John Calipari had an awkward exchange with an ESPN reporter during halftime of Tuesday night’s game against Kansas, but it does appear there are any hard feelings.
While expressing his frustrations over the Wildcats being out-hustled by Kansas and allowing too many second-chance baskets, Calipari grabbed ESPN’s Maria Taylor by the arm. It looked like Coach Cal just got caught up in the moment, and he realized that the contact may have been a bit excessive.
Things got a little awkward between John Calipari and Maria Taylor at halftime. pic.twitter.com/yFjhikwBIu
— Cork Gaines (@CorkGaines) November 15, 2017
Some felt that Taylor was offended and/or felt uncomfortable, especially since she said “I’m not your player.” However, the reporter took to Twitter after the game — which Kansas won 65-61 — to say her arm is fine and she loves interviewing Calipari.
Just want everyone to know that my arm is totally fine…and while I am not one of @UKCoachCalipari players I do love interviewing him!!
— Maria Taylor (@MariaTaylor7) November 15, 2017
There has been some talk about Calipari being disrespectful to a female reporter, but he was hardly pulling a Cam Newton. In this particular instance, it looked like the coach just got carried away while having an animated discussion about the effort of his players.
