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UNC Basketball: Who Is Presenting George Karl at Hall Of Fame?

By Aaron Conrad

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - APRIL 02: George Karl is presented as a 2022 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee at halftime of the game between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Duke Blue Devils during the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinal at Caesars Superdome on April 02, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - APRIL 02: George Karl is presented as a 2022 Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee at halftime of the game between the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Duke Blue Devils during the 2022 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinal at Caesars Superdome on April 02, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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When George Karl is presented for The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 10th, he will be joined by some notable members of the UNC basketball program.

Former UNC basketball standout George Karl will be among friends and one of his former players when he is inducted into The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in early September.

It was announced this week that legendary head coach Roy Williams (Hall of Fame Class of 2007) and Karl’s former UNC basketball teammate Bobby Jones (Hall of Fame Class of 2019) will escort him to the stage. He will also be joined by one of his former players, Gary Payton (Hall of Fame Class of 2013), who played for him while he was the head coach of the Seattle Supersonics.

As a player at North Carolina, Karl averaged 13.8 points per game while playing for legendary head coach Dean Smith. He left his greatest mark on coaching where he is currently ranked seventh all-time with 1065 wins over 24 seasons in the National Basketball Association.

His coaching career in the NBA began in Sacramento, as he served as a 28-year-old assistant during the 1979-1980 season. A few years later, the Cleveland Cavaliers tabbed him as their head coach, as he helped end the franchise’s seven-year playoff drought.

After a brief stop with the Golden State Warriors, Karl put together a very successful seven-year run with the Seattle Supersonics. In each of his six full seasons with the organization, the Supersonics won 55 or more games, putting together a staggering .719 winning percentage over that span.

Karl and the Supersonics made a run to the 1995-1996 NBA Finals, but fellow Tar Heel Michael Jordan got the upper hand in that matchup.

Seattle was Karl’s most successful stop in his coaching career, but he did go on to have two additional good stints with the Milwaukee Bucks (five seasons) and the Denver Nuggets (9 seasons).

The former UNC basketball standout finished his coaching career after the 2015-2016 season, as he currently ranks sixth all-time for wins by a head coach.

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