Nba Shoots Sonics’ Coach In Pocketbook

Seattle SuperSonics coach George Karl was fined $10,000 on Tuesday by the NBA, less than 24 hours after he said official Ted Bernhardt “should be shot” for the way he officiated in Seattle’s 116-114 loss to the Charlotte Hornets.

But Karl hardly sounded like a coach who regretted his actions. On Tuesday, he was still sounding off.

“I don’t want to physically threaten anybody,” Karl said. “The terminology came out of anger based on the anger of confrontation after a tight game. I think it was a situation where his calls had a tremendous impact on the calls of the game. The one guy (Tony Brothers) wasn’t even on the court, and Jessie (Jess Kersey), one of our top-rated officials, was dominated by him (Bernhardt).”

What further concerns Karl is what he believes to be an ongoing history between the Sonics and Bernhardt.