Coach "K" Krzyzewski Shoots Down NJ Nets $12-15M Offer (Is He Scared?)

Krzyzewski: No To NJ Nets


Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski told ESPN.com Monday morning that "I wouldn't have any interest in the job," even if incoming New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov offers to make him the highest-paid coach in the NBA.

The Bergen (N.J.) Record reported Monday that Prokhorov, despite Krzyzewski's earlier public expressions of disinterest, has continued to target Coach K as his No. 1 choice to coach the Nets once the NBA's Board of Governors approves his purchase of the majority ownership of the franchise from Bruce Ratner.

Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson is currently the NBA's highest-paid coach with a $12 million salary, and the Record said Prokhorov might be willing to offer Krzyzewski in the range of $12 million to $15 million annually.

"I haven't been contacted," Krzyzewski said as he rode the team bus to Duke's shoot around in preparation for Monday night's NCAA championship game against Butler in Indianapolis. "I wouldn't have any interest in the job. You would be flattered if someone would offer you a job, but I would not be interested."

Krzyzewski strongly considered jumping from Duke to the NBA in 2004 when he was offered the head coaching position with the Lakers, but he has maintained in the years since that he is now totally committed to Duke and to USA Basketball, where he has signed to coach the U.S. senior men's national team through the 2012 Olympics.

Coach K reiterated at his news conference Sunday in Indianapolis that he plans to stay at Duke even after he retires from coaching.

"I haven't changed in that regard," Krzyzewski said Monday, adding of the Lakers' opportunity in 2004: "The Lakers thing, with their franchise and my history with Kobe, if you were going to do it, I don't know how you can jump for anything better than that."




For Coach K, Still Duke Against The World



Anyone who read author Will Blythe's classic college hoops book To Hate Like This Is To Be Happy Forever not only gained an understanding of the UNC-Duke rivalry at large but understands the level of antipathy so many college basketball fans have for Mike Krzyzewski. He is not a well-liked man. Many would admit a grudging respect, sure, but the on-court antics, the occasional sneers, and the corporate-pitchman persona have made Coach K public enemy No. 1 for years now.

The thing is, Krzyzewski doesn't care. Not one bit. He's perfectly happy being hated, perfectly happy for his team to be the bad guys, for Duke to face outward against the world. When Blythe finally sat down with his sworn enemy for the book, he found Coach K to be likable, but more than anything he found him completely willing to twist the hatred for his program into an attitude that gave his players an edge. From Blythe's excerpt, recently republished at Esquire:

"Ohio," Krzyzewski said. "Let's say at Ohio State that we did what we have done at Duke. There would be statues. There would never be anybody looking for anything wrong with what you did. It would be a different mind-set from the one we have within this community."

He was having work done on his house at the moment. Most of the workers were North Carolina and North Carolina State fans, he said. "People don't understand the magnitude of the isolation here. We have to do without that support. And actually, there are eyes close on you, looking at you, not wanting you to do real well. It's toughened us up. We're never going to lose because we have too many people patting us on the back. Never."

Coach K repeats this sentiment at his news conference Sunday, revealing his belief that Duke, because it is a private school wedged into Tar Heel country, was cloistered, embattled, constantly stuck in a foreign land, bereft on all sides by people more than willing to take shots at Krzyzewski and the program.

"I just think it's really easy to talk about not liking us because we're a private school," Krzyzewski said. "We're not a state. We don't have a state press. You know, people wouldn't take the shots at us that they do if we were a state school because the people of that state wouldn't like it and there would be a filter there. And there's no filter for us.

"So if we're gonna be really good, we're gonna get that because there's nobody to hold anybody accountable before you even start talking," he continued. "It's just true. That's just the way it is, and I'm okay with it. I think it helps us keep our edge."

This is interesting in and of itself, but it's especially fitting for Monday night's matchup with Butler. Who besides Coach K, his players, their families, and Blue Devil fans want to see Duke, Goliath, stamp out the best David this NCAA tournament has ever had? No one. Literally no one. As Pat Forde wrote Saturday night, Butler-Duke might the most one-sided rooting scenario since the 1994 Harding-Kerrigan Winter Olympics. In Coach K's opinion (a somewhat delusional one, given the program's resources and media pedestal) it's always been Duke against the world. This year, it's actually true.

What's strange is that Krzyzewski doesn't seem to mind all this hate. Matter of fact, he likes it. No wonder Duke is so good at this.


View Larger Map


Sources: ESPN, NBA Nets, Wikipedia, Google Maps