John Calipari and Rick Pitino's friendship may have been built on lies, and it turned into beef
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- čas přidán 11. 03. 2022
- Coaches Rick Pitino and John Calipari supposedly had a "friendly feud." They were old pals with a relationship based on mentorship, trust, and opportunity, but their teams battled each other. Fine. You can be friends and rivals.
But as the two coaches advanced -- from college, to the NBA, and back -- that friendship looked shakier and shakier. Not only did new developments drive Pitino and Calipari to admonish one another publicly, but new reporting suggested their original friendship wasn't as sturdy as it once seemed.
In more recent times, with the pressure diminished, Calipari and Pitino might get along just fine, but back when everyone was comparing the two and trumpeting their companionship ... they might have been enemies.
Written and produced by Seth Rosenthal
Directed and edited by Jiazhen Zhang
Motion graphics by Phil Pasternak
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just astounding the amount of legendary coaching connections mentioned in this vid
that's just how insane Big East basketball was back then...before the conferences all just splintered, which really isn't even basketball's fault. I blame that more on the greedy bastards who run football programs
I was surprised there weren't even more of Larry Brown's mentees in this video, like Gregg Popovich!
@@skippythealien9627 lkk
Omg right
Hell I didn’t know pitino coached Donovan
The Kentucky vs. Louisville rivalry is pure beef. Hell once the police had to be called to a dialysis center because two patients got in a fight over it.
Dialysis, you mean they got in a fight over college hoops, while dying of kidney failure?
Kentucky in a nutshell
That’s the most Kentucky thing I’ve ever heard 😂
@@teen_laqueefa lmaooo
Kentucky is luckly Florida exists otherwise it would be "Kentucky man ..."
Two septuagenarians got into a fight!
Everytime I hear the name Rick Pitino I just think of one thing...”Larry Bird is not walking through that door! Kevin McHale is not walking through that door! And Robert Parrish is not walking through that door!”
And if they do, they're gonna be grey and old!
@@thepassingstatic6268 “I wish we could buy the world-we can’t!!”
Yeah, and he shouldn't have been GM or whatever, he was the Worst NBA hire
The negativity in this town sucks!!!
I just think "sleazy pos"
If there’s a Beef History Hall of Fame, this is first-ballot
Larry Browns success in the NCAA and NBA is underrated
One of best basketball minds of all time
You need to do a Beef History: The San Diego Chicken vs. Phillie Phanatic.
With an unbiased view... The SD Chicken simply dominates the Philly Phinatic
Unbiased Sox fan, id take the SD Chicken any day over the Phillie Phanatic
Starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro
Underrated comment
Lifelong Louisville fan born and raised in the city and the 2012-2013 UK Uofl title runs were so incredible. The buzz in the city and the state for basketball those years was just awesome to be a part of and something I’ll never forget.
yeah and even the few years post Rick were still uber competitive. the Spida, Mahmoud, Adel team vs Fox, Adebayo, and Monk game was a classic
They'll never take those memories from me. Even if they don't even put the banner back up. #L1C4
Screw Rick. He owned cal when he was at Memphis and then all of a sudden couldn’t beat him when he became the mild cats coach. Rick is, and always has been a closet uk fan.
Go CATS
@@baloothepibble8421 did you know the term bleeding blue came from years of inbreeding? Kind of like your entire fan base.
Will you guys PLEASE do a full-length Beef video on the beef-to-end-ALL-beefs: Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan. It's easily the greatest modern basketball beef. There's not even a close second. EVERYBODY would look forward to such a video.
Please commence.
This one might even need a Pt. 2
@@desmondsamuels1338 Dude, if Cal-Rick was a 20 minutes feature, Zeke-Airness would tie that, double that even.
@@desmondsamuels1338 Yes. It'd easily be the most epic episode of Beef in the history of this channel if they did it right.
@@khaitranngoc4176 I grew up in Chicago and lived through the Thomas/Jordan rivalry. I absolutely loved it. Those two guys are two total alpha dogs, and they SHOULD hate each other. Ain't gonna see no televised reconciliation between Thomas and Jordan like there was between Magic and Isiah.
