Mike Krzyzewski, the legendary former Duke head coach, who is belovedly known as Coach K, recently appeared on the Pat McAfee Show ahead of the highly anticipated March Madness.
He is one of the only people who coached all three: Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Kobe Bryant at some point in their careers.
During his discussion on the show, McAfee brought up the famous GOAT debate in the NBA as Coach K found himself in a unique position. However, it seemed to him, Michael Jordan was the clear but subjective answer.
“It’s tough to say, you people like to argue that because then they can drink and give crap to one another while they’re doing it. Which is great for the sport. But the best player that I’ve ever been associated with is Jordan.”
“And then there are several other people that he can allow into his room. And a limited number of them. And but it starts, I think with Michael,” said Mike Krzyzewski before McAfee further inquired on why Jordan was his pick.
“He’s a killer. He’s a killer, for Christ’s sake. And he could do anything. He got bored and went to play baseball for a while, you know, and then still came back.”
“He and his attitude and work ethic. I love him, and I love that he’s the ultimate competitor. Kobe was close in that he’s in that room. There’s obviously Magic and Jabbar, and you know, there are a number of them, but—,” said Coach K before McAfee interrupted him.
“LeBron, Coach K?” exclaimed McAfee after the legendary Duke head coach forgot to mention James in the initial list of players he named after Jordan.
“No, I’m not going to say one more,” Coach K responded.
“LeBron is not in the room?” McAfee inquired.
“No, LeBron is in there. He’s not selling tickets outside. LeBron and I are close, man. He helped us win. I love coaching LeBron,” clarified Krzyzewski.
Coach K said that James belongs in the discussion, but personally, for him, LeBron didn’t seem to be in his top four players’ list. He simply forgot to mention the 41-year-old Lakers forward initially, but he also loves him dearly. Therefore, his comments are not a shot at James in any way.
One of the stories that Coach K recalled fondly about Michael Jordan was his experience while working with him for the 1992 Dream Team run with Team USA in the Olympics. He spoke about it in an interview with Graham Bensinger in 2010.
Since Jordan is an alumnus of the University of North Carolina, Coach K expected hostility during the 1992 Olympics. But he was shocked at how humble and focused Jordan was at the time, despite being a global superstar.
“It was after our first practice, I felt good because they didn’t make a mistake in their first practice, and I’m just sitting there, and he [Michael Jordan] came over, and he says, ‘Coach, Would you please, I’d like to work on some of my offensive stuff, would you please work with me?’”
“He could have said, ‘Hey, get over here, idiot, and work with me!’ and I would have done that,” Krzyzewski said. “Yeah, I would have done it, just like a lot of people in workplaces will do their job. But then I would have felt as inconsequential and no ego and whatever because it was stripped from me by the main guy.”
“Instead, he gave me a chance to have an ego, and then he called me with respect, coach. Just by knowing a person’s name, he said please and thank you. In other words, there was no organizational chart where he was the top guy, and I’m here at the bottom. It was like on his team, everybody was important.”
Coach K had also coached LeBron James in the 2008 Redeem Team run, but did not recall his experience with the Lakers’ forward as fondly. Clearly, Jordan made a place in Coach K’s heart back then, while James failed to create that competitive impact for him to be considered among the best players he had ever associated with.
