George Karl Officially Cleared To Return As Nuggets Coach

George Karl went through the fight of his life last year, as his throat cancer kept him off the bench as the Nuggets entered the playoffs. Without him, his team sputtered, and now, the Nuggets are in flux thanks to Carmelo Anthony all but demanding a trade to another team.

But luckily for the Nuggets, they will once again have their head coach. In an interview with Dave Krieger of the Denver Post, Karl said he will return to the bench next season.

"It's official," Karl said Thursday just before taking off for a long Labor Day weekend with family. "I've been cleared to go for it. My PET scan came back great."

Karl is still not fully recovered from chemotherapy and radiation treatment, but the PET scan he had was "excellent," so he should be good to go. He told Krieger that he will have several more PET scans in the next year. 

Karl also thinks the situation with Anthony will work itself out.

"For some reason, our P.R. in the summer, it seems like people like to think that we're going to be awful. And I just go, why? Why do they think this? We've put three 50-win seasons on the board. Even without Melo I think we're a good basketball team.

"I think we're going to work something out with Melo and it's going to come out positive for Denver Nugget basketball. I don't know what that is, but that's my belief inside, it's my positive energy that I now can push on basketball a little bit more than I push on my health."

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