@@SECRETARIATguy224 basically Chi native vs Chi adopted kid. Except much much deeper than that.
What have we done to deserve so many basketball beef videos in a row.. I like it! Great job as always
Another incredible -- AND interesting -- Beef History video by my friends at Secret Base. The John Calipari-Rick Pitino rivalry deserves a bunch of attention, and I enjoyed every minute of this video. Keep up the great work, Secret Base!
theyre not your friends
Bot
@@daquariussmith9772 no one is your friend Daquarius
@@zackhicks5320 Wrong lmfao. Literally hanging out with them right now, you nobody white hick!
@@zackhicks5320 I love my friend Daquarius!
Don't forget that Pitino also had the 6th pick in the 1997 draft and he whiffed on Tracy McGrady to pick Ron Mercer.
Also also, don't forget where a great PG named Chauncey Billups fell into his lap and he royally screwed that up too.
Some coaches are better for college rather than nba
I think they remember. They did a whole video about how terrible Petinos reign in Boston was, including the fact they passed ok Larry Brown to hire him
@@josearzaga619 but not Pitino's star in Providence, Billy Donovan
I know this is really late but you missed a key point in the beef. While Cal was on Brown's staff in Philly, the first time they played Pitino and the Celtics, Brown knew they were much better so he got two really quick techs to get kicked out of the game making Cal the coach for the night and the win over the Celtics.
that's true . Wow good memory
I would like to see a Harden beef rewind with every star teammate he ever had.
This was one of the best episodes I've seen in a long time. And I really enjoy the obscure sports history stuff you guys do.
I'm not a big basketball fan. Same with baseball. But it such an old sport that the history behind a lot of what happened is genuinely fascinating.
Good choice on this one guys. 10/10
I really hope Louisville can get back on track so we can bring back the classic Louisville Kentucky rivalry
As a die hard wildcat nothing would make me happier. I miss those Saturday showdowns
Still been pretty good as of late but not a classic feel because of all the LVille coaches in the time frame. LVille was one made shot away from having won 3 of the last 5.
@@jasonmilly3320 don't get it twisted coach Cal owns yall lol
I’d like a Big 4 similar to that of the Big 5 in Philly. WKU, Muarry State, Kentucky, Louisville
cheating doesn't help
After what happened in KG's jersey retirement, we need a beef history of the Celtics Big 4 with Rondo, Pierce, KG and Ray with the storybook ending after a decade of feuding
And Doc - he shouldn't be off the hook
This may or may not be interesting, but I thought of a few more coaching connections in this story. At 2:15, we see a shot of Larry Brown circa 1985 coaching at Kansas with Cal and Bob Hill on the bench as assistants. After the 85 season, Call left Kansas to become an assistant at Pitt. Pitino left his job as an assistant with the Knicks to become Providence HC. Hill then left Kansas and took Pitino's spot under Hubie Brown with the Knicks.
In 1986, one of Brown's close friends (they'd met in the 70s when Brown was HC of the ABA Nuggets and the friend tried out for the team) was taking a one-year sabbatical from his job coaching a D3 team and Brown invited him to spend some time at Kansas as a volunteer assistant. It was a chance to pick up some coaching tools as the D3 school(s) he coached flat out sucked, primarily due to high academic standards.
Then in 1988, Brown left Kansas to become HC of the Spurs and he asked that D3 coach, Gregg Popovich, to become his lead assistant. They lasted a few years but Brown and the entire staff were fired in 1992. Then late in the 1994 season, Spurs ownership tossed around the idea of bringing Pop back to work in basketball ops assisting longtime GM Bob Bass. But surprisingly, Bass retired at the end of the season and the Spurs ended up offering Pop to GM role. It was considered an odd move since Pop only had a few years of NBA experience (as an assistant) and no front-office experience.
