Spurs Hire Kelvin Sampson as an Advisor

If ever there was a moment for Amy Poehler's "Really?" skit from Saturday Night Live, I think this qualifies. In what seems like just hours (but is in actuality days and maybe weeks) since Kelvin Sampson last text-messaged his Indiana University players, the San Antonio Spurs have hired him as some sort of adviser.

The San Antonio Spurs have hired Kelvin Sampson as an adviser, days after he resigned as Indiana University men's basketball coach amid allegations he committed major NCAA rule violations.

Sampson was in San Antonio's AT&T Center during the Spurs' 108-97 win over the visiting Indiana Pacers. He is expected to advise the defending NBA champions for the next few weeks.

See, told you. Days. And what, exactly, is he advising them on? Surely they would not have hired him as a "Special Communications Adviser" or even "Text Message Composition Adviser". Actually, I'd probably make sure that his contract didn't have any "PDA" or "phone" clauses in it whatsoever.

Bear in mind that Sampson and Gregg Popovich were both assistant coaches on the 2002 USA Men's World Championship, so there's certainly a connection there. And there's also no question that Sampson is a very good teacher of basketball; the only issue is whether or not he is willing to listen and obey the NCAA's rules on recruiting and communication. Actually that's not really and issue, clearly he does not care for them.

And at the same time, this is the NBA. It is vastly different, in terms of stringent, you know, "rules" that you have to follow because you are no longer dealing with amateur athletes. Still, this is the defending world champion San Antonio Spurs were talking about, a team that is starting to get hot at the right time, and having already been accused by others of brokering an illegal deal in the Brent Barry sweepstakes. I mean, there are still rules you can break even if you're an adviser in the NBA, right?