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| Coach Cal staying at UK. Photo Credit: Mark Zerof/USA Today Sports |
John Calipari squashed any doubts about whether he was thinking about going back to the NBA.
By: Michael Hanley (@Magic20099)
The Kentucky Wildcats head coach went to Twitter today to dispel any truth to the report of him being interested in the New Orleans Pelicans open head coaching job:
Even though Anthony and Tyreke are in NOLA, I have no interest in the Pelicans or any other job. I have a great job and I'm happy at UK.
You could see why people went with the rumor of Coach Cal being interested in that job with his former superstar who helped him and the university to a national championship in Anthony Davis. Reportedly the two maintain a close friendship from their days at Kentucky.
He also has a former player in Tyreke Evans also on that New Orleans squad who go back to their days together at the university of Memphis.Through these two players have direct ties to Calipari, it in no way means that he will just abandon what he has rolling at Kentucky.
He wins at an elite level every year, recruits and is able to land the top recruits in the country to come play for him and is able to compete for a national championship every season no matter how the landscape of college basketball changes.
In the NBA, only some jobs offer that ability to win big and be able to compete legitimacy for an NBA title every season. The others are jobs that have a clear ceiling to them in terms of how much success one coach can achieve with a certain franchise.
Also, Coach Cal has already has his cup of coffee in the NBA, granted it was back in 1996 and ended on a sour note in 1999 with the New Jersey Nets at the time. Here is the report by John Reid of the New Orleans Times-Picayune on the Calipari, Pelicans rumor:
There have been exploratory conversations between Calipari and the Pelicans, the source said, but it doesn't appear the team would be willing to meet his financial demands to leave Kentucky.
League sources said the Pelicans are willing to pay around $4 million to $5 million per season for Monty Williams' successor. Williams was fired last week after five seasons at the helm.
But Calipari makes about $8 million annually and recently agreed to a one-year contract extension through 2022, which he hasn't yet signed. The $3 million gap in annual compensation is a major sticking point for Calipari, who would also want input on the Pelicans' roster, according to the source.
The job, though it has Anthony Davis as a major plus, is one still full for any coach looking at it, even for Calipari. New Orleans is in a Western Conference that is not only talented and deep but relatively young , meaning these player sand teams will only continue to win at a high level and be very difficult to deal with in future postseasons.
The Pelicans are not a contender right now as constituted and will need to make some big moves in order to just get up into just the middle of the pack in the West. This is a building job that is not made for Coach Cal, especially when he already has built a monster of a program at Kentucky that he can continue to enjoy and push for championships there.
It is a smart call for Calipari to pass on this job and continue to enjoy college coaching and helping kids get ready to enter the NBA Draft. Pelicans will make a solid selection in their next head coaching hire with a solid number of coaches out there who would come in and do a great job elevating the franchise to a new level.
Who that might be is still a mystery but we can now scratch Calipari off the list as he goes back to Lexington to run his powerhouse Wildcats program to more success.
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