Famous Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is known as one of the greatest basketball minds in history. In 1,375 games, he’s won 1,084 of them — marking a 78% win percentage.
But for as great as his career has been, many wonder why he hasn’t made the jump to the NBA. One thing is for sure: it hasn’t been for a lack of opportunities. In fact, coach K once refused an offer to coach Kobe Bryant in L.A.
Here’s what he told sportsnaut.com:
“Two times, I was pretty interested. In 1990, When Dave Gavitt took over the Boston Celtics, I did an interview with them. And in 2005, with the Lakers, at the end of the day, I didn’t do it.”
“Ironically, in 1990, when I didn’t do it, the next two years, we won our first two national championships. In 2005, when I didn’t accept the offer, a few months later, Jerry Colangelo offered me the opportunity to coach the national team as the first national team (permanent) coach. I was able to do that for 11 years. I got my NBA fix, so to speak. I’m really happy I got that.”
Krzyzewski won 5 NCAA titles and has led Team USA to three Olympic gold medals. Needless to say, he was (and still is) a very sought-after commodity in the NBA.
The idea of him coaching Kobe and the Lakers is pretty incredible. Coach K’s genius and Kobe’s talent would have been an awesome match. Together, it’s easy to assume they’d dominate the league.
Unfortunately, that’s a scenario that’ll be stuck to our imaginations.
