John Calipari Quotes

My thing is, I want to play basketball, I would enjoy playing in the D-League, but at the same time I don't want to take an opportunity away from a young guy to get exposure. I'm still thinking about it.

More than half the G League is going to be high school kids that are trying to make it. I hope I'm wrong. I absolutely hope I'm wrong.

Let the D-League be for players who have been in the NBA, who are on the fringe, and that want to fight like heck to get in the NBA. They should have a living wage, not $17,000 to $25,000. A living wage.

There was no professional basketball for me in the United States when I was in grade school and middle school. I could look to the Olympics and college basketball, but that was only on TV for the Final Four.

I always said in my mind I wanted to be an All-Star and show four-year guys in the NBA can be good players as opposed to just one-and-done guys. If I left after my freshman year, I wouldn't have gotten drafted, I probably couldn't deal with D-League and travel on the bus.

In the modern era, with the rewards the top players have during their career and the risks involved moving into management, more will look at it and say they don't need it.

The D-League has helped me to get better and develop as a basketball player.

We draft mostly high school kids and we have one of the finest, if not the finest, player development programs and coaching staffs and we teach our players the right way to play. We also have a game plan in scouting, and there are certain types of players that we look for.

The NBA has made a real issue about really making these superstars the premium that everybody wants to go to. That's their calling card and their marketing tool. But the coaches at the other end of the sphere are trying to make everybody on the team, even nine, 10, 11, 12, just as important, and have a real role that's meaningful.

Many of the most successful coaches and managers have come from players who never reached the highest level. The one exception seems to be basketball, where many of the greatest stars at least tried to coach a team.

I'm going to be honest, playing in D-League games is tough.

I spoke with Van Gaal, and he said that I only had a one per cent chance of playing in my position, so I headed to Bayer.

They don't work with you to get better in the NBA. Either you're ready or you're out and you go to the G-League or Europe.

Coaching in the NBA is a tough trick.

I really hope that a lot of Georgian players will get recognition, and I can help them get out, play in the European leagues and the NBA. Basketball is in our blood.

I never thought about money; otherwise, I would have left aged 26 when Real Madrid and Barcelona wanted me.

I think it would've been a little easier if I grew up in America; they've got better conditions for basketball players. At the same time, many people have said to me that having to start playing so late helped me not pick up bad habits.

What's being considered now is solidifying my place in the NBA. Keep focusing on the grass roots, because I want the next guys to be good. Right now, all I'm doing for camps and academies and stuff, I'm just finding the next NBA player.

I'm a Chicago kid. So, of course, I'm open to playing for the Chicago Bulls if that's a team that's interested in me. At the same time, any decision that is made, it's never personal. It's always business. I have to make the right decision for me and my family.

When you go to like the Nike Hoops Summit, or the All-Canadian Game, all those really matter in your development and how people perceive you as far as how good of a player you are.

After my second year in the NBA, my prep years, my college, I hadn't really found myself.

I've seen Canada grow on so many different levels when it comes to basketball. The women's game is huge, so why not have a WNBA team here?

Considering the relatively brief careers of professional athletes, teenagers who are good enough to play at the highest level should be able to exploit that market.

My heading was NBA head coach. I didn't want to be back in college for a lot of reasons.

When I was younger, trying to make the freshman and JV team, my dream was always to make it to the NBA.