Wondering if you'll wish Sampson well on his quest to become an NBA coach
Published: 4/26/2011 10:10 PM
Last Modified: 4/26/2011 10:10 PM
I saw the Houston Chronicle report, and tweeted about it around 10 Tuesday morning. Bucks assistant Kelvin Sampson was interviewing for the Rockets' job.
The joke arrived at around 10:05, as part of a retweet: "Phone interview."
It's the eternal price for getting two prominent college basketball programs in NCAA trouble – no matter where Sampson goes or what he does, phone call jokes will follow.
I get it. I also wonder, now that he's been gone from Oklahoma for five years, if you can all laugh with lighter hearts. I wonder if you can wish him well as he pursues a head coaching position again.
Five years ago, as Sampson left for Indiana, his nationally-touted recruiting class dissolved and his former school went before the NCAA infractions committee, nobody wished him well on a drive to the grocery store.
Funny thing, though: time passed.
Jeff Capel arrived, brought along Blake Griffin, and OU basketball fans let the Sampson Era fade some. Then Capel was fired, the Sooners in sad shape, and the Sampson Era made a comeback.
The same fans so fed up with his so-called boring brand basketball realized a couple things: The man could coach, and the man could win. Revisionist history, something that thrives in sports, had struck again.
The 55-year-old Sampson is finished as a college coach. He said so to our Bill Haisten before the Milwaukee-Thunder game in Oklahoma City a couple weeks ago. His intends to finish his career in the NBA. He hopes it is as a head coach.
Maybe the Rockets grant that wish. It's probably a longshot, given the comfort level pro general managers enjoy with pro head coaches, as recycled as some of them are. (Also on Houston's list, reportedly, are former head coaches Mike Brown, Lawrence Frank, Mike Woodson, Dwayne Casey and Kevin McHale.)
Still, maybe it happens. If it does, maybe five years is enough time that you'll smile, not sneer.
-- Guerin Emig
Written by
Guerin Emig
Sports Writer
