A tear came to George Karl’s eye when he finally discussed the information he had kept private the past month – his son’s cancer.
The Nuggets coach returned to Denver on Tuesday after spending two days with his son Coby before and after surgery to remove a malignant lump from his thyroid. Coby Karl checked out of the hospital Wednesday and expects a full recovery and a return to the court next season at Boise State.
The Karls first heard the news about a month ago. Coby Karl played the last games of the season knowing the diagnosis, while his father kept coaching with part of his head in Boise.
“I’m not Superman,” the coach said. “It’s not only been a hard three days, it’s been a hard three weeks. I can’t deny there are moments I thought I should stay with my son and not be here.
“But the first person that would have told me I was a wuss was my son. He’ll join the team in Phoenix (Saturday) and he’ll be with the team for 10 days. … I think it will be good for him to be around players.”
He was touched his players mentioned Coby during game timeouts, but said basketball has served as a positive and negative distraction during a time with few easy answers.
“When you talk to your son, you don’t know if you’re helping or hurting,” he said. “You just cry. You get pain. And when you’re not with him you don’t know if you are doing the right thing or giving him the right advice.
He was great yesterday. He was stronger than I was in surgery, and he was proud of it. But you know, he’s going to have his bad days, too.”
Good first impression
Reggie Evans’ 13-game trial run has gone smoothly enough for the Nuggets to discuss making the forward’s stay more permanent.
“I think he’s been great for our team,” general manager Kiki Vandeweghe said. “We’d like to find a way to keep him here.”
Evans, who entered Wednesday averaging nine rebounds with the Nuggets, said he does not want to think about pending unrestricted free agency.
“Everybody here treats you with a lot of love, and I like that a lot,” Evans said. “They get the love back from me.”
When in Seattle, Evans had the power to veto any trade. His agent, Dan Fegan, said they worked hard to get Evans to Denver.
“We thought with their style of play that Reggie would be a good fit,” Fegan said. “It’s turned out to be that way. … Reggie’s happy there and I’m hopeful of the prospects of keeping him there long-term.”
Footnotes
Karl on the return of injured forward Amare Stoudemire to Phoenix’s lineup: “I hope he messes their team up. I don’t think he’ll mess them up in the future. You’re going to have to play him some time. Might as well get him in the last time (during the regular season) you have a shot at him (on Saturday).” … Guard Howard Eisley should receive a contract today for the rest of the season. His second 10-day contract expired Wednesday. “Everybody here is pretty much status quo unless John Stockton wants to come out of retirement and come to Denver,” Karl said.
