Louisville's Pitino denies interest in Nets job
Louisville coach Rick Pitino calls out to his team during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against St. John's. (February 11, 2010) Credit: AP
Louisville coach Rick Pitino went on the offensive Thursday after reports that he has expressed interest via back channels in coaching the Nets. The former Knicks and Celtics coach called the reports of a possible return to the NBA "rumors and untruths.''
Speaking on the weekly Big East coaches conference call, Pitino said, "All I can say is in the past nine years, I've never had one conversation with a pro team. I had one conversation with a college team, and that was Providence College. There's absolutely no truth to it.''
Louisville suffered a 74-55 Big East beating by St. John's last night at the Garden in what Pitino described as his team's "worst game of the year.'' Asked if the NBA report was a distraction, Pitino said it was to him, if not to his players.
"When someone speaks an untruth, it's a distraction,'' he said. "It bothers you. I've been at Louisville nine years, and I want to go until I'm 65. It's a nuisance.''
Pitino, 57, has a long-standing friendship with Nets general manager Rod Thorn, and they spoke briefly this week at Dick McGuire's funeral in Melville. Discussing his frequent golf partner, Pitino said, "The only conversations we've had have been about how many strokes he's going to give me in the summertime. It's never about coaching.''
This has been a difficult season for Pitino after the sex scandal last summer in which he admitted an extramarital affair and alleged that Karen Sypher tried to extort money from him. But he scoffed at the idea of seeking rejuvenation elsewhere. "If you're going to get rejuvenated, I don't think you take over the Nets,'' he said of the 4-48 team.
As if anticipating that he will be rumored as a candidate for the St. John's job if Norm Roberts is fired, Pitino praised his Big East rival for a big win. "You take no consolation from losing, but if there is one, I'm glad it was St. John's,'' Pitino said. "I'm happy for them and for Norm.''
When someone told Pitino of a new report citing Duke's Mike Krzyzewski as the Nets' top choice, he laughed. "He'd be a great choice,'' Pitino said. "As a matter of fact, I'm going to go call his recruits right now.''
