Former LA Clipper calls for fashion ban after John Calipari's son's courtside appearance
It was a surprising 2024 NCAA tournament finish for John Calipari's Kentucky Wildcats after the Oakland Golden Grizzlies pulled off the 80-76 upset victory. The game garnered former LA Clipper Sam Dekker to issue a fashion ban. Calipari's son, Brad, was seen in courtside wearing sunglasses and a turtleneck.
Dekker was not a fan of this, hence the ban, especially after a disappointing loss from his father.
"Ban turtlenecks when it's not turtleneck season," Dekker posted. " Also ban sunglasses indoors."
His comment came after Pregame Empire (@PregameEmpire) mocked Brad Calipari's outfit on X as his father's third-seeded team lost to the 14th seed. It was the kind of energy that Dekker wanted to follow up with, especially considering that he has a history of going up against John Calipari's Kentucky Wildcats.
In the 2015 NCAA Final Four game against the Wisconsin Badgers, Kentucky lost 71-64. Former LA Clipper small forward Sam Dekker started for Wisconsin and put up 16 points (6-of-9 shooting, including 2-of-3 from 3-point range) and three rebounds.
Against the Wildcats' Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein and Devin Booker off the bench, it was yet another disappointing finish for Kentucky.
Following former LA Clipper Sam Dekker's comments, John Calipari addressed Kentucky's recent NCAA first-round exit
After the loss, John Calipari addressed what's next for Kentucky's basketball program and his approach heading into a new direction, as per ESPN's Brooke Pryor.
"I'll look at other ways that we can do stuff," Calipari said, "... We've been able to help so many kids and win so many games and Final Fours, national titles and all this stuff ... All of a sudden it's gotten really old. So we're playing teams that our average is 19, their average is age 24 and 25. So do I change because of that?"
The basketball landscape consistently changes, whether at the professional or the collegiate level. Despite Calipari's impressive college basketball coaching career, his 1-4 record in his last five NCAA tournament games has raised serious questions about his resume.