NBA Draft: The John Calipari Effect — $6 billion and counting

As the New York Knicks completed the biggest comeback in NBA Finals history in Game 4, television cameras constantly panned the crowd packed with celebrities like Ben Stiller, Timothée Chalamet, Spike Lee and Larry David. But seated next to Adam Sandler was a different type of star, a kingmaker in both college and pro hoops.

John Calipari was courtside to watch three of his former players compete on basketball’s biggest stage: Knicks All-Star center Karl-Anthony Towns and San Antonio Spurs teammates De’Aaron Fox and Keldon Johnson. Calipari just completed his second season at the University of Arkansas following 15 seasons at the University of Kentucky and almost a decade at the University of Memphis. Since 2000, the Basketball Hall of Famer has coached 41 players who have gone on to be selected in the first round of the NBA Draft, including league MVPs like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Derrick Rose, first team All-NBA superstars like Anthony Davis and Devin Booker and four top overall picks. Those players have gone on to make more than $3.6 billion in on-court earnings through the 2025-2026 season — in all, Cal has boasted that his players have earned more than $6 billion in professional contracts — making playing for Calipari one of the safest bets for an amateur athlete if he wants to achieve long-term financial success as a professional.

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With the 2026 NBA Draft commencing Tuesday night in Brooklyn, Calipari is set to add to that list with dynamic point guard Darius Acuff Jr., projected as the seventh overall pick by Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor, and Meleek Thomas, a sharpshooting wing, is projected to go 28th. So what makes Calipari so well equipped to not only gain and maintain the trust of so many talented players but put them in the best position to succeed, even after more than 30 years of high-level coaching?

Ever since ESPN college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla met Calipari 47 years ago when they were 19 years old at Dean Smith’s basketball camp at the University of North Carolina, he knew that Calipari had the gift of gab. It helped the Pennsylvania native become an ace…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/nba-draft-the-john-calipari-effect–6-billion-and-counting-174914543.html

Author : Shlomo Sprung

Publish date : 2026-06-23 17:49:00

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