John Calipari took to Twitter Thursday and quickly shot down a report that he was interested in becoming the president and head coach of Knicks. He also texted Sporting News columnist and fellow Pittsburgh native Mike DeCourcy that the reports were "not true."
A coach denying a report like this is not particularly useful. Calipari wouldn't be the first coach to deny looking into another job. In this case, though, it's easy to take Calipari at his word. His ego is too big to take on a dumpster fire of a job like with the Knicks. He doesn't want to rebuild; he wants to win.
The Knicks are a mess. The last team president, Phil Jackson, left a disastrous roster for his successor to fix. They are saddled with a couple of bad contracts, including the headache of trying to get out from underneath Carmelo Anthony's deal. They do have a budding young star to build around in Kristaps Porzingis, but not much else. He will be the foundation of a massive rebuilding job. He needs a lot of help, and finding the right pieces won't be easy.
Calipari learned the hard way that the NBA is not coach-centric in 1996, when he left UMass for the Nets. He was the coach for a little more than two seasons before he was fired with a 72-112 record. Although he made the playoffs in his second season, his time in New Jersey was mostly a failure.
He'd be a fool to leave Kentucky and take an NBA job. He doesn't need the money, and Kentucky will pay just about any price to keep him. He has job security and is treated like a rock star.
Calipari didn't have enough good players in New Jersey, a major reason he got fired. It didn't have to be that way _ one of several personnel mistakes he made was drafting Kerry Kittles instead of Kobe Bryant. He had constant struggles with the front office and treated his players as if they were in college. He often was frustrated he couldn't will the team to wins. His coaching style just wasn't a good fit for the NBA.
He is more mature now and would likely be a much better coach in the NBA now, if he ever returns. He would handle players differently and have a chance to be successful. He also has more credibility now than he did when he coached the Nets. That's why there may be a point that Calipari does actually leave Kentucky for an NBA job, but he won't leave for a bad job. The team Calipari takes over will have a roster that is ready to win or is very close. That doesn't mean he will leave Kentucky, it just means he isn't leaving Kentucky unless he knows he has a great chance to win.
