Duke basketball: The 10 greatest NBA Blue Devils of all time

Former Duke basketball players Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images)
Former Duke basketball players Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum (Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images) /
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Former Duke basketball player Luol Deng (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

All-time top 10 Duke basketball pro: No. 7 Luol Deng

Luol Deng is the only Duke basketball product in history to end an NBA career with at least 13,000 points, 5,000 rebounds, 2,000 assists, and 650 made 3-pointers. That collection of numbers shows that the two-time All-Star forward (2012 and 2013) was one of the most versatile and durable of professional Blue Devils.

Following his one-and-done Final Four campaign in Durham (alongside JJ Redick), the native of South Sudan (and then Great Britain) went No. 7 overall at the 2004 NBA Draft and proceeded to last 15 seasons in the league. Before his final two years as a pro, Deng had never averaged less than 11 points and five boards per game.

His first 9.5 seasons came in Chicago. And when combining team results with individual stats, it’s safe to say Deng’s peak was in 2010-11, when he averaged 17.4 points while starring with the best-ever version of Derrick Rose and the next Blue Devil on this list, Carlos Boozer. After a 62-20 regular season, those Bulls lost in the Eastern Conference Finals to LeBron James’ Miami Heat.