Before Jayson Tatum came into the NBA and became a part of the Boston Celtics, he went to college at Duke. Duke has one of the most popular basketball programs in the country, and success is an expectation.
In Jayson Tatum‘s only season there, they didn’t quite win the national championship but did enjoy some success. However, he told a story from their worst loss, and how the legendary Coach Mike Krzyzewski reacted to it.
“This was probably the worst loss I had at Duke cuz North Carolina State hadn’t beat us at Duke in 25 years,” Tatum told Graham Bensinger. “And we get a text from the manager like, ‘Be at Coach K house in 30 minutes.’ So I’m like, Oh sh*t.’ So we get to his house and it’s late, it’s gotta be midnight.
“And it’s like three rows of chairs. So we all sit down and he sits in front. And one by one, he cusses everybody out. He literally tells every player why they not sh*t just one by one. Telling me, he was like, ‘I can’t wait for you to get drafted. You so full of yourself, you just wanna get drafted, you don’t care about anything else.’ One by one, just going through everybody.”
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This kind of dedication to winning is what has made Coach Mike Krzyzewski a legendary figure in basketball. His success speaks for itself, although his methods got even more intense.
Coach K’s Punishment Went On For 3 Days
The shellacking at his house the players received wasn’t their only punishment. Tatum went on to detail what the players had to deal with for the next three days.
“We leave, and we get a text from the manager, ‘Be at the locker room at 5:30 in the morning.’ And we get there and there are trash bags in front of everybody’s locker. Everybody had to clear their locker out. Take everything out of your locker.
“Basically, like, we didn’t deserve to wear any Duke gear for 3 days. We played in white shirts and navy blue shorts. They changed the locker room code, we couldn’t use our own lockers. We had to go to practice and leave and shower in our dorms.”
Coach K and Jayson Tatum share a relationship to this day, even though Tatum was only there for a year. His success in the NBA can be credited at least in part to Krzyzewski’s influence. And Coach K himself has enjoyed an incredible career, including leading the Redeem Team.
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