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Kentucky’s John Calipari gets the TMZ treatment

State Farm Champions Classic

NEW YORK, NY - NOVEMBER 15: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats talks with Malik Monk #5, De’Aaron Fox #0, and Wenyen Gabriel #32 in the second half during the State Farm Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden on November 15, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

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Kentucky head coach John Calipari will always take an opportunity to talk on camera and he did so again over the weekend in a brief video on TMZ.

After TMZ asked Calipari a couple of questions about his recently released book they got the veteran head coach to answer a question about the one-and-done rule.

TMZ Reporter: “How do we keep players there [at Kentucky] more than one year? Is there any chance we can keep them there more than a year?”

Calipari: “Well, if it’s your son, you want him out in a year to go to the NBA. If it’s someone else’s son, you want him in for four years... Look, I’m for the kids. Whatever is best for them, I’m all in.”

This is the sort of response that we’ve come to expect from Calipari when it comes to Kentucky and how they use the one-and-done rule and they’ve been the most successful program in the country when it comes to recruiting elite freshmen.

But Calipari does bring up a valid point with the one-and-done rule. Fans often look at rules like the one-and-done from a perspective that will personally benefit them -- meaning the fans want their favorite program’s players to stay around for as long as they’re allowed.

Calipari obviously has to cater to the thoughts and beliefs of his fanbase -- since he’s a college head coach who has to deal with boosters and prominent alums -- but he’s also the guy who has to sit in living rooms across America explaining to parents how he’s going to help their five-star son achieve professional basketball dreams. Having to straddle that fine line, Calipari has done a great job of getting Big Blue Nation used to the idea of cheering for elite freshmen while also getting those same Kentucky fans to buy into the idea of team-building that is based around mostly freshmen.

The results have given the Wildcats a national championship and a lot of NBA lottery picks the last few seasons but the one-and-done approach has also given Cal plenty of detractors among the college basketball community. No matter what anyone believes, now that the one-and-done rule is staying in the new NBA collective bargaining agreement we’ll have more arguments about this sort of thing for at least a few more years.

Besides all the one-and-done talk, how about Calipari making it on TMZ? College basketball almost never makes the news and gossip site’s radar unless Drake shows up to something. So Calipari getting on TMZ is more proof that he’s the game’s best when it comes to promoting himself and his program.