pranks. They were in good fun after all.
Karl is done with those pranks though, they are a part of his past and not the present. All he is concerned with now is keeping the Nuggets in a groove as they continue to play well and rise in the standings in the 2012-2013 season.
