George Karl takes shot at Damian Lillard; player’s agent, coach fire back

The latest stop on the “George Karl will say anything to sell a book” tour was New York Magazine, where in addition to explaining/defending his comments about Carmelo Anthony, the former coach decided to take a shot at Blazers point guard Damian Lillard. A man he never coached.

“I was watching the Portland Trailblazers play, and I was trying to figure out, ‘What the hell is wrong with this team?’ My conclusion is that Damian Lillard is getting too much attention....Who controls the team? The coach and the point guard. And that team is not working. I think their coach, Terry Stotts, is a great coach. So I’m going to say the problem is Lillard. They were a together, connected, committed team last year. This year they’re not. What changed?”

What’s wrong with Portland? How anyone would say “Lillard” and not “defense” is baffling. Portland’s defense is dead last in the NBA and giving up 5.9 more points per 100 possessions than it did a season ago. The Lillard-centric offense is actually slightly better than a season ago, it just can’t cover up for the dramatically worse defense anymore.

However, Lillard doesn’t need me to defend him when he has his coach, Terry Stotts, and his agent, Aaron Goodwin.

Terry Stotts on George Karl's comments regarding Damian Lillard pic.twitter.com/H2FU4NkSlc

— Casey Holdahl (@CHold) December 29, 2016

Damian Lillard's agent, Aaron Goodwin, to ESPN on George Karl's criticisms of his client. pic.twitter.com/7Lg9CPaTGA

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) December 28, 2016

Karl may sell some books. But he told New York Magazine that he wants to coach in the NBA again and hesitates to burn another bridge. Got news for Karl, that bridge is in about as good of shape as the one over the River Kwai.