Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins get into heated debate regarding Coach Cal's future
The future of Kentucky basketball with John Calipari as its leader has been the only thing people care to talk about since the team’s first-round loss to Oakland in the NCAA Tournament. So why not have two major figures in the program’s rich history discuss what they think?
On one end, you have one of the best point guards to ever come through Lexington who went on to become a two-time world champion and four-time NBA All-Star in Rajon Rondo. He played at Kentucky under Tubby Smith from 2004-06, a defensive menace turned first-round draft selection known for his high basketball IQ as an extension of the coaching staff on the floor.
On the other, you’ve got one of the biggest fan favorites under Coach Cal, one of the most dominant centers to come through the program and a top-five draft pick in DeMarcus Cousins. Also a four-time All-Star, he brought a unique combination of size and skill to the league and saw highs unlike any other big up to that point. He truly changed the game, dominating both inside and out.
What do they feel about the current state of the program and their former school’s lack of recent success in the NCAA Tournament? Well, their views are wildly different.
On one end, Rondo believes no coach is bigger than Kentucky basketball, no matter how much he respects John Calipari.
“How many (championships) Cal got?” Rondo asked Cousins.
“Enough,” he responded.
“Don’t give me enough. It’s been over a decade,” Rondo said back. “It’s about what have you done for me lately. … It’s the University of Kentucky, Cuz. Don’t disrespect the University of Kentucky. It’s been one of the greatest colleges of all-time way before Cal got there. He didn’t just come there and accept the standard that it’s winning basketball now. They have been that.”
Cousins fired back that he got there following the Billy Gillispie era when the standard wasn’t winning basketball.
“I’m talking about when I got there,” he said. “It was championship or bust with Billy Gillispie? What are we talking about?”
“That was a bad hire, period,” Rondo responded.
“When I got there, the standard wasn’t championship or bust,” Cousins said. “When we got there, it was championship or bust.”
“It was still Kentucky basketball,” Rondo fired back. “It’s like saying the Boston Celtics or the Los Angeles Lakers. We’re not talking about the Detroit Pistons.”
“I don’t understand how we get to the point where our next-best option is to replace this coach,” Cousins said. “That doesn’t even make sense to me. With what? … Everything Calipari brings to a program is going to go down if they replace this guy. Everything is going down.”
“I disagree with that,” Rondo responded. “It is UK. It is the brand. … I never said fire Cal, I said that clearly. I never said we should replace him. All I’m saying is he has to get the guys to buy in.”
It’s a must-see conversation between two guys whose voices carry serious weight in Lexington. Take a look:
A lot of truth on both sides of that conversation. Unprecedented times in Kentucky basketball history are upon us.
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