Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Some team is trying to hire John Calipari away from the University of Kentucky, and he wants all of the money in the world. Oh, you have heard that one. Well, fine, stop me if you’ve heard this one: The Brooklyn Nets are an absolute, irreparable joke. Oh, you’ve heard that one, too. Screw it. Pic and Roll time!
John Calipari Wants A Billion Dollars
The Brooklyn Nets fired head coach Lionel Hollins and, um, “reassigned” general manager Billy King (one of King’s new assignments? Helping the team find his replacement, which isn’t awkward at all) earlier this week. Who are they reportedly targeting as their replacements? Why, the exact same coach literally every team wants to lure to the NBA, despite the fact that he seems terribly happy where he is and didn’t exactly perform well during his first stint at the next level: John Calipari.
As we’ve said, this is nothing new. Calipari’s name is usually the first to come up whenever a struggling team wants to make a big, splashy hire that will attract fans. As an aside, it’s pretty damn bizarre that a team thinks a coach is going to somehow draw in fans.
The Pelicans were rumored to be kicking the tires on Calipari’s interest before they hired Alvin Gentry, and the Sacramento Kings did the same before hiring George Karl. One obstacle to hiring Calipari, you know, besides the fact that he repeatedly says he’s not interested in leaving, is his supposed asking price. According to reports, Calipari wants a 10 year deal worth $120 million. That’s Phil Jackson money (and truthfully, it’s fair to question whether Jackson is even worth that much).
Calipari may be a hot commodity, but it’d be surprising to see any team, even one with an owner as rich as Mikhail Prokhorov, commit that much money to a coach whose first NBA rodeo was a failure. Then again, it’s the Nets. Anything is possible. And not in a good way.
The Mess Called The New York Nets
So the Nets decided it was time to part ways with their coach and general manager. Perfectly fine. It’s not at all uncommon for teams to make that decision. But the Nets, as only they seem capable of doing, completely bungled it. They had no immediate successor in mind, even on an interim basis. As Tim Bontemps reported, other teams basically have no idea who to call if they want to make a deal, which is fairly important, since making deals should be tops on the Nets’ priority list.
Given the Nets track record under Mikhail Prokhorov, specifically when it comes to operations, that the Nets would do something like this really isn’t a surprised. Prokhorov always went for the quick fix, sacrificing the franchise’s future in the vain hopes of rising to immediate contention with an aging, expensive roster. Once that didn’t pan out, much to everyone’s expectation, the Nets became a wasteland barren of any joy or wins. In many ways, they’re the Kings of the East, just without a top-10 player. As long as Prokhorov continues to go for the quick fix and refuses to be even the least bit patient in building a team, they’ll keep having the same disastrous results over and over and over.
“I tried to think of the most harmless thing…Something that could never, ever possibly destroy us.” A score-first leader
(Get it? Stay Puft Carmallow Man?)
At first, I really didn’t have anything, I just wanted to share a picture of Carmelo Anthony as Mr. Stay Puft. But, while we’re here, why don’t we talk about ‘Melo for a second. He’s showing off his skills, but not necessarily as a scorer; he’s been more of an all-around player this season than at almost any other time in his career.
His passing is at all-time high, with a 20.5 assist percentage. And that chance could have only been made possible by the presence of quality teammates and Carmelo’s willingness to trust them. While the Knicks still aren’t quite good yet, they’re on track to improve faster than anyone thought possible before the seasons started. Kristaps Porzingis has a good deal to do with that, obviously, but don’t discount Carmelo’s newfound all-around game, either.
Carmallow might swallow MSG whole.
Highlight Of The Week: WEDGIE!
J.R Smith to LeBron James alley-oop wedgie @TheStarters @jeskeets @TasMelas @treykerby @LeighEllis pic.twitter.com/sspdorlzcK
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) January 16, 2016
Wedgies are nothing new to the basketball world, but an alley-oop wedgie, especially from LeBron James himself? I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that before.
