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Jason Quick: That is four confirmed votes by Western Conf. coaches for @LaMarcus Aldridge: Monty Williams, George Karl, Brooks and Sacramento coach Keth Smart Twitter

Portland Trail Blazers, George Karl, Monty Williams, Keith Smart, LaMarcus Aldridge, Scott Brooks 

Nuggets coach George Karl endorses LaMarcus Aldridge as an All-Star selection for the second straight year: "He's got my vote. I think I voted for him last year. He's an All-Star. You go from Bynum to Aldridge, even though they are different types of power players, big men that can dominate a game. I would think Aldridge has more skill and polish, he can beat you inside, he can beat you running, he can beat you making 18-foot jump shots." Sulia

Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers, George Karl, LaMarcus Aldridge 

When the Nuggets visited New York on Jan. 21, Anthony sought out Karl in the visiting locker room before the game. The two hadn’t spoken since the trade. Karl called the discussion “good,” but said the two would benefit more from talking in the offseason. He said he might meet Anthony in Las Vegas this summer for dinner during Team USA’s Olympic training camp. “When it first started, I was like, ‘What are we going to talk about?’ ” Karl said of their Jan. 21 meeting. “He mentioned that we hadn’t talked and he wanted to get things on the table. “I said, “ ‘Melo, in times like this when it’s so emotional, sometimes it’s good to wait. It’s not that I don’t want to talk to you. It’s a he-said, she-said thing. I don’t know what you’re really thinking. I’m not going to trust what’s in the paper. I respect you. You’re the best scorer I ever coached. What you did [in Denver] before I got here, and what we did once we got together, is a pretty good run. It doesn’t have a lot of playoff success, but it has a lot of good basketball.’ ” Yahoo! Sports

Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Trade, George Karl, Carmelo Anthony 

Karl says these Nuggets are a lot easier to coach than his previous teams. In fact, he’s enjoying coaching as much as he ever has. “We were on 2½ hours of practice killing them [in training camp], just killing them,” Karl said. “Never heard one moment of bitching. Not one word of complaining, just, ‘What coach wants, that’s what we are doing.’ After six years, we always did something wrong with the old crew. “It was refreshing but also motivating.” Yahoo! Sports

Denver Nuggets, George Karl 

Karl says these Nuggets are a lot easier to coach than his previous teams. In fact, he’s enjoying coaching as much as he ever has. “We were on 2½ hours of practice killing them [in training camp], just killing them,” Karl said. “Never heard one moment of bitching. Not one word of complaining, just, ‘What coach wants, that’s what we are doing.’ After six years, we always did something wrong with the old crew. “It was refreshing but also motivating.” Yahoo! Sports

Denver Nuggets, George Karl 

Gallinari, who was given a four-year, $42 million contract extension last month, has emerged as the Nuggets’ leading scorer. Still, it remains to be seen in the playoffs if Denver will again miss Anthony’s ability to take over in the closing moments of a tight game. Karl admits the Nuggets lack a “stud closer,” but he’s also tired of answering questions whether that’s bad for the team. “Why not run the play through the best matchup through your hottest player?” Karl said. “Why not do it with more than one guy? If you don’t know where you’re going to go, it’s probably difficult for [the other team] to cover it. And, statistically, closers aren’t great. They’re all about the same – but ‘Melo was pretty good at it, don’t get me wrong.” Yahoo! Sports

Denver Nuggets, George Karl 

David Locke: More George Karl on Kanter "He has great hands, he looks like a 10-10 guy to me already or better very soon." Twitter

Denver Nuggets, Utah Jazz, George Karl, Enes Kanter 

"I'm kind of fed up about teams coming in here shooting 50 percent, scoring 100 points," Nuggets coach George Karl said Sunday night after watching the Utah Jazz achieve both marks in a 106-96 victory over his team at the Pepsi Center. "Utah played with the intensity that we played with (Friday) against Miami in the first half, and we didn't show up with intensity," Karl said. "They gained some confidence. We didn't get a lot of confidence in the game early in the game. We missed layups and free throws, didn't convert easy opportunities like our offense normally does." Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, George Karl 

Karl knew why. "I probably blame it on our NBA cool," he said. "We thought we were cool after kicking Miami's butt, and we got embarrassed. The NBA game does it quite frequently. If you think you're better than you are, or think you're cooler than you are and you don't think you have to put in the hard work to win games, you get embarrassed. We got embarrassed." Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, George Karl 

"I'd recommend highly organizations don't go through it," Nuggets coach George Karl said of what he endured last season. "We had such a wear and tear on us. It's just a negative energy, and I think we all know negative energies, you don't like being around them. And not only was it a negative energy, you got asked (about it by the media) every day. Now, I chose to talk about it. Some people might choose not to talk about it. I used it as kind of therapy for myself because it was wild and crazy." FOXSports Florida

