Utah Jazz CEO Greg Miller and assistant coach Karl Malone’s feud is over – NBA Update
The vendetta between Utah Jazz CEO, owner Greg Miller and assistant coach Karl Malone (The Mailman) is finally over. They both were seen in a balmy mood sharing smiles during the Jazz and Phoenix Suns match on 4 April 2012. Miller
concurred that.
"Karl and I have got it worked out and everything’s good,"
In the past month they have been blogging furiously against each other.
The feud erupted after Malone openly criticized the franchise. He was cynical about the way they dealt with Jerry Sloan’s exit last year. Malone came down hard on Greg during a radio appearance on January 27. He said that the franchise
had given point guard Deron Williams too much power and it was the coach who had to pay the price.
Sloan had to resign mid season last year, after the gradual deterioration of his relations with Williams. It reached a boiling point during the match against Chicago Bulls on February 9th 2011. Williams went against
coach’s play calls and Sloan wanted him to be disciplined but the management didn’t support him and he resigned in protest on the very next day.
"I know for a fact that (Sloan) was overridden on practices sometime on the road because Deron was calling our GM (Kevin O'Connor) at that time," Malone said, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. " ... You give a guy that much power,
and he's the kind of player you think he played hard all the time, but if he wanted to sulk he could sulk ... I never went to (co-owner) Larry (Miller) to talk about Coach Sloan. ... It's not one time, in my gut and heart, that I would go over his head."
Moreover the Mailman started to portray himself as a victim as well, he said that he was deprived of seat tickets in a Jazz match and eventually he had to buy them from a scalper.
Naturally this was enough to infuriate the CEO. In response he called Malone a liar and irresponsible. He blogged his response and referred to assistant coach as “too unreliable and too unstable” to help the team as an assistant
coach.
He also tweeted.
“Hey Karl – You’re lying. You have my number. Next time you need a seat to a Jazz game, call me. You can have mine.”
After exchanging incendiary statements and turning the personnel vendetta into media circus, NBA commissioner had to intervene as a mediator. Stern expressed his wish on February 6th that he would appreciate it if the
two resolve the problem amicably.
They finally did so and the official reconciliation was promulgated during Wednesday same night when Jazz tipped off against Suns. Now after 6 months since Sloan’s retirement their interpersonal relations are at the best.
Tags: