Former NBA coach, George Karl, criticized Carmelo Anthony, in his new book, Furious George.

George coached Anthony on a Nuggets team that the two led to a Western Conference Finals in which they were defeated by the eventual NBA Champion Kobe Bryant Lakers.

“Carmelo was a true conundrum for me in the six years I had him,” wrote Karl. “He was the best offensive player I ever coached. He was also a user of people, addicted to the spotlight and very unhappy when he had to share it.”

Karl went on to elaborate on the defensive deficiencies of Carmelo Anthony, who Karl believed could have “become the best defender at his position in the NBA.’’

“He really lit my fuse with his low demand of himself on defense,” wrote George. “He had no commitment to the hard, dirty work of stopping the other guy. My ideal — probably every coach’s ideal — is when your best player is also your leader. But since Carmelo only played hard on one side of the ball, he made it plain he couldn’t lead the Nuggets, even though he said he wanted to. Coaching him meant working around his defense and compensating for his attitude.”

Karl reasoned that the upbringing of Anthony might explain what Karl considers a troublesome NBA career.

“[Carmelo and former Nuggets teammates Kenyon Martin, and J.R. Smith were] AAU babies — the spoiled brats you see in junior golf and junior tennis,” continued Karl. “Kenyon and Carmelo carried two big burdens: all that money and no father to show them how to act like a man.”