John Calipari may be leaving the college coaching ranks to join the NBA, and he might try to fix the Knicks in the process. A report indicated that the University of Kentucky head coach has interest in the vacancy left in New York when Phil Jackson and the Knicks parted ways on Thursday.
Ian Begley, a reporter at ESPN, broke the story on Thursday night.
Kentucky head coach John Calipari reached out to the Knicks through intermediaries to express interest in the Knicks presidency, per ESPN league sources. The Knicks do not have interest in Calipari at the moment, per league sources. Presumably, Calipari would want to coach as well if he took over as president.
Coach/president is a bit of a unique twist here, though it’s not that far off considering the recruiting and overall vision it takes to be a major college coach. If the interest eventually becomes mutual, it would be a very different direction for both Coach Cal and the Knicks. New York’s reported interest in bringing back Isiah Thomas has already been debunked by Thomas himself, but Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri is also in the mix according to a variety of reports.
Cal throwing his hat in the ring doesn’t mean the Knicks are necessarily interested, but it could mix things up a bit for sure.
