Bye, Bye Coach K
Duke is back on top. Congrats to the 2010 NCAA Basketball National Champions! Duke survived a hard fought battle with Butler to regain the top spot in collegiate basketball for the first time since 2001. Amazing. Now, say goodbye to Coach Mike Krzyzewski. He’s going to the pros.
Rumors are running rampant that the new New Jersey Nets owner and Russian Billionaire, Mikhail Prokhorov, has targeted Coach K to take over the floundering franchise. I can hear you now “So? What else is new?” And, I normally would agree with you. Just not this time.
Let me field your questions first:
- Why the Nets? Could have been Lakers.
- Why go to the bastard child of New York?
- He’s got a sweet gig in Durham, North Carolina. Why leave?
- No, seriously.. its the Nets. They flirted with the worst record in history of the league… Why them?
All the answers are relatively simple. They all start with MONEY.
“But Coach K, doesn’t care about the money… and he’s doing just fine.” I agree that he’s doing fine. I agree that money isn’t the only deciding factor. Rumors are that Prokhorov (Owner P) will offer Coach K between $12-15M a year. Up to 5x what he’s making now. Let’s say you make $50,000.00 a year right now and you love your job. It’s the best. If someone came along and offered you $250,000.00 a year to do a very similar job, would you go? Thought so. I don’t know why people entangle sports jobs and loyalty together. You probably don’t feel that same amount of loyalty to your job. Why do you assume others do?
Did, I mention the new owner is a BILLIONAIRE? We’re not talking Oprah money. She’s a Billionaire. This dude is a BILLIONAIRE. He’s valued over 14x what Oprah is worth. Dude’s got crazy money, and he’s young enough to spend it, too. He once lost $58M on a deposit to purchase a castle in France, because he changed his mind. $58 Million, because he changed his mind. He won’t worry about luxury tax, saving money or responsible spending. He’s just going to put everything he can into this team. With a lot of money you can attract a lot of free agents. Get a couple of good free agents and now the Nets aren’t so terrible. In the NBA you’re only ever, at most, 2 players away from a championship. Let’s go in order from ’96: Jordan and Pippen. Duncan and Robinson. Shaq and Kobe. Duncan and Robinson. Chauncey & Rip Hamilton. Duncan and Parker. Shaq and D.Wade. Ginobili and Parker. Kevin Garnet and Paul Pierce. Kobe and Odom. So, lets see.. who could Owner P bring in? Who’s a big time free agent available this summer….. hmmmm. Oh.. I know. LeBron f’n James. Then, bring in Chris Bosh and, skipping this year, the next names on that list will be “LeBron and Bosh.”
Don’t give me that crap about LeBron going to a winning team, in the NBA you can turn around a franchise in 1 year. Ask Detroit or Boston about that. Coach K is probably the most respected coach in basketball. Period. Kobe loves him. LeBron loves him. Everyone, outside of UNC alums, love him. They both played under him during the olympics. If Coach K is there, along with minority owner and LJ’s friend Jay-Z , bring in a Chris Bosh while keeping Devin Harris and move to/play in Brooklyn… LeBron will come. He knows it takes two to win a championship. That’s why he doesn’t have one, yet. Coach K, knows they’ll come, so expect him to go.
Speaking of the Olympics. Why do you think Coach K accepted the job as head coach of the Olympic team. Sure, he did it for his country. Sure, it helped him recruit foreign talent. Sure. Now, he knows he can coach NBA players at the highest level and win a championship. Remember, he won a gold medal with LeBron. They both remember.
But, you’re not all wrong. It’s not all about the money. And that’s why Coach K stayed at Duke for so long. Since 2001, Duke has been hammered with questions about whether or not they will reach the promised land again. The private school who can’t recruit the number 1 recruits anymore. With the NBA instituting the age restrictions, the players who once jumped straight to the NBA, now go play for a Memphis, Kentucky or USC. Somewhere they don’t have the stringent grade requirements of a private university, like Duke. But, Coach K put together one of his finest performances and pushed a sub-par team to the championship. He regained the top spot for Duke and set things back to the way they are supposed to be in Durham. Now, he can leave without hearing the criticism of the fans. He’ll forever be loved for bringing in 4 national championships, tied for the most in the modern era. Nobody will ever catch Red Auerbach, so second best is the new standard. It’s like Wilt’s 100pt game, or scoring records, the greatest ever don’t even come close. It’s unattainable. So he’s essentially got the record. Now, if he goes to the pros, makes 5x his salary, brings in LeBron and wins a title he is arguably the greatest basketball coach ever. Not NBA coach, not collegiate coach, not olympic coach. Coach. Ever.
So, to recap. Make 5x your salary, bring a title or two to the NBA’s top-superstar, become the greatest basketball coach ever, and still be loved by the team you’re leaving? He’s gone.