That same offseason, Spurs HC John Lucas also left and Pop needed to find a new HC. He decided to hire Brown's former Kansas assistant, Bob Hill, even though Brown himself advised against it. After a few years, Pop controversially fired Hill early in the 1996 season and named himself the new head coach.
Pop did not commit to coaching the team beyond that initial (dreadful) season, but that changed when the Spurs landed the first pick in the 1997 draft, taking Tim Duncan. The same draft where Brown drafted Van Horn at #2, irking Pitino who had the 3rd pick and took Billups (as mentioned in the video).
Imagine all 3 team with top picks at the 97' draft having coaching connections.
That is great stuff man
This beef was better then this year all star game second time watching
Battle Of The Legendary Italian Titans
I think I was maybe 8 when Calipari was the Nets head coach, so I'd love to see some info on those teams and why he didn't pan out in the NBA.
Well 1st year was bad at 26-56 trying to rebuild them back up
Next year 43-39 improvement and they made the playoffs before getting swept by the Bulls
Now 1998-99 nobody was gonna succeed with that team and the injuries they dealt with!
Sam Cassel got hurt, Jayson Williams got hurt, and they had 23 different players suit up for them that year.
3-17 they started before Calipari got the boot, but that was just a terrible situation he had no control over when those injuries plagued that 1998-99 team
@@JWex-jy7sk it's always either crippling injuries, or the Bulls.
@The Bobblehead Guy his coaching style also didn't translate in the NBA either. You can't treat grown adults like college kids. That's what he tried to do, and failed miserably at it.
I always think that the really good college coaches are primarily really good recruiters, and that skill is somewhat irrelevant in the pros, so they just become average coaches
He didn't have one and Done's 🤣
Italian Beef for Breakfast. 😋
Italian Beef in the land of fried chicken.
As a lifelong Louisville fan, knowing each turn where they would continue beefing was awesome lol. I’m biased but this is my favorite beef video
Well done! Can’t wait for part 2 of the Dave Stieb series this week!
“So he bailed and left the program…” except Memphis went 33-4 the next year with cal still coaching and tyreke evans balling out
Memphis will win Nant next season
@@erickennedy8534😂😂😂😂
@@ChiefBlue4298 That was a bad take
Another great episode Seth. Always a pleasure seeing some good ol beef in my feed
I am complete, after asking for this beef history for 3 years you finally did it!!
Add even more to this beef, cal leaves and Rick is all in on KY. Offering to write the NIL check, was interested in the job, and it’s as soon as cal leaves. Hilarious
This was great! I've been aware of both of these guys but had no idea how intertwined their careers were. Fantastic video
Seth - this is your best script yet. Great work y'all, thanks as always for the fantastic content
Shoutout from KY. Thanks for another awesome beef vid and especially thanks for having it feature two KY coaches. We Kentuckians have been enjoying this one a really long time already; I’m glad you guys are now sharing it with everyone else.
Love the coverage!
These mini docs are really well done.
Ok, I know you're not that deep into basketball history, but you cant just call Garf a camp administrator, he's like a God of the basketball world. Five Star basketball camp was the best basketball training grounds in history, that man is a legend. I went to this camp every year since I was a kid, I cried ugly tears when Garf passed
This was so good 👏🏻
Great video post, outstanding histrionics and timeline.
Dude, really well done!! I’m a lifelong UK fan and Pitino will always have a special place in my heart…when Tubby left all I wanted was to have an easy transition and it was Calipari I wanted but would settle for Billy Donovan. Well after another Billy was hired who for better or worse made our AD hire Calipari and the rest is history. I’ve always loved this parallel stories rivalry. If Cal retires at Kentucky (he’d be bonkers to do otherwise) then he will go down in the annals of Kentucky lore equivalent to Rupp, Bill Keightley, and Caywood Ledford. Go Cats!! 2022 is our year!
One of the best videos yet
Love everything about this story top quality love sports history docs keep it coming bro
Just got done part 1 of captain ahab stieb doc. Perfect timing.
