Six years ago, Joe Wolf called George Karl and asked the then-Milwaukee Bucks coach if he could sit in on practices, study game film and take out the trash if need be.
Wolf, who played 11 seasons in the NBA including two stints with the Nuggets, had been helping his brother coach their old high school in Kohler, Wis., to a state basketball championship. Wolf figured he had nothing to lose by commuting 40 or so miles to Milwaukee to learn under a fellow University of North Carolina alum whom he admired.
“I don’t think Joe ever missed a day,” Karl said. “He said he wanted to coach. He worked hard.”
Karl has returned the favor. The Nuggets’ coach helped Wolf become the inaugural head coach and general manager of the expansion Colorado 14ers, an NBA Development League team that will begin a 23-game home schedule Dec. 1 at the new Broomfield Event Center.
Wolf was introduced as the 14ers’ coach Thursday at the Pepsi Center.
“I’ve always thought Joe thought like a head coach, like the leader of the pack,” Karl said.
Wolf considers Karl his mentor. He served two seasons as a volunteer coach with the Bucks, then worked one year as a college assistant at William and Mary. He coached the Idaho Stampede of the Continental Basketball Association the past two seasons.
Wolf figured he would work in the business world – until he caught the coaching bug.
“I learned how to coach and teach the professional game through George,” Wolf said. “Sitting in with him for those two years with the Bucks ignited a fire that I didn’t know. I’ve been passionate about coaching since then.”
The 14ers will be an affiliate team of the Nuggets, New Jersey Nets and Toronto Raptors. Karl said he wasn’t sure how many players under contract with the Nuggets would see time in Broomfield. Denver did not have a pick in the 2006 NBA draft. Karl hopes eventually the 14ers become a feeder team for the Nuggets, similar to a Triple-A franchise in baseball.
Footnotes
Wolf met his wife while playing for the Nuggets. The former Jill Reich is a native Coloradan who played high school basketball at Machebeuf. … Season-ticket prices for 14ers games will range from $255 to $885 courtside. Single-game prices haven’t been announced but likely will range from $8 to $40, said Gary Hunter, president of Broomfield Sports and Entertainment. … Hunter believes the Broomfield Event Center is the nation’s only arena its size (6,000 seats for basketball) that has a practice gym. That will come in handy for the 14ers when the facility becomes a hockey rink for Rocky Mountain Rage games.
Tom Kensler can be reached at 303-820-5456 or tkensler@denverpost.com.
