If this week’s early buzz (Yahoo Sports speculation) had been true that John Calipari is shopping himself on the NBA market and any mogul interested in his services, bids begin at $120 million, then Kentucky had an earth-shaker story, right? Nah. For now.

Kentucky’s ball coach arose Monday morning to find himself where he loves to be, near the center of attention. A headline or two down the front page from lottery numbers, bad boy Sean Penn shenanigans and whatever the loons in north Korea are doing.

In age of Twitter, whatever rumors could be easily stamped out. Scenario: Bedazzled young Kentucky fan telephones Big Blue Line, in a mournful tone inquires, “Say it ain’t so, Cal. Say it ain’t so.”

Then, along with Big Blue Nation and one-and-done prospects for next season, kid sits back and listens to a perfectly plausible denial.

“I absolutely have the best coaching job in sports and I plan on being at Kentucky for a long time. I am not negotiating with ANYBODY. My total focus is on this team and winning the next game.”

Poof! Calipari tweeted late Monday morning stopped that one in its tracks.

On behalf of the kid, it would’ve been good if he had added, “I already have all the money one human being could ever need … Kentucky is my dream job … I am devoted to Big Blue Nation.”

Addendum. A Big Blue Nation devotee offered his context for Yahoo Sports’ mischievous what-if, “That tired, worn ‘raise the flag and see if anybody salutes it’ rumor comes up with regularity re Coach Cal. Doesn’t matter how often he denies it, or what words he chooses to express his denial. So, now it’s heard again for the umpteenth time.”

SPECULATION STILL FUN

Speculation and suspense stoke the scuttlebutt fires in wintertime around rumor-loving BBN, don’t they? Part of the entertainment.

Last Monday an internet headline blared: Calipari tells Nets he wants $120 million to return to NBA.

In spite of Calipari denials, Yahoo columnist Adrian Wojnarowski’s piece was an intriguing chain-of-events. Though it amounted to more Monday morning what-if than what-is. Had gaps to close too. For me, his piece violated spell-it-out obligation to readers – where, why and to whom Calipari communicated things he wanted and when?

Wojnarowski’s column was ignited by Brooklyn’s firing coach Lionel Hollins the day before, followed by what-if links drawn to Calipari flirtations with Cleveland in 2014 then New Orleans a year later.

Add on a bidding war between two sputtering NBA franchises alleged ready to throw lotto level money – Brooklyn and Sacramento added plausibility. Toss in a friendship link – Calipari and Nets CEO Brett Yormark, and hey.

Next, reaching to last year, UK’s coach allegedly told Sacramento owners it would take $11 million-plus a year “to get his attention.” He had already said no to a 10-year, $80 million-plus offer from Cleveland, Wojnarowski wrote, adding, that offer had become Calipari’s baseline. He wants the 10 years and $12 million-a-year Phil Jackson makes to run the New York Knicks.

Major selling point to Brooklyn involves Calipari delivering ex-Kentucky stars DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall to the Nets when they become free agents in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

All of it intriguing, reasonable, believable and entertaining. By late Monday morning however, Calipari had tossed cold water on the embers.

Leaves us with two items, a rule to remember and a delicious new bit of conjecture.

Rule: Beware of splash stories on Mondays, especially opinion pieces. They are designed to grab attention on a slow day.

New conjecture: Who will be on your list as next-coach-at-Kentucky?

WORTH REPEATING DEPT.

Fan reactions to Calipari-to-NBA rumors, a sampling …

• I can’t imagine Cal taking an NBA job at any price. He makes millions a year now. He is the star.

• I don’t think he’s TOO serious at this time. I do believe he’s planning his ‘escape’ from Kentucky in a year or two, should recruited talent not pan out and he has couple of unproductive years. Instead of sticking around to show the world how he can still produce magic in the Bluegrass, he’ll duck and run to the money, using that as an excuse for failure.”

And, from Kentucky Sports Radio …

• Cal does not need to teach NBA players. … All he has to do is drive the bus to the arena.

• Cal screams at his players. A lot. You can hear him on TV and I’ve been told it gets downright uncomfortable in the arena at times.

And a favorite..

“Let Cal go. (We) true Kentucky fans would like Pinto back.”

“You, Sir, are an idiot. That is all.”

And so it goes.

You can reach me at bob.Watkins24@aol.com