Story about Nick Van Exel
Seattle, 1993. Van Exel was in Seattle for a predraft tryout with the Sonics. "We had a breakfast about 7:30 in the morning,'' recalled George Karl, a former North Carolina Tar Heel who was coaching the Sonics at the time. "And Nick had made a comment in his senior year about Dean Smith being just an ordinary coach. So during the breakfast I kind of ripped him -- for an hour -- on some of his questionable characteristics in his life. I was really hard on him. He was pretty good about it, but I was really tough on him.''
After breakfast, Van Exel went up to his room to dress for the workout. Downstairs in the lobby, Karl was threatening to cancel the workout and drive Van Exel back to the airport, to punish him for his heresy against the Carolina godfather.
"So I'm waiting for him in the lobby,'' Karl said, "and he walks off the elevator wearing a Duke hat.'' He came out of the locker room and walked right past Karl without making eye contact, his Duke turned sideways on his head. "He said it was coincidence,'' Karl said. "But he knew what was going on. I said to my assistant, 'That's really bull----! But it's good bull----.' "
Van Exel had an excellent workout for the Sonics, and he went on to have a strong 13-year career for six teams other than Seattle. But this week he has been an assistant coach for the summer league team of the Nuggets, whom Karl now oversees as head coach. "He's pretty good as a coach,'' Karl admitted grudgingly. "He knows the game.''
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/w ... own/1.html
