The Calipari-NBA Rumors Will Not Die

John Calipari issued the definitive “I will be back at UK” statement we had all hoped for on Friday, but just three days later, we have a new report from the Chicago Tribune that says Calipari is indeed in an NBA job this off-season.

In any respectable Calipari to the NBA article, it’s simply a must to mention Cal’s and LeBron’s close friend in common, William Wesley, aka Worldwide Wes. However, to this point, I have yet to see an article that has ole Uncle Wes playing such a central role:

League sources said Sunday that noted NBA power broker William Wesley continues to work back channels to sell John Calipari and James as a package deal to franchises such as the Bulls, Nets and Clippers with coaching vacancies and salary cap room.

Oh jeez, the dreaded “back channels”. There’s a world few understand. Do you think you can just call into an NBA front office and say “Connect me to the back channels”? Whenever anyone says “back channels”, my mind always goes straight to the TV show 24.

Anyway, I digress.

The fact that rumor continues to swirl even after Cal’s denial should come as a surprise to no one. Calipari had to make such a statement to appease UK fans and to allow himself to continue to do his job properly.  We’ve seen denials like this from coaches that turn around and take a job right afterward, so I guess this comes down to whether you are willing to take Calipari at his word.  If you are, you need to ignore these rumors the rest of the summer.  If you aren’t, you should probably pay attention.

**UPDATE**Say what you want about John Calipari, but he is a man with his ear to the streets. Within hours of this story coming out, he had this to say via Twitter: “Now, do I have to respond to these rumors too?”

I think the answer to Cal’s question, even though I think he posed it rhetorically, is ‘no’. It does not matter what John Calipari says, the rumors are NOT going away.