Duke Basketball held a Brotherhood Dinner in Las Vegas on Friday, and a host of former Blue Devils were in attendance. Jayson Tatum, Cooper Flagg, and Paolo Banchero were the big guns who made the trip, and they, along with a few others, were asked who they’d pick to take the last shot in a Game 7.
Cooper Flagg: “I’ll take myself. I mean, I trust myself taking the shot, knocking it down.”
Tyus Jones: “I’m going to call my own first. If I take myself out for the sake of the question,”
Jayson Tatum: “I seen somebody do it in Game 7 on the biggest stage. So, I got to say [Kyrie Irving].”
Paolo Banchero: “I’mma have to draw up a play for Kyrie ’cause he hit the shot Game 7 against the Warriors. So, I’mma go Kyrie iso on the right wing.”
Mark Williams: “I’d probably go Kyrie, too, just ’cause we know he can make it.”
Maliq Brown: “I got to go with my guy [Chris Webber].”
Dariq Whitehead: “We got to go Grant Hill here. I’mma go Grant Hill. He’s definitely getting the last play drawn up for him.”
Tyus Jones: “The guy standing right over there, the last name Tatum. I’m sure you’re all familiar with him. Or Kyrie. Probably one of those two.”
Now, it appeared they were told to pick from players who played at Duke. But then Maliq Brown went with Chris Webber, who starred at Michigan, so it’s a bit unclear what the instruction was.
Whatever the case may be, Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving was the most common pick. That wasn’t all too surprising either.
As pointed out, Irving hit one of the greatest clutch shots we have ever seen in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors. With the score tied at 89 in the final minute, he hit a three-pointer over Stephen Curry to give the Cavaliers a lead they wouldn’t surrender. As far as clutch shots go, you can’t get much better than that.
Now, while so many of these players did go with Irving, one who didn’t was his Mavericks teammate Flagg. The 19-year-old is backing himself in that situation. Flagg had a terrific rookie season that saw him win ROTY, and his confidence is clearly sky-high. We’re unlikely to see him in the playoffs anytime soon, though, as the Mavericks are in rebuild mode.
As for other picks, you had Tyus Jones mention Tatum along with Irving. The Boston Celtics superstar has his fair share of critics, but considering he holds the NBA record for most points in a Game 7 with 51, he isn’t a bad option.
Dariq Whitehead went with Grant Hill, but he actually never played in a Game 7 in his long NBA career. The Hall of Famer had plenty of experience playing in do-or-die games in college, though, helping the Blue Devils win national titles in 1991 and 1992. Those were Duke’s first two titles, and they now have five in total. The last one came in 2015, and they’d be hoping to win the sixth in 2027.
