George Karl Voted Into Hall of Fame

Former Tar Heel selected to Naismith Hall for NBA coaching career

George Karl was one of the 13 honorees in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2022 to be celebrated September 9-10 during this year’s Enshrinement festivities in Springfield, Massachusetts. The announcement was made Saturday morning at the SuperDome in New Orleans prior to the Final Four.

Karl spent 27 seasons as a head coach in the NBA, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers (1984-1986), Golden State Warriors (1986-88), Seattle Supersonics (1992-1998), Milwaukee Bucks (1998-2003), Denver Nuggets (2005-2013) and Sacramento Kings (2015-2016). During his career, he guided five different franchises to a total of 22 playoff appearances, led the Supersonics to the NBA Finals (1996), was named the NBA Coach of the Year (2013), and was called upon to be an All-Star Game head coach four times (1994, 1996, 1998, 2010). Karl owns a lifetime coaching record of 1,175-824 (.588), ranking sixth all-time in NBA career wins and posted 12 seasons of 50+ victories and three seasons of 60-plus.

“Sounds like I’ve been fired a lot,” Karl joked after hearing the teams listed in his Hall of Fame bio. “For me, it’s an unbelievable honor for my career, for my life. I’ve been out of basketball six or seven years. To be part of this basketball family--most of my life, I’ve loved being around the game of basketball, from practice to hanging out with the media, winning, losing. I’ve coached in Europe. I’ve coached in the CBA. I’ve coached lots of places. It’s just a celebration. I thank the Hall of Fame for picking me and being part of this team. It’ll be fun.”