Rich Paul questions John Calipari’s role in the decline of Chris Livingston’s draft value: “Someone has to be held accountable”

John Calipari has turned one recruit after another and one player after another into top prospects for the NBA Draft. But for those who have not developed into reliable professionals under his leadership, he seems to be demanding more from him.

In an interview at Gil’s Arena, Rich Paul, CEO of KLUTCH Sports Group, questioned the methods of coaches, including Calipari, who are failing to bring players into the league. For example, he pointed to one of his own clients, Chris Livingston, a top junior player and player for Kentucky in 1922-1923 and how his college experience cost him the jump to the NBA.

“Like last year with a guy like Chris Livingston? When he came to Kentucky he was 12th. And when he left? They’re talking about how he can hardly be a pro. How?” thought Paul. “He’s 6’1″, athletic, long. So, a great kid. How is that possible? And who takes responsibility for that?”

This is where Paul questions whether he should take responsibility for such a drop in performance. If something like this happens to a player under the supervision of a coach, he believes that the coach should be held just as responsible as anyone else. For him, it is no different than if a student under the guidance of his teacher does not reach his potential.

“That’s it. Somebody has to be held accountable because I would think, if I’m coaching a young man or a young woman? When you come in here, my job is to make sure you leave here either as good or better than you came in. There’s no way you’re going to leave here worse because I take responsibility,” Paul said. “If I’m at this level and you say I’m this coach and we’re this institution? Then I have to hold myself accountable as well.”

“It’s like school,” Paul added. As a teacher, you don’t feel comfortable just passing a child on for the sake of passing them on, even though that’s been happening in many public schools in urban communities for many years. It doesn’t feel good and you know it doesn’t feel good – just like this.”

Livingston came to Lexington as a five-star player and the No. 16 player in the nation according to On3’s 2022 industry rankings. He was the No. 6 SF in the class and the top recruit out of Virginia after finishing his high school career at Oak Hill Academy.

In his only season at Kentucky, Livingston averaged 6.3 points and 4.2 rebounds in 34 games, an underwhelming performance compared to his early college potential, which caused him to slip down the rankings and become a projected second-round pick.

Nevertheless, Paul, one of the most influential people in the NBA, managed to make him a pick in the end. After canceling his remaining workouts in the pre-draft process, Livingston was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the No. 58 overall pick, the last pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. He then signed a four-year, $7.7 million contract with the franchise – the largest deal ever for a last pick in the draft.

As a rookie, Livingston played in 21 games for Milwaukee, averaging 1.2 points and one rebound, and also played 20 games for the Wisconsin Herd in the G-League.

Paul may be right about his client in Livingston in this case. But Calipari also has more than a few players who surpassed their initial rankings and became top players in the NBA. He had several of them among his 47 selections as head coach at Kentucky. Several more will join that group later this week in the 2024 NBA Draft.

You wouldn’t expect anything less than an agent like Paul to advocate for someone he represents, like Livingston. Still, it sounds pretty clear that he wasn’t thrilled with how that one season went under Calipari.