National Basketball Association

Calipari not clued in to James' future plans

Published Jun. 26, 2010 12:31 a.m. ET

foxsports

John Calipari admitted that he has talked with LeBron James recently - about the NBA free agent's son.

The Kentucky coach joked Friday he's hoping to coach the star's 3-year-old son Bryce in college one day. Calipari sent James a belated birthday wish for his youngest son earlier this week.

``I told (LeBron) I really need to know (Bryce's) birthday if I'm going to be coaching him. He's going to be my playmaker,'' Calipari said. ``Because of his age, I told him he's got to be one-and-done, because I'm not going to be coaching that long.''

But Bryce is likely the only James' family member Calipari plans to coach.

Calipari has repeatedly stated he plans to coach at Kentucky next season and stressed he hasn't spoken to James about making the leap to the NBA.

``We've never talked about me coaching him, never talked about it,'' Calipari said.

Calipari, who led Kentucky to a 35-3 record in his first season with the program, has become good friends with James in recent years. James attended a Kentucky game at Rupp Arena last fall, and Calipari has made appearances at James' basketball camps.

James can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Several NBA teams are jockeying for position in hopes of signing the two-time MVP.

Despite the friendship, however, Calipari says he's not clued in on where James will play next year.

``He's got to do what's right for he and his family,'' Calipari said. ``If he wants to do what's right for the families of Cleveland, then he'll probably say 'I'm going to stay for everybody in Cleveland.' But if you want to do what's right for he and his family, that's his decision. It may well be stay in Cleveland.''

Calipari believes the deciding factor for James and the rest of arguably the best free-agent class in NBA history won't be money, but the opportunity to play for a title.

``They know they're going to make money, they want to go where they have a chance to win championships,'' Calipari said. ``That's all those guys and not just LeBron.''