It was reported on Thursday that Kentucky’s John Calipari had expressed interest in joining the New York Knicks front office as president, according to ESPN’s Ian Begley. The news came after the Knicks moved on from Phil Jackson earlier in the week and made sense given Calipari’s involvement in readying his players at Kentucky for the NBA. But Calipari himself said it was a rumor, sending out not one but two tweets all the way from Egypt.
John Calipari denied reaching out to Knicks about open president position
Calipari sent a tweet from Egypt to debunk the rumor.
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
It was reported that the Knicks weren’t interested in the idea of Calipari, so maybe this is a cover-up, or maybe he never really wanted to return to the NBA.
Calipari is currently the head coach of the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team, where has been since 2009. Calipari has taken Kentucky to the Final Four in 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2015, with a national championship in 2012. While at Kentucky, he has sent several players to the NBA with much success, including John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Devin Booker.
Calipari also has NBA experience. He took the head coaching position for the New Jersey Nets at the beginning of the 1996-97 season, where the Nets went 26-56. The following season was an improvement as the Nets went 43-39, taking eighth place in the Eastern Conference. During the 1998-99 season, Calipari was fired after the Nets got out to a 3-17 start following the lockout. He then joined the Philadelphia 76ers and was an assistant coach for Larry Brown for the remainder of the year.
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