John Calipari and his rumored interest in being team president of the New York Knicks is an interesting idea. And yet, hiring him will benefit no one.
Ian Begley of ESPN reported on Thursday night that John Calipari inquired, through an “intermediary,” about the New York Knicks‘ vacant president of basketball operations position. While it appears the Knicks are not currently interested, things can change in the NBA very quickly. Furthermore, coach Cal himself denied having a New York state of mind in a tweet later Thursday night.
This past March, the University of Kentucky gave Calipari a contract extension through 2024. Coach Cal gets $8 million a year for the remainder of his contract after making $7.75 million this past season. Compare that to the $12 million annual haul that Phil Jackson made with the Knicks and anyone can see why Calipari would be interested.
Coach Cal didn’t have much luck his first go-round in the NBA with the New Jersey Nets from 1996-99. His final record was 72-112 with a .391 winning percentage before being fired and joining the Philadelphia 76ers as an assistant.
Truth be told, Calipari wasn’t completely to blame for the failure of the Nets. New Jersey made a late run to get into the playoffs his second year before outside factors intervened. An owners lockout and injury to Sam Cassell derailed Calipari’s third season before he was ultimately fired. There is no doubt the competitive spirit inside coach Cal wants to redeem his NBA failure.
Even in Egypt I can’t escape the rumors. Are you kidding me?! It’s 5 in the morning here and this is what I wake up to?
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) June 30, 2017
Wrong for Calipari
Obviously, from the tweet above John Calipari denies any contact with the New York Knicks regarding the team president position. It may just be semantics, but Calipari doesn’t deny he has interest in the Knicks. Either way, the pairing of Calipari and the Knicks is intriguing, but it would be a mistake.
The University of Kentucky is its own version of the minor leagues for the NBA because of John Calipari.
Anthony Davis, John Wall, Devin Booker and many others owe much of their NBA success to the work of coach Cal. The city of Lexington and much of the state of Kentucky borderline worship his work.
It can be argued that minus Carmelo Anthony, Coach Cal had more relative talent on some of his teams than the New York Knicks. Consequently, the Knicks could use someone like Calipari to find and develop talent.
The unfortunate truth for New York, though, is that coach Cal’s current situation is much more desirable than working for James Dolan.
Wrong for New York
The last few times the New York Knicks hired a big name to run their team, it didn’t go so well. Isiah Thomas came to the Knicks (2006-08) with championship experience.
However, he made it very clear very quickly he had no idea what he was doing. Fast forward some years to the Phil Jackson experiment (2014-17) and everyone sees how that turned out.
In other words, big-name players and coaches don’t always know how to build a team. John Calipari may very well be an incredible NBA executive, but the Knicks cannot afford to gamble. The only choice for James Dolan is to hire a seasoned NBA executive and give him 100 percent control. Hiring coach Cal may make a big splash, but the last thing these Knicks need is more headlines.
I'm not interested in joining @nyknicks. I'm happy with the @nyliberty & NBATV. I wish the best for the Knicks and @PhilJackson11
— Isiah Thomas (@IsiahThomas) June 29, 2017
There are plenty of legitimate and qualified candidates within the NBA for James Dolan to pursue and interview. College coaches like Calipari and former players with no experience like Chauncey Billups must be avoided.
New York isn’t somewhere to learn on the job; the next guy needs to know what he is doing. In many ways, Phil left the Knicks with some quality assets, cap room and a real opportunity to rebuild.
Next: 2017 NBA Draft grades for all 30 teams
John Calipari and the New York Knicks does have an exciting feel, but it’s not the right time for either party. Any healing and rebuilding in New York needs to be done by a seasoned NBA management professional.