Karl looks to savor the taste of victory after cancer recovery

“The only thing that’s tasted really good has been an Oreo milkshake,” Karl said as he sat in his Pepsi Center office. “But that was about two weeks ago. Tasting and your sense of taste and just trying to figure out your eating habits, I think it’s going to be a process.”

After enjoying the excess of Oreos, the Nuggets coach is ready to dive back into basketball's X’s and O’s.

Karl, 59, reached a milestone in his recovery from throat and neck cancer last week when encouraging test results prompted his physicians to clear him to resume normal coaching activities. Another PET scan is scheduled around Thanksgiving.

“The first bridge has been cleared, basically is what we’re saying,” Karl said. “For most of the treatment, the doctors have always said returning to what you did is kind of … they want you to do that.

“The first (test), there’s a feeling of, ‘You’ve won. You’re on the right path,’ but the reality is cancer is a hell of an opponent and it keeps fighting. It’s a mutated cell that we think we understand but scientists have proven that at times there’s a lot of surprises in the cancer world.”

With 22 seasons under his belt as an NBA head coach, few things surprise Karl on the basketball court. That’s part of the reason why a quiet confidence remains inside the Nuggets locker room despite a shakeup in the front office and a summer of uncertainty surrounding All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony.

“Coach Karl looks great and it’s great to have him back,” Nuggets assistant John Welch said. “In some ways, he’s everybody’s security blanket. When your leader’s here, I think everyone feels more comfortable and you just feel better about the situation.”

Karl, who beat prostate cancer in 2005, has maintained his sense of humor, ribbing his coaching staff and sharing a laugh with former assistant and longtime friend Doug Moe this week. He makes sure to enjoy the simple things in life such as eating a chicken chopped salad with his family or helping his daughter Kaci Grace with her first-grade homework.

“For me, it’s the simple stuff that we take for granted sometimes,” Karl said. “I think you’ll see a more balanced coach, but in the same sense, my passion has always been coaching basketball. I know fans say I’m not animated enough, but I think most of my players think I’m pretty passionate about the game.”

Karl is considering traveling adjustments to help maintain his energy over the course of a six-month season. When the Nuggets play the second of back-to-back games on the road, he probably will take a commercial flight on game day rather than travel with the team into the wee hours of the morning.

The Nuggets typically have a 45-minute morning meeting on the day they are completing a back-to-back set.

“Being with them for six years, I think they can survive without me,” Karl said.

That wasn’t the case last spring as the Nuggets coped with an untimely injury to Kenyon Martin and the absence of Karl, whose 986 regular-season wins rank seventh in NBA coaching history.

He will resume the chase to 1,000 victories on Oct. 27 when the Nuggets open the 2010-11 season against the Utah Jazz. On that night, Karl is hoping his taste buds allow him to enjoy the traditional indulgence of a postgame beer.

“Those are two tastes that I want to come back: beer and wine,” he said. “I would love them to come back as what they were before.”

The Nuggets and their fans undoubtedly feel the same way about their courageous coach.

Contact Aaron J. Lopez at alopez@pepsicenter.com