Rewinder: laettner’s shot against Kentucky
Collapse: how the Buffalo bills failure to win 4 straight Super Bowls led to nearly two decades of failure
Rewinder: the miracle of Istanbul
Collapse: how the Montreal canadiens failed to reach sniffing distance of Lord Stanley for 28 years
Rewinder: Sidney Crosby’s golden goal
Untitled: Gilbert Perrault
Untitled: Ted Williams
Untitled: Ronaldo not winning a champions league title
Beef history: dodgers vs giants
Collapse: how Arsenal went from the Invincibles to middle of the premier league pack
Collapse: how the mutombo hawks went from playoff contenders to breaking apart
Collapse: how the fo-fi-fo 76ers went from playoff domination to playoff drought
Rewinder: hattenberg’s home run to bring the A’s win streak to 20 wins
The sixers one would be good for older nba fans
Can we not, though, with the Bills? It's not hard to understand. A stacked team ran into three teams that were even more stacked, and got snakebitten by the Giants in the other SB. Then guys got old, the SB window closed like it does for all normal football teams (the Pats of this century will forever be an anomaly thanks to Tom Brady) and then it was just a circus of bad decisions and bad luck after that, culminating in Rex Ryan dismantling a really great defense before Sean McDermott took over.
Been waiting on this one!!!
2 of the greatest coaches ever. What a wild ride. I'm glad I've been following them through most of it as a UK fan who lives in Louisville.
Calipari had scandal at UMass, then bolted when there were sanctions. He then had scandal at Memphis and bolted when there were sanctions. Not to mention, Pitino had scandals of his own to deal with in college. NCAA coaches are shady. It's a billion-dollar industry with million-dollar coaches. They know how to cheat and make it sexy...that's their gift. They are more alike than they want to admit.
Ik the video is somewhat shorter to encourage watching, but there’s a lot more that went on during/before ‘96 that led this rivalry to a head. Great video overall
Amazing SHOW....I live in Louisville n You were spot on.....Nothin Else to say this way.....keep doin u...
Cool side note for y’all, Kenny Payne, former Cardinal national champion as a player and now head coach of the Cards, and he was also a former Uk assistant under Cal during their 2012 run. Has hired Milt Wagner on his staff to get DeJuans son (and Milts grandson) number 1 overall player DJ Wagner in a reverse of what happened with Cal at Memphis during the Dejuan recruitment.
This is my favorite beef, and it's amazing considering it involves the coaches and not players
It's crazy how they both failed in the NBA.
Basically shows their real talent is recruiting.
Calaparis ra ra coaching style didn't translate very well in the pros. He tried to coach the same way he did at UMass except you can't do that with a bunch of adults
Rick Pitino got a "The Worst" episode dedicated to him, make of that what you will.
@@tomstreet2859 you mean boosting??🤑🤷🏼♂️
@@guitarherofreek08 I don't think tenure wins national titles
For every year Calipari ages, Pitino ages ten.
It's nice to see some context on that "Worst NBA Coachin Hire" video
I know it maybe isn't as mainstream, but with his resigning a couple days ago, this video reminds me of the beef between Bruce Weber and Bill Self.
Nothing better than some well aged college basketball beef
Showing your age with the "Spy vs Spy" line, Seth lmao
Secret Base, you're the best sports historian ever.
Can you guys possibly do an episode on Thor and Eddie Hall? I can't get the story straight and you guys crush it every time.
Might be the best beef history yet, and I knew nothing about this story before watching.
I live in Louisville, Ky. Ricky P won championships both schools .
Just at Ky. You don't get to keep championships when you buy players with sports agencies and promise them pro careers. The 2013 banner is not hanging in the KFC yum center
@@carpe_poon5761 - You're right. It hangs outside the Yum Center now, 24/7/365 for all to see. It's pretty dope. Who on that team on theirs was "bought" tho? Literally never heard of "sports agencies and promising them pro careers" before. Every player playing was either already at/committed/transferred in before stuff (strippers/Andre McGee) started in late 2011. So it's not like any of that even mattered or was a factor in their 2013 title...just how dumb and corrupt the NCAA is.
