NEW YORK -- I've rarely seen John Calipari this happy at a postgame press conference.
After Kentucky's no-doubt-about-it, 21-point win over Michigan State on Tuesday night at the Champions Classic, Calipari was at the podium for about 15 minutes. He was lighthearted at times, lovingly critical of his guys at other times.
But at the very end, a particularly young reporter from Sports Illustrated for Kids had a question for Cal that he just had to ask, one about comparing Malik Monk to previous standout freshmen Calipari has coached over the years.
So Cal turned the table on him and asked the young fella if he thought Monk was better than guys like DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, etc. And then the young boy -- a dogged reporter! -- kindly followed up with his question again.
Cal -- and the entire room -- broke out into laughter. It was a good question, and also one that got Cal to show some more playful sides of his personality. If the kid can get Cal to be this easygoing, perhaps he needs to be embedded with the Wildcats all season.
