A story guarantees greatest Duke basketball season in history

Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke basketball life lessons

Had I never become fascinated by the leadership and unmatched determination that I witnessed as a child in Mike Krzyzewski, there’s no telling what I’d be doing for a living these days. I’m not sure exactly what I’d be most passionate about.

I suspect I’d really regret turning out too much like my brother.

I probably wouldn’t have seen any key source of inspiration to hone my writing skills so that I could adequately express myself in this manner here.

I doubt I would have felt the need to earn good enough grades in high school to get into Duke. With that in mind, later on, I likely wouldn’t have ever accepted that the only reason I cared about getting into the school in the first place was to follow in Dad’s footsteps as a Cameron Crazie (though in his days there, Cameron Indoor Stadium’s student section had yet to adopt that name).

Rewinding in time, while growing up in North Carolina, I wouldn’t have experienced the thrill from winning arguments against the mobs of classmates who had always seemed to pick up some complete nonsense at home from their bozo UNC dads (we have one persistent troll in the comment section here at Ball Durham who, I suspect, was dealt this unfortunate hand in life).

I wouldn’t have so consistently held bragging rights on the bus over NC State fans and the likes.

Without watching Coach K’s interviews — or listening alongside Dad to him on the radio back in the early days — I wouldn’t have learned from the best how to have thick skin.

And, naturally, without watching Coach K direct so many magical moments — replay Christian Laettner vs. Kentucky in 1992, Duke vs. Maryland in 2001, Tre Jones vs. UNC in 2020, etc. — I wouldn’t possess such a deep belief in miracles…