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Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Coaching, Masai Ujiri, Adrian Dantley 

Adrian Dantley on Sunday confirmed a New York Post report that he has been let go. His contract, expiring at the end of this month, won’t be renewed for next season. "Oh, yeah, I’m done,’’ Dantley said. "(Nuggets coach George Karl) fired me Friday.’’ denverstiffs.com

Denver Nuggets, Coaching, Adrian Dantley 

Messages left Sunday for Karl and Nuggets executive vice president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri were not immediately returned. "I got fired because I didn’t rotate on the bench,’’ said Dantley, who was regarded as Karl’s lead assistant and filled in for Karl for the final 1 ½ months of the 2009-10 season when the head man was battling a form of throat cancer. denverstiffs.com

Denver Nuggets, Coaching, Adrian Dantley 

Dantley would not single out any specific assistants. The New York Post reported "one or lower-level assistants’’ suggested the rotation to Karl. "This had to do with a whole lot of backstabbing,’’ Dantley said. "I got fired because I wouldn’t rotate. And people felt uncomfortable (about that).’’ denverstiffs.com

Denver Nuggets, Coaching, Adrian Dantley 

"I didn’t rotate,’’ said Dantley, an NBA star forward from 1976-2001 who was named in 2008 to the Hall of Fame. "I wasn’t going to rotate. If they (other assistants) want the publicity to sit up front, I don’t need the publicity… I got no problem not being seen on TV and sitting at the back of the bench.’’ denverstiffs.com

Denver Nuggets, Coaching, Adrian Dantley 

He was asked if he was disappointed about the timing of Karl’s decision, which came the day after the draft (Dantley had been helping work out prospects) and a week before the NBA is expected to go on what could be a long lockout. "What upset me is the loyalty you show to someone and you get screwed,’’ Dantley said. denverstiffs.com

Denver Nuggets, Coaching, Adrian Dantley 

George Karl is the latest in that long line of disillusion-ists. Three days ago, reveals a source, the Nuggets head coach, whose opulent contract was extended several months ago, fired top assistant Adrian Dantley. OK, fired might not be the correct word. Karl’s aide for eight seasons was not signed past this month. One way or the other, his immediate superior, theoretical friend and throat cancer survivor, who you’d think might have accrued approximate compassion for other peoples’ plights during his harrowing ordeal, did not notify Dantley he was done until the majority of jobs throughout the NBA were filled or promised. And, oh, yeah, with a league lockout looming a week away. New York Post

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Coaching, Adrian Dantley 

Had friction occurred in Dantley’s case? Not as far as the Hall of Fame forward is concerned. Karl obviously felt differently about a quandary that surfaced during the season. Without Dantley’s knowledge, either one or two lower-level assistants went to Karl and (hoping to get more exposure, I presume) asked to sit on the bench instead of behind it; league law allows three up front. New York Post

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Coaching, Adrian Dantley 

Karl alerted Dantley to the request and mentioned a possible rotation, yet never demanded it or set it in motion. Not looking to create any waves, A.D. shifted one row back without being ordered to. While the move drew little, if any, attention in Denver, the league’s coaches took notice of Dantley’s apparent demotion and wondered why Karl would do him like that. After all, this was the man who was put in charge of the Nuggets for the final 13 games (seven wins) of the 2009-2010 season and their first-round playoff series (2-4) against the depleted Jazz. The guy who took a beating for him when Karl’s cancer treatments made it impossible to eat, much less go to work. New York Post

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Coaching, Adrian Dantley 

In late May, Karl told Dantley he was thinking about making a change. “You didn’t look happy this season,” he told him, raising the back-of-the-bus, er, in-back-of-the-bench situation. “I’m fine. It didn’t bother me to sit there,” Dantley said. “I like being here. I want to stay.” Karl pledged to give him the word within the next couple of days. Despite being around each other on at least two occasions after that, Karl kept Dantley in the dark for more than three weeks. In a subsequent meeting with his retained assistants, Karl told them, “A.D.’s firing was your fault.” New York Post

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Coaching, Adrian Dantley