By Veronica An
In 2001, George Karl notched his 600th victory as head coach when the Milwaukee Bucks defeat the Denver Nuggets 116-111. Karl was the 17th NBA coach to reach 600 victories and achieved the milestone the 6th fastest. He later became one of only nine NBA coaches to reach the 1,000 victory mark. Karl spent five years as a starting point guard for the San Antonio Spurs (1973-78) before transitioning to the team’s assistant coach. Karl became head coach of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA)’s Montana Golden Nuggets team and won Coach of the Year both seasons. He returned to the NBA and quickly proved his abilities as a head coach. Under his leadership the Seattle SuperSonics averaged 59 wins per year, he coached the team from 1992 to 1998 and racked up 357 total wins. After moving on to The Milwaukee Bucks, Karl led the team to four playoffs thanks, in part, to the “Big Three” of Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen and Sam Cassell in 2001. After he left the Bucks, Karl turned around the Denver Nuggets. The team started with 17–25, he led them to a 32–8 record in the second half of the 2004–05 season and a 49–33 finish. Karl ended his coaching career with the Sacramento Kings and tallied a total of 1,999 games with a 0.588 win-loss percentage (1,175 wins).