Michigan coach John Beilein’s interest in the Detroit Pistons job was legitimate, but now that the courtship is over, don’t expect him to consider any other opportunities like it.
Beilein told WBBL’s “The Huge Show” this week that he found the opportunity “appealing,” but after ultimately turning it down, he doesn’t expect to entertain any more NBA interest in the future.
“It was location, location, location,” Beilein said, via James Hawkins of the Detroit News. “(Wife) Kathleen and I, we love it. We have our daughter Seana in Saline with her three grandkids and her husband. We wouldn’t really have to move. It was appealing to me and the interest was mutual to an extent, but they had some other great options and I had a great option.
“It didn’t work out, but I wanted to think it through. I don’t anticipate or plan on ever doing that again and I think people understand that. It’s not like I’ve been doing this every year.”
Reports at the time indicated that Beilein’s interest in the NBA was not simply a leverage play, and his comments seem to bear that out. At age 65, this was probably the last chance he’d get to consider an NBA opportunity, especially one that wouldn’t force him to uproot his family. He thought it through and ultimately decided against it.
