George Karl is an ideal source to handicap the Warriors’ first-round playoff series against the Spurs. Not because he once played for San Antonio (after all, that was way back when “The Waltons” was must-see TV). And not because he once coached the Warriors (way back in Reagan’s second term).
No, Karl is the ideal source because the remarkable breadth of his pro basketball experience: 2,466 professional ABA and NBA games, in both the regular season and playoffs; a has-been as a player at 24, and a coach at 32; guiding the Warriors to the playoffs for the first time in nine years in his first season with the team, only to be hip-checked out the door by Don Nelson in his second.