I don’t know if it would be Rewinder, Beef, or a different series, but there needs to be an episode on Jose Bautista getting the dignity knocked out of him by Rougned Odor
EXCELLENT VIDEO 👍👌👏
Have followed this friendship turned rivalry turned hatred for a long time. From my understanding, it all changed when Cal found out the truth about Pitino's involvement around his hiring at UMass.
If for years you've been lead to believe your buddy/friend/acquaintance was advocating for you to get a job, may have helped financially to meet your contract request (the $5k check), then watched your friend take credit for you being hired....only to find out years later that the friend was actually doing everything possible such that you wouldn't be hired behind closed doors (and blatantly lying/lied to your face for a decade)....well that would be a gut punch to anyone.
I mean, how would you ever trust someone like that.
Whenever that truth hit Cal from the Board member at Mass who told him how it all actually went down...that is when any possible friendship (or even respect) disappeared.
Pitino's a scumbag, 100%
Who’s here after the new broke that John Calipari is leaving Kentucky for Arkansas?
Glad he's gone.
He didn’t leave he was trying to use leverage and get more nil money and uk said no so cal sneaks and talks to Arkansas about the job which violated his contract so uk said kick rocks
Good Riddance
It makes sense that they'd beef when it helped them individually and look out for each other when that made more sense as well; they're both Italian after all. This has Caesar and Pompey written all over it: the First Duumvirate of college basketball.
15:58 that "Spy vs. Spy" reference had me rolling 👍
That Cal quote at the end. Hell yeah
Awesome story
Amazing work. Now, time to do the shaq kobe beef
Two great coaches, very much alike, and they kept ending up in the same places. And those places weren't big enough for the two of them.
A lot of old rivals find peace with one another when the battles are over.
Bottom line cal can't hold his jock strap when it comes to coach ing
Its 2024 and Calipari moved to Arkansas and Rick Pitino's name is on the list to replace him at Kentucky. As a Hogs fan I have no clue how to feel, but Rupp Arena might actually explode next year.
Wild times.
I salute you secret base
Nice video...but I keep looking and hoping for part two of Dave Stied..you monsters are making us wait over a week for part two! Lol ;)
I love your vids... jus smart ass comments thru the whole thing keeps me lmao...
As a Wildcats fan from the 80s to... well, 2015... this was a constant, pervasive drama. Time has definitely passed both of them by, in many ways.
Glad we got rid of you fake fans in 2015 geeo. When we balling in the tourney this year don’t try to jump back on the bandwagon son
This is probably one of the last places I'd expect to find you Plague
You're dumb. We don't want you back if they hang up another banner this year.
@@seansharpe8539 don’t worry they won’t.
Not trying to jump on after 1 win in 5yrs cal is a failure needs to be replaced
This sounds like a love story❤️❤️❤️😂
Dope video, you left out the Darius Washington missed FT game! Major part of their "beef".
Good vid
I know this isn't related to basketball but I just wanted to request that eventually we get a Beef History video for Arsene Wenger and Jose Mourinho
As a born and bred Kentucky fan its honestly sad how little how I hate uofl compared to when Pitino was coaching there. I now legitimately hate Tennessee way more than Uofl. Also its a fact that the only times Pitino was with two of his best teams against UKs two worst teams
plot twist: both were probably tied with the italian mob and made them alot of money in sportsbetting thats why they followed each other from college to nba and back
Question☝🏾. Does anybody know the name of the instrumental, that’s always playing in the background?
Like him or not, Rick Pitino is one of the greatest CBB coaches of all-time. Cal is not on his level.
Great video but can we please get the Michael Jordan (Bulls) vs Isiah Thomas (Pistons) beef history please!
