Book Review: John Calipari’s “Bounce Back”
Sep 23, 2009 Jayson Williams, John Calipari, Kendall Gill
As I’ve discussed previously, the John Calipari era in New Jersey has always been a curious one for me. There was one great, entertaining season in 97-98, when the team won 43 games and made it to the first round of the playoffs and fighting hard against the Bulls before getting swept away by the eventual champions. That season was sandwiched between two agonizing ones, including the lockout-shortened 1999 season where the team lost starting point guard Sam Cassell, started the season 3-17, and Calipari was fired.
When Calipari came to the Nets from the University of Massachusetts, he was known for being a little high-strung and abrasive. People said he was an Xs and Os wonk who demanded a lot from his players – maybe too much. In the closing days of Calipari’s tenure in New Jersey, all of these bad traits came to a head. His players, most notably Jayson Williams, publicly criticized him. The Nets new ownership group at the time, didn’t back him. He got into major trouble, when he referred to a reporter as an “Mexican Idiot.”
A lot of this history is rehashed in Calipari’s new book “Bounce Back: Overcoming Setbacks to Succeed in Business and Life.” Part self-help book, part-biography, Calipari uses his New Jersey firing as the primary impetus for his motivational spiel, citing it as the “rock bottom” of his professional career. The book is Calipari’s opportunity to set the record straight, while showing how he’s grown from the fiasco.
Which is what makes “Bounce Back” so curious. Throughout the book, Calipari litters the text with classic self-help clichés, telling readers to believe in themselves, and to get out from under the covers. He uses his life as an example of coming back from the depths of despair – the problem is, there is not a whole lot about Calipari’s life that I think the common man could identify with and be inspired by.
Looking Back At The Calipari Era
Aug 21, 2009 Blast From The Past, Jayson Williams, John Calipari, Keith Van Horn, Kendall Gill, Kerry Kittles, Sam Cassell
As someone who was first introduced to the Nets in the 1990s, I’ve retained some real fondness for the 1997-98 team. While only winning 43 games and getting swept away by the eventual NBA Champion Chicago Bulls in the first round of the playoffs, the 97-98 group was just an entertaining group of players: Sam Cassell hitting big shot after big shot, Keith Van Horn when he was “the next Larry Bird,” Jayson Williams owning the boards, Kerry Kittles streaking down the court and lining up for a three. And that team was led by a young, intelligent coach coming off a great little run in the NCAA – you might have heard of him the past 24 hours – John Calipari.
When it comes to Nets lore, the 97-98 team probably gets lost in the shuffle. The Jason Kidd era showed how the Nets could be both fun and talented. Plus the following season was a disaster for the Nets. The 1999-2000 season was already shortened by the lockout, and when play resumed, a Nets team that had shown so much promise, nosedived. You got the sense that Calipari, who was about as energetic and wiry as they come, was starting to rub his players the wrong way. Jayson Williams, who would later tarnish his own legacy with other issues, was very candid about his dislike for Calipari. They started the season 3-17 and Cailpari was fired. It wasn’t until they exchanged Stephon Marbury for Jason Kidd that the Nets were a relevant part of the NBA again.
I guess that’s what Calipari does. While it may not be intentional, he now has a solid steak of coming to a team and giving the fans some hope before leaving behind a path of destruction. Yesterday, it was revealed that the NCAA was stripping the 2008 University of Memphis Tigers of its tournament victories for using an ineligible player, which is believed to be Derek Rose, now of the Chicago Bulls. That Memphis team (with current Net Chris Douglas-Roberts) made it to the championship game and was coached by Calipari. Calipari was also coach of the 1996 University of Massachusetts Final Four team, which had to vacate its record because then-player Marcus Camby accepted gifts and money from an agent. Calipari was cleared of any wrong-doing, but all of this has to make you think why controversy always seems to be following a Calipari.
I will always have my memories of the 97-98 Nets team. I’ll always remember how they almost caught the Bulls napping in game one of their series, making, what was by all accounts, an invincible team, have to scratch and claw their way to a victory. I remember Slam Magazine putting Cassell, Van Horn, Williams, Kittles and Kendall Gill on the cover – marking the first time I ever purchased Slam. But when I go back and recall the Calipari era in New Jersey, I always get a bitter taste in my mouth. And it seems like now Memphis Tigers fans will now get the taste, when they look back at their own Calipari years.
Posted by Mark Ginocchio