Brian Damage
02-17-2010, 10:59 AM
With his eyes watering and his team standing by his side, Nuggets coach George Karl announced Tuesday night that he is again battling cancer, and he will miss some games and practices during the next six weeks to undergo intense radiation treatment.
Karl has squamous cell carcinoma in his right tonsil, which has metastasized to a lymph node in his neck, according to his physician, Dr. Jacques Saari of Sky Ridge Hospital. Karl called it "a curable and treatable disease."
The cancer was diagnosed in late December when Saari found a large, 2-inch wide lump on the coach's throat. Karl, 58, beat prostate cancer about five years ago, and his son, Coby, is a thyroid cancer survivor.
"I'm very blessed to have great family,
Nuggets coach George Karl, with his players, at a news conference Tuesday night. Karl announced he will leave the team to battle throat cancer. More photos. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)friends, organization and team that's supported me — and I will need all of them in different ways," Karl said. "I don't think I'm a guy who needs sympathy, but I do need support. The major desire for me is to kick this cancer's butt and stay with a team that I think can win a championship."
Nuggets assistant coach Adrian Dantley, a Hall of Fame player, will be the Nuggets head coach when Karl can't attend games. Karl already said he will miss the road games on Feb. 25 at Golden State and March 10 at Minnesota.
"The first three to four weeks, I think coach will do very well," Saari said, "and the last two to three weeks, in the course of therapy, will be difficult. We'll need the support of the Nuggets organization and all the physicians to get him through this."
Bret Adams, Karl's close friend for 20 years, called the coach "the toughest guy I've ever met in my life." Adams was the one who negotiated Karl's one-year contract extension, which was agreed upon last Friday, while Karl was in Dallas to coach the Western Conference team in the All-Star Game.
Karl broke down at one point during the news conference when asked whether he had come to grips with having cancer once again.
"I don't think I have," he said. "There are no guaranteed contracts in this gig. The unknown is still the unknown. The doctors are very confident, but mutations of cells come in different forms, and we'll have to give it the best shot we have. I'll probably have some bad days, but I'm ready for the competition."
Saari said that it takes a month-and-a-half from the diagnosis to begin the treatments for a number of reasons, notably magnetic resonance imaging tests, the analysis of slides showing the squamous cell carcinoma and numerous meetings with physicians, oncologists, radiation therapists and head-and-neck surgeons. He said surgery was not a good option due to the risk.
"It's a very complicated surgery fraught with problems. The idea is to go in hard with radiation," he said.
The Nuggets, second in the Western Conference at the moment, are a championship-caliber team, Karl reiterated on Tuesday, "and my hope is to be close to 100 percent come the playoff run in mid-April."
The Nuggets returned from the all-star break for a 5 p.m. practice on Tuesday. Karl oversaw practice before the news conference. After practice, the players got emotional.
"A situation like this is real life. You take the basketball out of it," guard Chauncey Billups said. "Your heart just goes out to him. All we can do is just pray for him. It's just hard — we're all family."
Nuggets center Nene battled testicular cancer during the 2007-08 season.
"Everybody has (leadership) responsibility now. Everybody needs to give a little more effort," Nene said. "If we do our best, we're going to make coach feel better."
In a statement, Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke said: "We will continue to support our head coach in any way we can. Our thoughts are with him and his family as he focuses on getting healthy."
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14412409#ixzz0foEp8I1q
Karl has squamous cell carcinoma in his right tonsil, which has metastasized to a lymph node in his neck, according to his physician, Dr. Jacques Saari of Sky Ridge Hospital. Karl called it "a curable and treatable disease."
The cancer was diagnosed in late December when Saari found a large, 2-inch wide lump on the coach's throat. Karl, 58, beat prostate cancer about five years ago, and his son, Coby, is a thyroid cancer survivor.
"I'm very blessed to have great family,
Nuggets coach George Karl, with his players, at a news conference Tuesday night. Karl announced he will leave the team to battle throat cancer. More photos. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)friends, organization and team that's supported me — and I will need all of them in different ways," Karl said. "I don't think I'm a guy who needs sympathy, but I do need support. The major desire for me is to kick this cancer's butt and stay with a team that I think can win a championship."
Nuggets assistant coach Adrian Dantley, a Hall of Fame player, will be the Nuggets head coach when Karl can't attend games. Karl already said he will miss the road games on Feb. 25 at Golden State and March 10 at Minnesota.
"The first three to four weeks, I think coach will do very well," Saari said, "and the last two to three weeks, in the course of therapy, will be difficult. We'll need the support of the Nuggets organization and all the physicians to get him through this."
Bret Adams, Karl's close friend for 20 years, called the coach "the toughest guy I've ever met in my life." Adams was the one who negotiated Karl's one-year contract extension, which was agreed upon last Friday, while Karl was in Dallas to coach the Western Conference team in the All-Star Game.
Karl broke down at one point during the news conference when asked whether he had come to grips with having cancer once again.
"I don't think I have," he said. "There are no guaranteed contracts in this gig. The unknown is still the unknown. The doctors are very confident, but mutations of cells come in different forms, and we'll have to give it the best shot we have. I'll probably have some bad days, but I'm ready for the competition."
Saari said that it takes a month-and-a-half from the diagnosis to begin the treatments for a number of reasons, notably magnetic resonance imaging tests, the analysis of slides showing the squamous cell carcinoma and numerous meetings with physicians, oncologists, radiation therapists and head-and-neck surgeons. He said surgery was not a good option due to the risk.
"It's a very complicated surgery fraught with problems. The idea is to go in hard with radiation," he said.
The Nuggets, second in the Western Conference at the moment, are a championship-caliber team, Karl reiterated on Tuesday, "and my hope is to be close to 100 percent come the playoff run in mid-April."
The Nuggets returned from the all-star break for a 5 p.m. practice on Tuesday. Karl oversaw practice before the news conference. After practice, the players got emotional.
"A situation like this is real life. You take the basketball out of it," guard Chauncey Billups said. "Your heart just goes out to him. All we can do is just pray for him. It's just hard — we're all family."
Nuggets center Nene battled testicular cancer during the 2007-08 season.
"Everybody has (leadership) responsibility now. Everybody needs to give a little more effort," Nene said. "If we do our best, we're going to make coach feel better."
In a statement, Nuggets owner Stan Kroenke said: "We will continue to support our head coach in any way we can. Our thoughts are with him and his family as he focuses on getting healthy."
Read more: http://www.denverpost.com/ci_14412409#ixzz0foEp8I1q