I do remember Kobe saying if he was drafted by the nets he would go play in Italy Kobe had his eyes set on a big market team not small market
Do a Buddy Ryan vs Mike Ditka video
Both whops but cal political can't coach but can't trust either one,Pitino much better coach
This is nothing compared to the beef between Rick Pitino and Kentucky fans. Rick came to Kentucky while the program was still dealing with the after effects of recruiting violations. There were Kentucky kids who probably would never have played for Kentucky in normal circumstances, but the reduction of scholarships allowed them in. By the time they were seniors, they and Jamal Mashburn were coached up to the point of being a #2 seed and having that epic game with Duke in the Elite 8. Everyone loved Rick because it was a fantastic coaching job and we knew that Kentucky would be okay.
By the mid-90s, Rick was ingrained everywhere in Kentucky. I was attending UK, and the guy who did the comic strip in the campus newspaper had a character who always wore a “Rick is God” shirt. My little hometown even had someone name a street after Pitino. Everyone loved him. So, it was a gut punch when Rick left for Boston. The baton was passed to Tubby Smith who immediately won the championship in 1998. But after three seasons of reaching the championship game, Kentucky performances started to slip. Additionally Tubbyball was slow and plodding and defensive unlike Rick’s full court press and having every player jack up threes at any and every opportunity. There were those still bothered and hurt that Rick had left but it all blew up when he got the Louisville gig.
Overnight, Kentucky fans went from feeling disappointed to resentful, even vengeful. To come back to college ball was one thing, but to land at our in state rival was too much. Rick became public enemy #1 across the state, so much so that in the in yearly UK-UofL game, Tubby invited him to come out of the tunnel with him on the wrong side to avoid the fans waiting for him at the visitors tunnel. Kentucky fans felt hurt, confused, and betrayed. This played out on sports radio and Internet message boards for a while. The most popular man in the state a few years prior was now a pariah.
Then after the disaster of Billy Clyde Gillispie, Calipari came to Lexington and that finally helped Kentucky fans move past the feelings of rejection by Pitino. We knew the history of these two men all too well, and we felt that we’d gotten the better deal: a coach that was younger and better than Pitino, but one who also had the attitude and swagger that we loved about Pitino. Coach Cal ingratiated himself quickly and won over the fans. The all out hatred of Pitino cooled and we largely went back to being regular rivals with Louisville instead of what it was in the early 2000s.
I’ll be the first to admit that Kentucky fans are a different breed. The level of passion in the fans is a blessing and a curse. We will cheer no matter what, but we also hold on to disappointment and rejection much longer than others. After all, it’s been 30 years and there are people who still hate Christian Laettner.
I'm A Carolina fan and do still despise anything Duke affiliated!!!
Idk why people hate ky fans and call us obnoxious. As if no other team or sport do the same thing. I think it drives them nuts that Ky for the most part are good almost every year contenders. And you can find bbn everywhere you go. I went to indy for the sweet 16 and even the locals were Ky fans
Then both of them had to live together in a small apartment in Brooklyn. Hijinks ensues.
One of these guys is a great coach, the other is a great recruiter.
Yes but KY tradition certainly helps
I loved the Spy v Spy line lol what a great series
Thanks for jinxing UK’s 2022 NCAA tournament run
I'm from Omaha Nebraska, I would love for the Nebraska Cornhuskers to hire John Calipari as the next head coach
Its like a i want what you got kind of relationship. Now rick starting all over, and cal is on top of the world after destroying everybody else to get what he wanted. What a movie in my head.
You should do one on John calipari vs John Chaney
You guys should do one on the rise and fall of the Great Alaska Shootout. A great tournament that was truly underrated.
Damn... That was a legendary tournament...
You guys should do a bill self vs Bruce weber video good stuff
And again I politely ask for the Calipari vs. The City of Memphis beef.
we need a new UNTITLED video seth
Please please please rewind the immaculate reception!!!
I love beef. I had to for supper yesterday and Friday too.
Honestly, I would love to see an Embiid-Simmons beef rewind
Neither one of them has accomplished anything
Too early, beef still alive
That would probably be too short
@@90LiLKing yeah but there’s already a lot to go off of, and they could probably make it a multi-episode series as it progresses.
gotta at least wait until the playoffs, if the Nets and Sixers match up
I'm From Memphis and we know this story way too well 😂