Nuggets’ Karl could be out until playoffs

[duncan228]

Tough stuff. I wish him the best.

Nuggets’ Karl could be out until playoffs (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=mc-karlnuggets032310&prov=yhoo&type=lgns)
By Marc J. Spears

The Denver Nuggets have become less optimistic about whether coach George Karl will return before the playoffs, NBA sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Karl recently needed treatment for blood clots in his legs and lungs that surfaced while he was already undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatment for throat cancer, the sources said. The blood clots were treated successfully and Karl is expected to complete his cancer treatment at the end of next week, but the Nuggets aren’t confident he’ll feel strong enough to resume coaching at the start of April as was initially hoped.

Karl, who continues to have trouble speaking, will miss his eighth game on Tuesday with assistant coach Adrian Dantley also taking his place for the remainder of the Nuggets’ five-game trip. Sources said the Nuggets remain hopeful he’ll be back on the sideline for the start of the playoffs in three weeks, but they’re skeptical he’ll coach much before then.

“He’ll return – we just don’t really know the timing,” one source said. “It really depends on how he feels.”

The Nuggets are 5-2 in Karl’s absence. They entered Tuesday holding onto the second seed in the Western Conference, but the Dallas Mavericks, Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns are all within 2½ games.

[Xylus]

Get well, George Karl.

[boutons_deux]

In general, prognosis for head and neck cancers is generally poor. They're very hard to treat.

Good luck, George, you're gonna need tons of it.

Tough break for the Nuggs. They have as good a chance as anybody of winning the NBA.

[Pelicans78]

People with cancer are at a high risk of getting blood clots. He's gonna have to be on blood thinners for at least 3-6 months. Funny how the article reads his blood clots being treated successfully. What a joke. He will have have the clots for a few months.

[Killakobe81]

I wish him a speedy recovery but i never bought the nuggs as a title team ...
Not saying they couldnt beat the lakers but I could easily see them beat ing the Lakers and chokings vs the Cavs or Magic ...

[Xevious]

People with cancer are at a high risk of getting blood clots. He's gonna have to be on blood thinners for at least 3-6 months. Funny how the article reads his blood clots being treated successfully. What a joke. He will have have the clots for a few months.
Perhaps they meant he is adequately anticoagulanted and/or had an IVC filter placed. But you're right, those clots won't just go away that quick.

In any case, George Karl is sick. I wish him a speedy recovery, but a return this season is unlikely. Basketball should be the last thing on his mind right now anyway.


Wow, the Lakers just keep catching breaks.:lol
Classy.

[bostonguy]

Sucks something like this had to happen to Karl. Either way the Nuggets weren't winning the west this year because they aren't good on D, rely too much on emotion, and have too many low iq players.

[duncan228]

More. :(

Karl might miss rest of regular season (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=ap-nuggets-karl&prov=ap&type=lgns)
By Arnie Stapleton

The Denver Nuggets might not have coach George Karl back on the sideline until the playoffs begin next month.

Karl is undergoing treatment for throat and neck cancer and, according to a blog by his girlfriend, he was hospitalized this week with blood clots in his lungs and a leg.

Adrian Dantley has served as acting head coach for eight games since Karl announced just after the All-Star break that he had been diagnosed with cancer. Dantley is 5-3 in those games.

The Nuggets (47-24) are tied with Dallas in second place in the Western Conference standings and are clinging to a one-game lead over the Utah Jazz in the Northwest Division. They’ve lost two straight games, at home against Milwaukee, and at New York on Tuesday night, which kicked off a crucial five-game trip.

Karl, who beat prostate cancer a few years ago, is undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatment and has missed the Nuggets’ last three games. He did not accompany his team on its trip out East.

Karl’s partner, Kim Van Deraa, wrote on her blog that Karl had to be rushed to the hospital on Sunday afternoon because he had difficulty breathing and one of his legs was extremely swollen. She wrote that he was diagnosed with blood clots in his lungs and leg and that he underwent a procedure to place a filter in his stomach that would catch any blood clots.

Karl was much improved by Monday night, Van Deraa wrote. She said, however, that they weren’t sure when he would be released or when his radiation treatment would continue.

“We’re hoping both occur—since it would mean he’s gotten through the scare of the blood clots and we don’t want to add any weeks onto the schedule of radiation,” Van Deraa wrote in her blog, which was first cited by the Denver Post.

The Nuggets return from their trip on March 30 and play four of their last six games at home. Their regular season ends April 13.

