John Calipari Tells The Media To Leave His Players Alone During Bizarre Press Conference

John Calipari was in a mood after Kentucky beat Auburn.

The Wildcats beat Auburn 70-59 to improve to 18-7, and it's clear Calipari is tired of some of the criticism his team has faced this year. While Kentucky has won 18 games, a lot of fans are disappointed by the overall performance of the team.

UK definitely doesn't appear to be a national title contender, which is the standard fans have for the blue blood program. Well, Calipari made it clear he doesn't want his players criticized.

John Calipari and Kentucky improved to 18-7 after beating Auburn. (Credit: The Montgomery Advertiser via USA Today Sports Network)

John Calipari tells people to keep the criticism on him. 

"Please just leave my players alone. Let them be young and learn. Keep attacking me. I may be the worst in the country. Just attack me and leave these kids alone," Calipari told the media in bizarre fashion after beating the Tigers.

You can watch his comments below, and send me your thoughts at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.

I might be an old man yelling at the clouds, but this is a bit of a ridiculous take from John Calipari, especially in the NIL era. This is America. People are free to criticize whoever they want.

College basketball players also aren't children. They're adults. Young adults? Yes, but adults nonetheless, and if they want to play on the biggest stage and pocket NIL cash, then criticism is fair game. Don't take my word for it. Deion Sanders summed it up well when he said the following:

"You can't want a bag of money…You want to be paid like a professional, but you want to be treated like a child. That don't work. If you want to be compensated like a pro, the media now gonna treat you like a pro. You got kids working their butts off at these local restaurants, these local businesses, right, just to make it through college. Then you got a kid coming in here with a luxury car that really ain't done nothing. Then he mess around and drop a ball that is decisive in the game, and you think they're going to feel sorry for you? That don't work like that. If you're going to be motivated by the claps, you have to be motivated by the boos."

Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari told people to leave his players alone. (Credit: The Montgomery Advertiser via USA Today Sports Network)

It's clear the criticism has gotten to Calipari and his frustrations appeared to come out during his press conference. He's free to say whatever he wants, but nobody should honestly believe criticizing players is off-limits. It's not. If players don't want to face the heat, then go do something other than play sports for a major university. Think I'm wrong? Let me know at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.