Net Coach Calipari Isn’t Taking to the Easy Life

NBA teams get only two draft picks each year, and second-round picks often fail to make the team. Even first-rounders usually don’t have a major impact unless they’re lottery picks. But because he has nothing better to do with the time off from coaching afforded him by the NBA lockout, New Jersey Net Coach John Calipari has been crisscrossing the country visiting various colleges.

“I watch practice to see if I can pick up anything from what they do,” Calipari said recently. “It’s a learning thing for me. I’m also there because we’ve got to make draft picks. I’ve got to know who’s who when my scouts come back and say, ‘I like this guy or that guy.’ ”

Such are the rationalizations of a coach determined to justify his $3 million salary even when there’s no one to coach. Mention this to Calipari, and he shrugs and asks, “What are my options right now? I have to find ways to use my time for my own sanity because of how I am.”

If you’ve seen Calipari pacing the sideline, screaming directions on every possession, you know how he is. He’s certifiable when it comes to his passion for the game. Shortly after the lockout began, Calipari headed for Los Angeles to check out NBA pickup games there and scout free agents.

“The league kind of squelched it,” Calipari said. “I was going to go to Houston [another hot competition site], but the league canceled it.”

What’s an obsessive-compulsive personality to do? “My wife thinks I’m crazy,” Calipari said. “But a friend of mine who has helped me with some charitable things asked me to come to the opening of a gym on Long Island. So I’m sitting on the bench with a bunch of 10-year-olds, and two of my former players at UMass, Carmelo Travieso and Dana Dingle, are coaching the game. They had me talking to kids on all three courts, and I’m thinking, ‘I’m coaching 10-year-olds.’ But I had a lot of fun.”

Naturally, Calipari got on the phone when the league’s gag order was lifted temporarily so club officials could contact players. “I wanted to hear the guys’ voices and let them hear mine,” he said. “They were asking about my wife and kids. After the calls were done, I was juiced up. Let’s start this thing up.”

The first order of business for the Nets when the lockout ends will be to sign free-agent center Jayson Williams, who has said he wants to stay if he gets fair market value, a long-term contract averaging $10 million to $12 million. Prohibited by the NBA from discussing players by name, Calipari said, “I can only tell you that ownership asked me, ‘Who do you want on this team? What’s important to you?’ And I’ve told them.”

But there’s nothing Calipari can do until the labor situation is settled. “I’ve tried to stay on top of it,” Calipari said, “but the reality is I just want to know when it starts.”