John Calipari has ‘No Regrets’ about Turning down Coaching Position with Cavaliers

By Cheri Cheng - 04 Jun '15 09:32AM

Kentucky coach John Calipari says he has no regrets about turning down the head coaching position with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Sources stated that Calipari was offered a 10-year contract worth $80 million to become the Cavaliers coach and president of the team before LeBron James agreed to return. Instead, Calipari decided to stay on the collegiate level and accepted Kentucky's offer of seven years worth $52.5 million.

"The only thing that was ever serious was the Cleveland thing," Calipari said to Yahoo! Sports during the "Coaches Beat Cancer" event. "The reason I did what I did, was based on having guys come back who wanted to be coached. I didn't feel comfortable not being at Kentucky."

There were other rumors that Calipari was interested in coming back to the NBA for next season. These stories claimed that he wanted to coach for the New Orleans Pelicans. Calipari easily squashed these rumors by tweeting, "I have a great job and I'm happy at UK."

Calipari and the Wildcats were two games away from a completing a perfect season. The Wildcats lost in the Final Four round against Wisconsin.

"I was in New Jersey, getting a slice of pizza," Calipari recalled "The owner comes from around the back and says, 'I've got to give you a hug, Coach. I'm so sorry about your season.' And I kind of grabbed his arm as he's pulling away and I said, 'You know, I kind of feel the same way ... and you know we were 38-1?'"

The Cavaliers, on the other hand, had a very rocky start to their season. However, the team and rookie coach David Blatt were able to bounce back. The Cavaliers finished second in the Eastern Conference and will be playing against the Golden State Warriors in the NBA finals. Caliapri will definitely be watching.

"No regrets," Calipari said in regards to turning down the Cavaliers' offer. "I'll be watching. But regrets? No. None. ... I'm a guy that's usually looking through the front window."

Game 1 of the NBA finals begin Thursday, June 4 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.