Rick Pitino may be able to lay low down under by coaching in New Zealand
As Rick Pitino searches for his next coaching job, an offer from overseas may be the one he has to take.
Rick Pitino was fired amid scandal and a FBI investigation by Louisville last fall, and with coaching jobs opening at the college level and coming in the NBA he’s a potential candidate. But any major openings have been filled in college now, and Pitino’s prior record as an NBA head coach makes him nothing more than a big-name candidate for a third chance there.
If he wants to coach next season, Pitino will have to start looking outside the box. On that front, Marc Stein of the New York Times has reported the New Zealand Breakers of the NBL in Australia has offered Pitino their head coaching job.
As noted by Christopher Reive of the New Zealand Herald, the Breakers have a new ownership group in place. Former NBA All-Star Shawn Marion is a recognizable name to Americans, along with Dan “Big Cat” Katz, Henry Lockwood and PFT Commenter of the “Pardon My Take” podcast.
The New Zealand Breakers, I’m told, have offered their vacant head coaching position to former Louisville coach Rick Pitino. The @NZBreakers play in Australia’s @NBL and their new American ownership has been pitching Pitino’s representative on the post this week.
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 30, 2018
Pitino suggested he has an interest in coaching in the NBA, with an “informal discussion” apparently taking place with a team. But according to Stein that contact was initiated by Pitino’s side, rather than by the team it was not too hard to connect the dots to right away.
No confirmed NBA interest in Pitino has yet emerged. The only known contact to date he’s had with an NBA team, league sources say, was initiated by Pitino’s side — not the team (Milwaukee)
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) March 30, 2018
Pitino’s desire to coach does not seem to be meeting with interest anywhere stateside. ESPN’s Jay Williams suggested Pitino was a candidate for the job at Georgia, but once they honed in on Tom Crean that possibility went away.
Related Story: 3 potential new coaching jobs for Rick Pitino
Leaving aside the salary offer which may be out there, we’re about to find out just how much Pitino loves to coach basketball. He would find former NBA players Rakeem Christmas and Kirk Penney on the Breakers’ roster, since they joined the team this season. But that’s probably as close as Pitino will get to coaching NBA players, now or ever again. The FBI and NCAA probably won’t find him as easily in that location, either.