As soon as news broke that DeMarcus Cousins would be joining fellow Kentucky alum Anthony Davis with the New Orleans Pelicans via a trade, you could almost set your watch to the start of speculation that John Calipari might be interested in joining them as head coach.
But Calipari took to the airwaves and the conference calls on Monday to shoot down those rumors — as he has done so many times before with other coaching rumors.
“Not happening,” Calipari said on The Dan Patrick Show. “I’d rather be in the situation that I’m in to be help, to be a mentor, whatever they need me to be. I’ve got a position where it’s more than just basketball. What moves me now at my age is we’re creating hope for people and kids.”
On the SEC teleconference, Calipari added that Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry, “one of the bright offensive minds out there, is probably working day and night trying to figure out, ‘How do we starting playing and then where to we go from there? What are we trying to look like?’ ”
Cousins was dealt to the Pelicans from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway and a top three protected first- and a second-round pick in 2017.
“They gotta get some guards,” Calipari said of the Pelicans. “They gotta get a couple perimeter guy. But the bottom line is both of those two, Anthony and DeMarcus, want to win. They want to win. You can say what you want, but DeMarcus, when he was here, he shared. He wanted to win. He played to win. And then when he was with USA Basketball, it was the same. You talk to Mike Krzyzewski, they’re gonna tell you, ‘Look, the game where we needed him to really play, he played.’ ”
It was a big weekend for Kentucky guys at the All-Star break.
Cousins was traded.
Davis went off for 52 points en route to All-Star Game MVP honors.
And Jamal Murray was named MVP of the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday after dropping 36 points for the World Team in their win over the U.S.
Couldn’t be happier for @BeMore27. 36 points and MVP. Our four guys combined for 84 points!!! https://t.co/u2HuR7sMTf
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) February 18, 2017
Photo: @UKCoachCalipari
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