Remember when Rick Pitino was tightly connected to the Kings coaching job? Seems like so long ago! Pitino was mysteriously placed on reported candidate lists for the Kings job shortly after Geoff Petrie returned from his first European scouting jaunt. For about a week, there was a bluster of rumor -- both sourced and otherwise -- which connected Pitino to the Maloofs.
In the end, the rumors died fiery deaths. The autopsy on the saga read something like this ...
There have been rumblings for some time now that he [Pitino] was looking for a way out for reasons of both the personal and professional nature.
Sam Amick wrote that back in early May, and two national reporters (Marc Stein, Adrian Wojnarowski) effectively said the same thing. Yet, the narrative that resulted from the Pitino/Louisville denials put some sort of blame on the Kings for chasing someone out of their league. There was a sliver of "LULZ KINGZ SUXORS" somewhere in there, even though the Kings apparently didn't ask for the attention.
Well, I think we can the whole Pitino question to bed ... or to "restaurant table," I suppose ... once and for all.
University of Louisville men's basketball coach Rick Pitino told police that he had consensual sex with Karen Cunagin Sypher at a Louisville restaurant where he'd been drinking on Aug. 1, 2003. He also told police that he later gave Sypher $3,000 to have an abortion, according to Louisville Metro Police reports The Courier-Journal obtained under the Kentucky Open Records Act. But Pitino denied Sypher's allegations that he raped her at Porcini, after the restaurant closed, and again a few weeks later at a different location, police records show. And prosecutors who have reviewed Sypher's claims say Pitino won't be charged.
No wonder The Rick wanted to leave Louisville. And no wonder the Kings didn't give him the time of day. Good grief.
UPDATE: Holy Moses, there's another Kings connection. Why were Pitino and Sypher at Porcini on August 1, 2003?
Pitino told Abbott he was at Porcini Restaurant, 2730 Frankfort Ave., on Aug. 1, 2003, to celebrate the hiring of former NBA star Reggie Theus as an assistant coach, and that Tatum, the aide, attended as designated driver. The records don't indicate that Theus was there.
I don't want to say Reggie is the source of all pain and suffering in the world, but ...