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VIDEO: Why was John Calipari screaming about Powerball tickets?

John Calipari

Kentucky head coach John Calipari talks to Alex Poythress (22) during a time out in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Ohio State Saturday, Dec. 19, 2015, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

AP

Last night, after No. 14 Kentucky dispatched Mississippi State in Rupp Arena, head coach John Calipari hopped on the postgame radio broadcast and started screaming about ... Powerball tickets?

Huh?

That snippet makes Cal look like a lunatic, but in reality, he was making a point. The story starts on Monday night, when Cal went and bought a Powerball ticket for every player on his team. He brought them over to his house for dinner, asked for $2 from each of his players and gave them one of those tickets.

He then asked his guys if they knew the odds of winning the $1.5 billion prize, which is 292 million-to-1. “You’re ticket ain’t winning!” he said on his radio show, his point being that they already have a lottery ticket.

Themselves.

Which is why he started screaming.

“They all have a Powerball ticket!” he shouted. “Play! Fight! Battle! Be worth $100 million! What would you be afraid of? Wouldn’t you just say, ‘I’ve got nothing to lose?’”

Cal’s frustration seemed to stem from the fact that Kentucky had an 18 point lead that they nearly let slip away against the Bulldogs, that he still is struggling to get this group to play hard all the time.

And it’s a fair point.

But I do wonder if he’s going to ask for a cut of the winnings if one of those tickets that he bought does end up winning that $1.5 billion.