About George Karl

Among coaches in any professional sport, few are more accomplished than George Karl. In 25 seasons with Cleveland, Golden State, Seattle, Milwaukee and Denver, Karl ranks sixth in NBA history with 1,131 career victories and guided his teams to the playoffs 22 times. He most recently was named the 2012-13 NBA Coach of the Year after leading the Denver Nuggets to a team-record 57 victories, including a 38-3 home mark – also a team-record.

A graduate of the University of North Carolina, Karl played five seasons in the American Basketball Association and the NBA before embarking on a coaching career as an assistant with the San Antonio Spurs in 1978. He landed his first head coaching job with the Montana Golden Nuggets two years later and was named the Continental Basketball Associated Coach of the Year three times. In addition, he spent two years in Spain as coach of the prominent basketball club Real Madrid.

In addition to being a remarkable coach, Karl has inspired thousands of people as a two-time cancer survivor. He overcame prostate cancer in 2005, and later endured chemotherapy and radiation treatment to beat head and neck cancer in 2010. Since then, he has dedicated himself to helping cancer patients and their families. He and his life partner Kim Van Deraa launched the George Karl Foundation in March 2012. The foundation’s mission is to support causes and organizations important to their family, including cancer care programs, education, animal rights and environmental initiatives.

Karl, 62, resides in Denver with Kim Van Deraa and their daughter Kaci. He also has a daughter Kelci and a son Coby, who played two NBA seasons.