In honesty, the buzz had started before Kentucky won the national championship, before the NCAA Tournament had even started.
John Calipari — maybe the ultimate players’ coach — was going to be in the running for the New York Knicks job. Over at Yahoo Adrian Wojnarowski writes about how the job is a perfect setup for Calipari.
He has his NCAA championship now, and the New York Knicks have three necessities that Calipari desperately needs: a vacancy, a big stage and a blank check….
The circumstances are aligned for Calipari to make a move: the validation of an NCAA title, a suspect relationship with his athletic director and his ability to leverage a monumental contract out of the Knicks. Calipari is a great salesman, and he’ll sell owner James Dolan on his ability to get the most out of Carmelo Anthony, to keep the Garden sold out and get the Knicks winning in the postseason again. Dolan can’t sell results as an owner, so he’s always selling a new savior. Now, Calipari is no longer the failed ex-Nets coach, but the national champion Kentucky Wildcats coach.
Wojnarowski goes on to make a good point — no team with a strong general manager is going to bring in Calipari. This is going to be an owner’s hire — and James Dolan is the kind of owner looking to make a splashy, big-name hire.
It is believed that the coach Dolan really wants is Phil Jackson — the former Knick player with 11 rings. But to me that seems a longshot. For one, Jackson is just now getting healthy and after watching how worn down he seemed at the end of the Lakers run, I don’t think he wants to go back. Plus, this Knicks roster poorly set up for the triangle. Jackson already has a legacy as (arguably) the greatest coach ever and he’s rich. I’m not sure he gives his life now up.
If Jackson doesn’t pan out, World Wide Wes will be there to help guide Calipari toward the Knicks.
This may not work out either. Some teams in the NBA run parts of his motion offense but certainly not like Kentucky does. He is a solid game coach but not spectacular. And while player relations are his strength, you can’t recruit your way to an NBA title.
Even so, the rumors have started. And they are not going to stop until the Knicks hire a coach next summer.
