‘They did damage against my heart for a long time.’ Utah star reflects on UK battles.
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Coffee with Cal
University of Kentucky men’s basketball coach John Calipari is hosting a weekly show on Facebook Live called “Coffee with Cal” in which he interviews influential individuals from the worlds of sports, media, politics and beyond. The shows are designed to benefit COVID-19 relief and draw attention to the Black Lives Matter movement. Click below to read the Herald-Leader’s stories recapping previous shows.
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The late 1990s occupy a prominent place in University of Kentucky basketball folklore, as the story of redemption that began with Rick Pitino and “The Unforgettables” reached its thrilling apex during a run of three straight championship game appearances and two national titles from 1996-98.
The University of Utah is inextricably linked to that snapshot of UK history. In each of those seasons, the Wildcats defeated the Utes and legendary coach Rick Majerus in the NCAA Tournament.
One of the greatest players in Utah history reflected on those days in a conversation with John Calipari during the UK coach’s weekly “Coffee with Cal” show on Facebook on Monday morning. Keith Van Horn was one of four players to appear on the show whom Calipari coached during his three-year run with the NBA’s New Jersey Nets.
“They did damage against my heart for a long time,” Van Horn said of his tournament battles with Kentucky.
The Wildcats defeated the Utes by 31 points in the Sweet 16 on their way to the 1996 championship when Van Horn was a junior. Kentucky ended Van Horn’s college career the following year with a 13-point victory in the Elite Eight.
“We had four NBA lottery picks on that team. Kentucky just had eight, I think,” Van Horn said with a laugh. “I remember we got done with a four-and-a-half hour practice at the beginning of that season … and Majerus brings us all in and he gave us a rare compliment, he was like, ‘man guys, that was a great practice. You guys can beat anybody in the country this year, except Kentucky.’
“We had a great team, Kentucky was just stacked. In most college environments if you have four NBA lottery picks you’re in the national championship game. Kentucky was just loaded.”
Apparently those memories affected Van Horn’s wardrobe decision on Monday. He appeared on the show wearing a red Utah jacket over a white Utah shirt.
“I had to wear my Utah shirt today because we finally got a ‘dub’ against them this year, Cal. I appreciate that,” Van Horn said, referencing the Utes’ 69-66 win over the Wildcats this past season.
“How about that game, oh my gosh,” Calipari responded. “They beat our brains in out in Vegas.”
Despite his ill-fated history with Kentucky, things turned out OK for Van Horn. Calipari maneuvered the Nets up to the No. 2 spot in the 1997 NBA Draft, where they selected the 6-foot-10 forward. He went on to play 10 years in the league.
As a rookie, Van Horn helped the Nets improve by 17 wins over the previous season, Calipari’s first in the NBA. Also aiding that turnaround effort were Sam Cassell, Kerry Kittles and Sherman Douglas, the other guests on Monday’s show.
Calipari recalled a conversation with Cassell after the Nets drafted Van Horn.
“Sam came up to me and said, ‘How could you take a white guy from Utah, are you crazy?’ And after (Van Horn) got there (Cassell) came up to me and he goes, ‘Cal, good move man, this dude can ball,’” Calipari said.
Much like Van Horn defied Cassell’s expectations, Calipari defied Van Horn’s.
“I remember coming in and a lot of the vets were like, ‘Cal’s a little crazy,’ and I was just coming from Rick Majerus at Utah,” Van Horn said. “So after my first practice I was like, ‘man, what are you guys talking about? Cal is like Mr. Rogers next to Rick Majerus.’”
That season the Nets won 43 games and earned the No. 8 seed in the playoffs. Unfortunately, they ran into a buzz saw.
‘The Last Dance’
The Chicago Bulls swept the Nets 3-0 in the first round of the playoffs in 1998 on the way to their sixth NBA title in Michael Jordan’s final season with the franchise. That series was examined as part of Sunday’s episode of “The Last Dance,” ESPN’s 10-part documentary chronicling Jordan’s legendary career.
Though the Nets were swept, they were highly competitive in that series, forcing overtime in Game 1 and losing Game 2 by five points.
“They had a little chip on their shoulder. We were really young, we were undersized, they were not taking us serious,” Calipari said. “Then all of a sudden it’s overtime. We should have won that game. The second game they thought they’d bury us but we were in the game.”
But as he did throughout his career, Jordan proved too much to handle, averaging more than 36 points in the series.
“The dude had something special inside of him, on both sides of the ball, if he needed to get 60 or needed to shut somebody out,” Calipari said.
Like so many of his peers, Kittles remains awestruck by Jordan’s abilities.
“It seemed like he never missed in the fourth quarter,“ Kittles said. “He had the ability to flip the switch whenever he wanted … I had it going one night in the first half and he switched on me in the second half and I don’t think I scored a bucket … That was Michael in a nutshell. Just being able to flip on that switch and take over a game.”
Next week, Calipari’s guest on “Coffee with Cal” will be Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens, who led Butler University to consecutive appearances in the NCAA championship game in 2010 and 2011.
This story was originally published May 11, 2020 at 3:14 PM.
