Originally Posted by
MCFinARL
Maybe so, but would Calipari really want to go to the NBA at this point? At Kentucky, he gets pretty close to his choice of the very best players playing at the college level, so his team is going to have superior talent (and often vastly superior talent) to almost every other team they face. And most of these kids are still coachable (maybe not DeMarcus Cousins) and come in respecting the coach and believing they have something to learn from him. At the college level, the coach of a successful major program is a superstar who gets most of the credit and often some lucrative endorsement or other money-making opportunities, and he is truly in charge of the program. At the NBA level, the coach is more often a potential fall guy, a ping pong ball between a demanding front office and a highly paid roster who often see themselves as more important than the coach and may or may not be interested in adapting to the coach's system or methods, the guy who gets little of the credit when things go well and almost all when they go badly (maybe not Phil Jackson--there's always an exception).
Even on the money--you'd have to pay someone a heck of a lot more to even approach in NY the lifestyle he could have in Lexington, KY on $3 million a year (IIRC that's about what Calipari makes). The taxes are horrific (federal, state, and city taxes) and the cost of living is worse. Maybe if Calipari loves going to the opera or art museums, NYC would be better, but when would he have time?
Plus I don't think Calipari enjoyed his last stint in the NBA all that much. On average, sure, being a coach in the NBA is a better and more prestigious job than being a coach in college. But better than being the guy who brought Kentucky its most recent championship? Better than being, just for another example, Coach K? I don't think so--too many hassles, not enough authority.