Karl was dismissed with a year left on his contract, and just 29 days after he was named coach of the year for leading the Nuggets a 57-25 record â the franchiseâs best mark since entering the N.B.A.  He does not figure to be unemployed for long. Six teams are searching for head coaches, and Karl is already drawing interest from the Los Angeles Clippers and the Memphis Grizzlies. The Nets, who are also in the market for a coach, are not expected to pursue Karl, according to a person familiar with their search.  Karl, 62, is the 11th head coach to lose his job since the start of the season. That figure will probably rise to a dozen if the Grizzlies, as expected, let Lionel Hollins leave. Those two could end up trading places, with Hollins now high on the Nuggetsâ list of candidates.  It is also possible that Minnesotaâs Rick Adelman, who took a leave of absence this past season to be with his ailing wife, might resign.  That would make 13 teams changing coaches between opening night of 2012 and opening night of 2013, tying an N.B.A. high, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.  There were 13 head coaching changes in 2003 and 2005, according to Elias. There have been three years â 1992, 1997 and 2004 â in which 12 teams changed coaches.  Karl joined the Nuggets in the middle of the 2004-5 season and presided over five 50-win campaigns and eight trips to the playoffs. The Nuggets made it out of the first round only once, however, despite a lineup featuring Carmelo Anthony. Denver traded Anthony to the Knicks in 2011.  This past season was among the Nuggetsâ finest, as Karl guided a roster devoid of a single star to the fourth-best record in the league. But it ended on a sour note, as the Nuggets â without their injured No. 2 scorer, Danilo Gallinari â fell to the Golden State Warriors in the first round.  Karl was reportedly seeking a contract extension and, according to reports, was also flirting with the Clippers, irritating Nuggets ownership. His departure comes just a week after the Nuggets lost General Manager Masai Ujiri â named the N.B.A. executive of the year â to the Toronto Raptors.  Karl, who ranks sixth on the career list with 1,131 wins, now becomes the hottest name on the coaching market. Hollins and Brian Shaw, the Indiana Pacersâ associate head coach, are the other two most popular candidates.  In addition to the Nets, the Nuggets, the Clippers and the Grizzlies, the other teams with vacancies are the Detroit Pistons and the Philadelphia 76ers.  STERN STILL BACKS SPURS FINE Seven months after Gregg Popovich sent home four starters, riling the league and drawing a $250,000 fine, the San Antonio Spurs are in the finals â a result that could be viewed as vindication.  After all, Popovich, the Spursâ coach, said he made the decision to preserve his 30-something stars, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, who had broken down in prior seasons. But Popovich also sent home Danny Green, a much younger starter, leaving a lineup of second-stringers to battle the Miami Heat for a nationally televised game on Nov. 29.  Seven months later, Commissioner David Stern still feels justified in fining the Spurs for the move.  âPop is a great coach, a Hall of Famer and a visionary,â Stern said in his annual N.B.A. finals news conference. âBut on this one, he wasnât resting Danny Green. It was a game that was being played. I know it, you know it and he knows it. And maybe the game is successful.â  Stern was referring to the idea that Popovich was taking a stand against the N.B.A.âs schedule, which had the Spurs playing four road games in five nights that week. In fining the franchise, Stern cited a higher priority: guaranteeing ticket-buyers the best possible product.  He said the N.B.A. has âsome obligation to our fansâ to guarantee âthat if you buy a ticket for a particular team, that you might see a representative sample of that team.â  Stern added: âOf course, I would never, never tell a coach that he shouldnât rest a player that needs rest. We understand that completely. And thatâs not what we did.â  On other topics, Stern said the league would consider expanding the use of instant replay â perhaps with an off-site official reviewing plays, instead of the on-court officials â and stronger penalties to deter flopping.  This was the N.B.A.âs first season with an anti-flopping policy, with public warnings and fines used to discourage players from embellishing contact in an effort to fool the referees. It appeared to reduce the amount of acting during the regular season, but flopping took a prominent role in the Eastern Conference finals between the Heat and the Indiana Pacers, an indication that flopping cannot be eliminated when the stakes are high.  âIt isnât enough,â Stern said of the $5,000 fine for a first offense. âYouâre not going to cause somebody to stop it for $5,000 when the average playerâs salary is $5.5 million. And anyone who thought that was going to happen was allowing hope to prevail over reason. But you take a step and you begin to see it.â  Stern said the leagueâs competition committee and owners would consider a more stringent policy, but added, âI donât know if we have the stomach.â  This was Sternâs last finals address before his scheduled retirement next February. He eschewed any sentimental ruminations but said he was pleased with the matchup of the Spurs and the Heat, calling it âprobably the best that I could possibly expect for my last finals.â
George Karl, 62, guided the Denver Nuggets to a franchise-record 57 wins, but they were eliminated from the playoffs in the first round for the fourth straight year.