Denver Nuggets, George Karl 

There were daily rumors about where Anthony, who could have opted out of his contract in the summer of 2011 and left the Nuggets with nothing, might go. The situation became even more of a distraction when it became apparent Denver's second All-Star, Chauncey Billups, was on the verge of also being dealt. "I hope it's a once-in-lifetime thing, that I never have to do again," Karl said of it all. "It's very draining. I don't know how you stop it from being draining… There were a lot of days that everybody was kind of heavy and mad and nothing can make it go away." FOXSports Florida

Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Trade, George Karl, Carmelo Anthony, Chauncey Billups 

Karl often talks about his strong bench — in regards to his coaching staff. One of his young protégés is Melvin Hunt, who was a Brown assistant for five seasons in Cleveland. "He's intelligent, he's trustworthy, he works really hard and he has a presence as an assistant coach," Brown said. "I think when start combining those things, now you're talking head coach. It's just a matter of time, in my opinion, before he gets a shot." Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Coaching, Melvin Hunt 

Karl admitted that as the lockout dragged on, he actually considered finding a temporary coaching job overseas, just because he missed the day-to-day aspects of the game he loves. "I can't go a whole year without coaching. I've got to go somewhere," he said. "I had that conversation with Masai (Ujiri, the team executive)." Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Coaching 

Lawson sprinted out of the gate, hitting eight of his first nine shots on the way to a game-high 27 points for the Nuggets, who started this lockout- shortened season with a stylish 115-93 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night at the American Airlines Center. "It was pretty impressive the way we went about what we had to do," Nuggets coach George Karl said. "We knew we had a team that played (Sunday), and the pace of the game has always been our advantage against Dallas." Denver Post

Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Ty Lawson 

In 1986, Fernando Martín (pronounced Mar-teen) became the first Spaniard to make it to the NBA. Then he then returned to his native land and played for Real Madrid, which soon hired a former NBA coach named George Karl. On Dec. 3, 1989, Martín was driving to a game when his car skidded off a highway and crashed. Martín died at a hospital. He was 27. "I remember consoling my son," said Karl, who was with 6-year-old Coby at the time. "It was one of those moments when time just stops. You don't know how to act. You're frozen by the moment." Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Rudy Fernandez, Real Madrid, Spain, Fernando Martin 

Last week, Karl and Fernandez got to talking. George told Rudy about his own experiences with Real Madrid. About the culture he embraced. The friends he cherished. The players he adored. "It was a difficult time," Karl said, "but it was a rewarding time. And our team, we were very close, a lot because of what happened to us." In its first game after Martín died, Karl's team was lost, playing in a daze of malaise. Karl recalled his halftime speech: "I said, 'No one expects you to figure this out. Other than Fernando. He thinks you're a bunch of (wimps) right now.' " Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Rudy Fernandez, Real Madrid, Spain, Fernando Martin 

"Having Kenyon with Nene was huge," Karl said, "but that doesn't mean we can't do it with team concepts and philosophies and giving guys pride and responsibility to do it on their own. ... He was a veteran, defensive-minded guy who was a big part of our toughness. Filling Kenyon's minutes is probably the most difficult to do, but in the same sense, I think it can be done. "Nene was basically always the B defender. Now he has to be the A defender. Nene can be in a similar category. The only problem is when you had two of them, you didn't worry about foul trouble. Now can we get a team concept to camouflage that (by rotating in other big men for short snippets)? We also might jump in the pick-and-roll rather than switching all the time." Denver Post

Denver Nuggets, George Karl, Nene 

Fernandez is now on Denver — acquired in a trade this week with Dallas — and the 6-foot-6 Spanish shooting guard is thrilled about coming off the bench and launching 3s — sort of a J.R. Smith 2.0 ... or, well, dos punto cero. "I want to play free and comfortably and with this system of George Karl," Fernandez said Thursday, his first day in Nuggets camp. "Run and fast break — I think it's the best for me. I'm ready." Denver Post

Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Trade, George Karl, Rudy Fernandez 

Carlos Sanchez Blas: Rudy Fernandez: "Real Madrid fans have made me a better player and a better person. But the buyout is quite impossible." Twitter

Denver Nuggets, Trade, George Karl, Rudy Fernandez, Real Madrid, Spain 

Rudy Fernandez: "I'm happy about the change. George Karl called me at 5 am. We spoke for quite a while and I think I will easily adjust to Denver's style. I think I'm going to fit in. He told he he had flat out asked for the acquisition because I fit into their system." Marca.com

Denver Nuggets, Trade, George Karl, Rudy Fernandez