The Denver Nuggets hired George Karl to be their head coach when I was 15 years old. Brought in midseason to replace the struggling Jeff Bzdelik, Karl led his new team to an astounding 32-8 record the rest of the way and got them back to the playoffs, where the Nuggets were then eliminated in the first round. At the time, all of us were ecstatic that our Nuggets even made it that far and we were convinced that brighter days were ahead. Little did we know that this was the beginning of a pattern that would become all too familiar to Denver fans: excellence and excitement in the regular season, mediocrity and frustration in the postseason.

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