Former Wildcats star Chapman stirred the rumor pot with tweet.
Kentucky Wildcats coach John Calipari has dismissed reports that he is set to take the coaching role at the Los Angeles Lakers next season.
According to former Wildcats star Rex Chapman, Calipari was coaching his last game on the Kentucky sidelines for the national title game loss to Connecticut, before moving to Los Angeles.
Was messin' 'round on Sat nite re: Cal. But word is – win or lose 2nite – it's a #DoneDeal …Cal 2 La-La-Land 2 coach Mamba's Lakers. #NoBS
— Rex Chapman (@rexchapman) April 7, 2014
However, Calipari has moved swiftly to dismiss the speculation and has insisted that while the Lakers already have a coach anyway, he believes he has the best job in the country by heading up the program in Kentucky.
“The Lakers have a coach,” Calipari said, as reported by SI.com.
“Kentucky has a basketball coach. I got the best job in the country. I’m not going to even dignify that stuff.”
The Lakers have also reportedly denied making any contact with Calipari, while Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart was unconcerned after the game and is confident that he won’t see any immediate changes taking place moving forward.
Barnhart insisted that Calipari cares a lot about Kentucky and that his full focus has been on improving the team as opposed to being distracted by the bright lights of the NBA.
Nevertheless, it remains to be seen whether or not the rumors gain more traction in the coming months as the Lakers consider the direction in which they want to go in the next few years.
Speculation has suggested that current coach Mike D’Antoni could be replaced at the end of the year as the Lakers look to avoid finishing with the worst record in the Western Conference, but in his defence the roster has been decimated by injuries throughout the campaign.
As a result, the general consensus is that he will likely remain for another year as the franchise begins to rebuild, but the reports regarding Calipari suggest that they could be considering a change if the right coach is available.
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