John Calipari shut down a potential "#WojBomb" before it even really grew legs.
Adrian Wojnarowski, of Yahoo Sports, is known for breaking big news stories in the NBA and it seemed like he was on to another one Tuesday. Citing unnamed sources, as per usual, Wojnarowski learned the Sacramento Kings were in contact with the Kentucky head men's basketball coach.
Like any good #WojBomb, the rumor was highly believable and rooted in truth.
The Kings' center/power forward DeMarcus Cousins is one of the best of Calipari's former college players. The Kings also have a reason to want a coaching change. The Kings really did reach out to Calipari, but whether or not his job status came up is not clear.
Calipari swiftly took Twitter to shoot down the rumors and to explicitly state that he wants to stay at Kentucky. But, as Wojnarowski reported, Calipari confirmed he spoke to Vivek Ranadive, the Kings' owner, regarding Cousins.
For the 100th time, I have the best basketball coaching position in the world. I am not looking for any other coaching position.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) June 30, 2015
Since he bought the team, @Vivek and I have talked on and off about @boogiecousins. — John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) June 30, 2015
.@Vivek has asked me what I thought about @boogiecousins and I told him he would be an all-star, and I was right.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) June 30, 2015
In the last two weeks, we’ve also talked a bunch about the draft and on draft day, obviously because of @ThewillieCS15. — John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) June 30, 2015
At no time has @Vivek offered me a job. I WILL BE AT KENTUCKY.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) June 30, 2015
Vlade Divac, the Kings' vice president of basketball and franchise operations, also shot down the Calipari rumors when speaking with ESPN's Marc Stein.
"The only person in our organization who [handles] something like this is me, and I've had zero conversations with John Calipari," Divac said. "We have a coach here."
Calipari is consistently linked to NBA coaching jobs that are vacant, soon to be vacant, or with teams willing to create a vacancy to accommodate him. Kentucky even seems to be adamant about keeping Calipari as well, signing him to contract extensions each of the last two years his name is mentioned in the NBA rumor mill.