The Nuggets also hope to have defensive stalwart Kenyon Martin back in mid-April in time for the playoffs. Martin has been sidelined by patella tendinitis in his left knee and underwent a dose of platelet-rich plasma therapy recently.

He will meet with doctors next week at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Vail to see if he needs another dose that could delay his return to the basketball court.

[Xevious]

Shove classy up your pathetic ass.
:lol

[mingus]

i never like George Karl in terms of basketball, but i can i sympathize with what his familly is going through to an extent. my mom is a cancer survivor and those were extremely tough times. i wish him and them the best.

[SpursRulez4eVeR]

Wow, the Lakers just keep catching breaks.:lol

wow nice conclusion you got

[mingus]

Karl is catching a tough break. Unfortunately, everyone catches them. I suppose it was much tougher seeing his son fight a similar battle. He should step away from his stressful job at this point. It comes a point when you have to put your health first.

a lot of people who are diagnosed are dilligent in trying to keep normalcy in their lives if they can. it's a way of coping with it mentally.

[Lukor]

a lot of people who are diagnosed are dilligent in trying to keep normalcy in their lives if they can. it's a way of coping with it mentally.

exactly. If you commit to being ill you might aswell give up because chances are you're going to die to cancer either way, might aswell enjoy doing stuff while you still can.

[Xevious]

a lot of people who are diagnosed are dilligent in trying to keep normalcy in their lives if they can. it's a way of coping with it mentally.
So true, but when you're talking about an NBA coach - the traveling, the late nights, stress, etc - it's hard on the body and mind. His pulmonary emboli, which are fatal in some cases, are just one of many different bad things that can happen. Cancer is bad enough. The treatment, pumping a hazardous chemical into your veins, makes it that much worse. As anybody who's experienced first hand or through a loved one knows.

I'll be surprised if he makes it back for the post season. And being that this is a contract year for him, who knows what will happen next season.

[mingus]

I think this is his second bout with cancer. I see your point, but Karl has to consider his health and family. All jokes aside, I think we can all agree that he has one of the toughest jobs on the planet dealing with those knuckle heads of his. Add in the emotional factor of winning and losing and I'm sure this has a negative effect on him psychologically. Removing yourself from a stressful environment is far from committing to being ill like the OP is suggesting. Rest and peace is his best medicine at this point.

the thing is part of the coping is that the normalcy extends to the familly - that they'll be happy because everything "is" normal. at least that's how it was with my mom. she didn't want anyone to worry so she kept teachng, even though it wasn't recommended, until it became physcally impossible to do so. it's not that he isn't considering them by coping, because he is. people who have cancer and other life-threatening illnesses don't see things the way they seem to us, so you can't judge them. see things from his shoes.

[duncan228]

Lance Armstrong's advice to George Karl (http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/14566/lance-armstrongs-advice-to-george-karl)
By Henry Abbott
TrueHoop

Rick Reilly writes (http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=5027853):

Reaction to "George vs. The Dragon (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=4997277)" -- my 24-hour look at Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl's punishing daily cancer treatments -- has been plentiful.

The latest to weigh in is Lance Armstrong, who has won seven Tour de France races after surviving 14 tumors and a 40-percent-chance-to-live prognosis.

Armstrong asked me to pass this message along to Coach Karl:

"Tell him he has to put EVERYTHING on hold. Stop. Nothing. Fight. And rest. No B-ball, no stress. He's too distracted staying up late, etc. Focus on this now so he can coach for years to come."

[duncan228]

Report: Karl's return questionable (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=5054537)

George Karl won't coach the Denver Nuggets for the remainder of the regular season and "probably not" the first round of the playoffs, his life partner told The Denver Post.

Kim Van Deraa, who has a five-year-old daughter with Karl, said plans beyond the first round are still up in the air.

"To count out all the playoffs, that's up to his body," she said, according to The Post. "Who knows when his return will be? No one knows. He doesn't even know. I'm sure he's hoping that if we go on a playoff run, that he can [coach] this season."

ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan reported last month that Karl would likely miss the rest of the regular season.

The Post's report said Karl has completed his 36 radiation treatments and will have his final chemotherapy session Wednesday. Van Deraa told the newspaper Karl struggles to speak and might need to be fed liquids through a tube for another three to six months.

The last time Karl attended a game was March 16, when he sat on the bench as the Nuggets took on the Washington Wizards.

[picc84]

He shouldnt come back at all this year. The stress of coaching, especially a playoff atmosphere, can't be good for fighting cancer off.