I thought that the addition of two new schools to the ACC was the news of the day.
Wrong.
I guess it still is a basketball conference, because the idea that Coach Krzyzewski might leave Duke for the Los Angeles Lakers is HUGE. I saw this rumor earlier in the day, but never saw any confirmation, so I didn’t write anything about it. Well, it’s true. They’re talking and he’s listening.
The big questions now are will he go, why would he go and why would the Lakers want him.
As for why the Lakers would want him, that’s a tough question. There’s no doubt that Coach K is a great college coach. He’s on a very short list of the best ever. The NBA isn’t that different from college, but recent history has shown that college success doesn’t necessarily translate to The League. Ask Tarkanian, Pitino and Carlesimo. Granted, K is better than all of those guys, but why would a team like the Lakers take that chance? It’s very interesting.
As to whether or not K will take the offer, well, there’s no way to know. He wouldn’t have gotten this far if he wasn’t interested. Evidently, he first talked to them as far back as Tuesday. He didn’t say no right away, so you have to assume there’s a chance he’ll leave.
Now, why would he leave? He couldn’t possibly have a better situation than his at Duke. He is worshiped and respected in Durham. The court is named after him. He has a lifetime contract. He gets pretty much any recruit he wants. He wins.
Life is good. Great even.
But is it perfect?
College basketball has changed in recent years. Top players leave early for the NBA if they go to college at all. At schools like Duke, who recruit only the best players, this is an issue that won’t go away. It seemed for a while that Duke was immune from the disease, but that changed when Elton Brand decided to leave after his sophomore year. Brand broke the seal. Corey Maggette and Will Avery left shortly after and the floodgates have been open ever since. This spring, Duke lost two young players in Luol Deng and Shaun Livingston. Those are two young men who the Duke coaches spent a lot of time and energy recruiting only to win the battle and still only get them for a total of one season. That has to be frustrating.
The ACC is changing as well. As I wrote earlier today, the ACC just expanded with three football schools. Krzyzewski was the most vocal dissenter among people with any say in the matter. He was openly critical of the idea of messing with the ACC basketball, the cornerstone of the ACC’s 50 year history. He clearly didn’t like the idea of the conference positioning itself to be a football-first conference.
The greatest thing that might send Coach K packing though is something completely different. He may be bored. That perfect program he built may have gotten too easy. Sure, it’s still competitive and every year’s different, but what does he have to prove? He could drop dead tomorrow and be ranked as one of the three or four best college coaches of all time. You could make an argument that he’s #1. And he’s still rolling; there’s no end in sight to the Duke dynasty. For a guy who likes to fight, that may not be exciting any more. Sure, he loves to win, but he may be enticed by the opportunity to struggle again, to fight against opponents who can fight back. Would he rather coach against Pete Gillen or Jerry Sloan? Herb Sendek or Larry Brown? Find ways to stop Julius Hodge or Tracy McGrady? Sean May or Tim Duncan?
So, that’s what I think it’s all about. I think Coach K is excited by the idea of being tested again. Yeah, it could be something else, like extra notoriety for succeeding at both levels, or even just money, but I don’t think so. I think the old West Point man wants to fight again.
ps. I wonder if the Lakers have made any promises about having either Shaq or Kobe next year? I couldn’t imagine Coach K considering the job otherwise. Remember that Kobe has often said that if he had gone to college, it would have been Duke. So, it may be that they met years ago when Kobe was still in high school. Even if not, Kobe is obviously very aware of Krzyzewski and who he is. I doubt that Mitch Kupchak, the Lakers GM, would be talking with K if he hadn’t already confirmed that Kobe would be OK with him.
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