Calipari “trying to do what’s right” by teaching players to vote

Over the weekend, John Calipari spoke to his team about the importance of voting, encouraging his players to register and request their absentee ballots ahead of November’s election. On a Zoom call with reporters today, Calipari was asked about the backlash he received from some fans over the conversation.

“I knew it would bring both [good and bad reactions] but I’m not — I don’t see it. I may ask [UK Basketball SID] Eric [Lindsey] and Eric would protect me if I’m really getting bashed, but the whole point of it is, to teach someone to vote. And you’re talking now 12 votes. It’s more of their action than they’re going to make some sort of big difference. We said, you vote with someone who believes what you believe. That’s how you vote. You listen to the facts and you listen to what they’re saying and you vote for them.

“So, if someone was disappointed and someone thinks I was the worst human being, if they ask me that, I would say, I agree, can we move on? If someone came back and said, ‘Oh man, Cal, that’s the greatest thing,’ I’d say, great, let’s move on. But it’s me teaching my team and there are times I’ll do things that I know aren’t the most popular, but what’s right isn’t always popular and what’s popular isn’t always right. I’m just trying to do what I think is right.”

Earlier in the call, Calipari said that in the wake of George Floyd’s murder and nationwide protests, he feels part of his responsibility as a coach is educating players on ways to take action in their communities, whether it be by voting or volunteering.

“I sat down with my team and I said, I know your opinion. You can speak, you can show how you feel, but to me, it’s always about action. What do you want to do? The first thing was, the way you move your feet, the first way is you vote. I’m not telling you how to vote. Vote for who you want. But that’s an action. Vote. We signed them all up. They all registered and now the last piece of that is getting some mail-in ballots. But they’re all excited about it.”