Kentucky’s Calipari won’t coach the Knicks, but here’s how he could help them.
Kentucky Coach John Calipari seemed to squash speculation on Friday that he would go work with his close friend Leon Rose as coach of the New York Knicks.
Speculation has the Knicks hiring Rose to run the franchise, which would lead to the hiring of Calipari as coach. At a news conference previewing UK’s game at Tennessee on Saturday, Calipari called Rose “a dear friend” he’s known for 25 years.
“Because I’m so close (to Rose), I would help him in any way I could,” Calipari said. “Being a resource. You want to call me and ask me about college players (or) my own players. I’m here.
“It just wouldn’t be to coach.”
Calipari said he had not spoken to Rose about the Knicks’ franchise. He said he did not know if the Knicks would hire Rose. But the UK coach saluted how Rose conducted himself in the “rough-and-tumble” business that is involved in being a player agent.
“I’ve never heard in 25 years anybody say a bad word about Leon Rose,” Calipari said. “Not one. … He’s a gatherer. He’s a culture builder.
“I understand why (the Knicks) would do that. If they do that.”
Rose has worked as a player agent for the Creative Artists Agency. Among his clients are former UK players Karl-Anthony Towns and Devin Booker.
The speculation linking Calipari to the Knicks’ coaching job also includes his association with William Wesley, also known as “World Wide Wes.” The New York Post reported that the Knicks are expected to add Wesley to their front office.
Among coaches who have worked with Rose are Minnesota’s Tom Thibodeau and ex-Knicks’ coach Jeff Van Gundy.
Amid rumors linking him to the UCLA coaching job, Calipari signed a new 10-year contract with Kentucky. The deal, which was dubbed a “lifetime contract,” was worth $86 million.
The contract calls for him to coach the Wildcats until he is 70 years old, or through the 2028-29 season.
The new 10-year contract represents a five-year extension. UK will pay Calipari, who turns 61 on Monday, a total compensation of $86 million in those 10 years.
Calipari’s base pay of $400,000 remains unchanged. Incidentally, that was his base pay in the original contract he signed with UK on March 31, 2009.
His compensation from broadcast duties and endorsement deals will increase by 72 percent by the final four seasons of the new contract: from $5,000,000 in the 2018-19 season to $8,600,000.
“I want to thank the university, Dr. Eli Capilouto, Mitch Barnhart and DeWayne Peevy for approaching me with the opportunity to finish my career at Kentucky,” Calipari said last spring in a news release announcing details of the new contract. “I’ve said from day one that this would be the gold standard, and it has been for student-athletes and coaches.
“As I enter my 11th year, I’m reminded it took me 20 years to get an opportunity like this. There is no other place I want to be. As I look forward, my mindset is what’s next and how can we be first at it for the young people that we coach.”
Calipari has the option to retire from coaching and remain at UK as what the contract calls a “Special AD Assistant.” That option becomes viable after the next five seasons. If Calipari took that job, his compensation would change to a base of $400,000 plus $550,000 from broadcast duties and endorsements.
The new contract lists the duties for the presumptive “Special AD Assistant” as involving fund-raising and increasing interest of UK students and fans.
In his first 10-plus seasons as UK coach, Calipari has compiled a win-loss record of 322-76 going into Saturday’s game at Tennessee. Last season he reached the 300-victory mark at one school in the fourth-fastest time in NCAA history.
In leading Kentucky to four Final Four appearances in a five-year span (2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015), Calipari matched an achievement previously done by only two coaches: John Wooden and Mike Krzyzewski.
Calipari and Rick Pitino are the only coaches to lead three different schools to a Final Four.
Saturday
No. 15 Kentucky at Tennessee
When: 1 p.m.
TV: CBS-27
Radio: WLAP-AM 630, WBUL-FM 98.1
Records: UK 17-5 (7-2 SEC); Tennessee 13-9 (5-4)
Series: UK leads 155-73
Last meeting: Tennessee won 82-78 on March 16, 2019, in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament at Nashville
