Just a couple of days ago, Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, said that he wouldn’t accept the Lakers coaching job if approached in the offseason when Phil Jackson is expected to retire.
Back in 2004, after Jackson stepped down, the Lakers recruited Coach K hard. GM Mitch Kupchak visited with him a few times; even Kobe Bryant (who would have attended Duke had he not turned pro) got in the act making a pitch to him by phone. And as much as Coach K admitted that he was on the verge on taking the job, he eventually decided to stay put in Durham, NC.
That being said, I don’t think he would consider any other offers that came his way. It doesn’t matter how much money teams are willing to throw at him, Coach K couldn’t be any happier anywhere else. There are some things that are just meant to be, and this is one of them. He is a college coach and will always be a college coach.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that he wouldn’t have any success in the NBA, but it’s a different monster. Why I don’t think he would win as much in the pros has little do with his ability as a coach, and more with the personnel that he would be working with. Unlike college, where he has the free reign to recruit the type of players that he wants, the same doesn’t apply to the pros. Thanks to a few things called salary cap and free agency, more often than not, you are left to work with whoever you can afford; not always the players you want, but hey, that’s just the breaks. Not the kind of situation that you need in a "win now" environment.
One can argue that he has shown his ability to coach at the next level due to his work with the U.S. Men’s national team. Yeah, that’s great, but one thing you have got to remember is that NBA players actually WANT to play for the national team. It doesn’t matter how many minutes they play, or whether they don’t even get on the court at all, it’s something that they want to be a part of. Since nobody is guaranteed a place on the team, you can only imagine how tough the competition is. Some NBA All-Stars don’t even make the cut!! He and his assistants get the FINAL say on makes the team, and who doesn’t.
I think that he loves this arrangement, and who wouldn’t? He gets the best of both worlds and doesn’t have to worry about conflict in any of the decisions he makes. He gets the players he wants; players who will buy into his “team-first” system. Players, who are willing to work hard, put their egos in check and play for the name in front of the jersey and not the back (I know this sounds cliché, but if you can come up with a better phrase, let me have it).
He really does not have anything else to prove, nor should he have to. If he wanted to leave for the pros, he had his chances with the Celtics, the Trailblazers and the Lakers. He chose to stay because he had already found a place to call home; and home, is where the heart is.
Written by:
