George Karl Offered To ‘Pep Talk’ Donald Trump About First-Round Losses

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By Friday morning, democratic nominee Joe Biden had overcome deficits in four key states and appeared to be well on his way to securing more than the necessary 270 electoral votes required to win the presidency and oust Donald Trump from office. But with thousands of ballots still waiting to be counted in each of those states, media outlets have done the responsible thing and held off on declaring a winner.
To many, it’s simply delaying the inevitable. To the incumbent demagogue, it’s an outcome that he’s clearly unwilling to concede at this point, as he and his lawyers are attempting to take legal action against the states in question based on spurious, unfounded claims of voter fraud. However, judges in Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Michigan have already thrown out those suits.
Trump’s unwillingness to come to terms with the results isn’t surprising. He signaled as much prior to the election and repeatedly refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power should he be defeated. It’s unclear how long this might drag on, even as many of his aides and GOP allies — including some of his friends at Fox News — have begun to distance themselves in preparation for the incoming administration.
Convincing Trump of his new reality won’t be easy, but thankfully, there are plenty out there willing to take up the task. Long-time NBA coach George Karl, for instance, took to Twitter on Friday to offer him some wisdom and advice on how to deal with tough losses.

If @realDonaldTrump needs a pep talk about managing through first round losses, I would be willing to speak with him tonight or read him a bed time story.
— George Karl (@CoachKarl22) November 7, 2020
Karl, of course, can speak from experience on first-round losses. In the ’94 season, Karl led Seattle to the No. 1 seed in the West before they fell in the opening round to the eighth-seed Nuggets. The same thing happened the following year when the 57-win Sonics lost to the Lakers in the first round. There were other first-round losses during his tenure with the Bucks, and then an absolutely brutal run of first-round losses with the Nuggets in eight of his nine seasons at the helm.
Karl also hasn’t been shy about taking shots at his enemies on Twitter. He recently reignited his beef with DeMarcus Cousins by once again tweeting out a snake emoji, and unleashed on Mark Jackson during the playoffs when the TNT analyst criticized his coaching on air.
Trump historically has had no qualms about engaging in Twitter feuds with anyone who deigns to cross him, no matter how small or petty the sleight, although he might have his hands full with the way things have been going for him the past couple of days.