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George Karl: Coaches Should Give Players Freedom To Play

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George Karl (@CoachKarl22) is a basketball lifer. He learned his basketball playing and coaching from Dean Smith, the late, great University of North Carolina coach and PCA National Advisory Board Member. Karl became just the seventh coach in NBA history to reach 1,000 career wins. He earned the NBA Coach of the Year Award in 2013 and has served as head coach for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State Warriors, Albany Patroons (CBA), Real Madrid (EuroLeague), Seattle SuperSonics (which he led to the NBA Finals), Milwaukee Bucks, Denver Nuggets, and Sacramento Kings.

Karl here explains the importance of teammates trusting each other and coaches trusting their players, even in the wake of mistakes. "Players should be as free to make mistakes as they are to succeed. If you tighten that rope around mistakes, it leads to failure."