Denver Nuggets head coach George Karl was a former coach of the year awardee who was fired right after the season that he won. While that is unimaginable for some, it's par for the course in the NBA.

The NBA is a players' league. While coaching is undoubtedly a huge factor for team success (it may even be the deciding factor), the fact is, the NBA is run by the players, and whoever is running the players.

George Karl felt that he was receiving undue pressure with regards to their young center acquisition, Javale McGee. He also felt that some players were not really 'all in' with the team. The situation was rather unfair for Karl, who fought through cancer and returned to coach a Nuggets team that did not have a legitimate superstat in the highly competitive Western Conference.

In a revealing interview with Blitzkried, Karl very subtly hints on a possible career change.

On whether he watches his former team:

"When I have a relaxed moment, I do. I don't ever say, 'I can't do that because I have to watch the Nuggets game.' It's really strange but in my discussions with ESPN and amongst other situations in TV and radio, Denver doesn't come up. It just seems like the rest of the nation doesn't think they're relevant. So I think they've got to re-prove themselves."

 On Javale McGee and his refusal to give him more playing time:

"He came here as a player that played 30 minutes [in Washington] without earning that responsibility, was given that responsibility because they were a bad team. My year with him last year, I was trying to figure out what he was. I thought at the end of last year he earned the right to get more minutes this year but I don't think he earned the right to be given 30 minutes."

On the resulting pressure from management: "I don't remember that conversation directly, one-on-one, either with [owner] Josh [Kroenke] or even [former general manager] Masai [Ujiri]. I think they tried to lobby through my assistants quite frequently, especially Masai. But we were having such a fun year last year that the opportunity probably didn't come up until we lost to Golden State."

On Andre Iguodala being a 'mole' for coach Mark Jackson:

"No question. I just think that's media hype. I mean, that series was not a physical series. Everybody wants to be more aggressive with the guy kicking your ass, so . . . ."

The Nuggets lost that hard fought first-round series to the Golden State Warriors and it eventually led to Karl getting fired. Of course, there were other issues.

Moving on, which team does he admire (question behind the question is 'Which team would he like to coach)

"The team I like a lot and it bothers me is New Orleans. That Davis kid is coming and their three guys out front, Holiday and Gordon and Evans, can get to the rim, and they can score. Gordon can be a great shooter. And then they've got the Ryan Anderson kid who's the best shooting four in basketball.

 I think they should be playing better. But I'm still on record that I like 'em a lot. I like them because Anthony Davis is a basketball player. He's not a big man. He's a basketball player that's seven feet tall. And I just think the game is about basketball players, not necessarily position players."