John Calipari's odd protest against the refs baffled basketball fans
John Calipari was having quite the meltdown at referees Saturday during the Wildcats’ SEC tournament semifinal game against Tennessee over what he appeared to think was bad, uneven and unfair officiating.
The Kentucky basketball coach was furious throughout the first half of the heated matchup, and it only took the first 10 minutes or so for him to totally lose his cool. Much of Calipari’s anger seemed to be directed toward referee Doug Shows, and, according to The Athletic‘s Kyle Tucker, the coach appeared to dare the officials to toss him.
Then things got weird.
With just more than nine minutes left in the first half as Kentucky had a 20-16 lead, Wildcats’ Reid Travis went in for a layup, and Vols’ Grant Williams grabbed the ball, forcing a jump ball and giving Tennessee possession. And that’s when Calipari lost it, but not in a way that said he was about to explode.
Instead, he bent over with his arms stretched out in front of him and held that position, inexplicably, for several seconds in what seems to be the oddest style of protest against the officials.
It was strange, and no one really knew what to make of it. Other than praise it or make some jokes.
Tennessee had a 36-34 lead at the half, and Calipari did, in fact, make it out of the first 20 minutes without getting a technical.