Maybe John Calipari leaves the University of Kentucky someday with 1 national title. Maybe he wins more. For many of the fans, whatever that final number is will be Calipari's legacy at Kentucky. But if Cal had emphasized anything from Day 1 and never backed down, he has emphasized that success on the college level is not his greatest priority. Setting the players up for their future careers in basketball is his #1 goal. After digging through the numbers a little, I think Calipari can be quite proud of the following fact:
Adding past earnings with money already on signed contracts, Calipari players from Kentucky now have over ONE BILLION DOLLARS in NBA contracts.
A breakdown:
John Wall: 71.61 million (159.7 million remaining)
Demarcus Cousins: 61.19 million (18.06 million remaining)
Enes Kanter: 52.32 million (20.57 million remaining)
Eric Bledsoe: 46.68 million (29.50 million remaining)
Anthony Davis: 45.31 million (76.30 million remaining)
Brandon Knight: 36.27 million (43.89 million remaining)
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist: 33.76 million (26.0 million remaining)
Patrick Patterson: 27.14 million (10.64 million remaining)
Nerlens Noel: 14.33 million (4.19 million remaining)
Karl-Anthony Towns: 11.66 million (6.22 million remaining)
Julius Randle: 9.40 million (4.15 million remaining)
Terrence Jones: 8.43 million
Willie Cauley-Stein: 6.95 million (8.4 million remaining)
Archie Goodwin: 5.72 million
James Young: 5.25 million
D'Aaron Fox: 4.61 million (5.41 million remaining)
Trey Lyles: 4.58 million (5.80 million remaining)
Devin Booker: 4.35 million (5.63 million remaining)
Marquis Teague: 3.22 million
Jamal Murray: 3.21 million (6.86 million remaining)
Malik Monk: 2.90 million (3.45 million remaining)
Daniel Orton: 2.89 million
Bam Adebayo: 2.49 million (2.96 million remaining)
Deandre Liggins: 2.25 million (0.03 million remaining) *signed 2-year deal last week, terms not disclosed
Josh Harrellson: 1.71 million
Darius Miller: 1.66 million (4.31 million remaining)
Doron Lamb: 1.44 million
Skal Labissiere: 1.19 million (2.85 million remaining)
Andrew Harrison: 0.95 million (2.85 million remaining)
Tyler Ulis: 0.92 million (2.85 million remaining)
Aaron Harrison: 0.90 million
Dakari Johnson: 0.82 million (1.38 million remaining)
Alex Poythress: 0.07 million (2.32 million remaining)
TOTAL: $476.18 MILLION ($454.32 million remaining on contracts)
COMBINED: $930.5 MILLION
Player/Team Options Remaining
Wall: 46.87 million
Davis: 28.75 million
Kanter: 18.62 million
Fox: 14.49 million
Kidd-Gilchrist: 13.00 million
Monk: 9.38 million
Adebayo: 8.56 million
Towns: 7.84 million
Patterson: 5.71 million
Murray: 4.44 million
Labissiere: 2.34 million
Ulis: 1.68 million
TOTAL: $161.68 MILLION
Keep a couple things in mind too as you look at those numbers:
- Karl Towns hasn't signed a new contract off his rookie deal. His 2nd contract will be massive. Same goes for Devin Booker, who will likely be in for a hefty payday in his 2nd contract.
- Deandre Liggins contract he just signed has not been released.
- None of Calipari's players are 30 years old yet.
- Calipari is not done. He will add 2-4 players each year to the NBA.
I understand that many fans are constantly frustrated by the infatuation and focus on the NBA rather than college results by Calipari. But 50 years from now, you will have to say the tons of millionaires that Calipari coached will be his lasting legacy. And calling him a BILLION DOLLAR COACH has to be the greatest compliment you could give the guy.
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