Mike Krzyzewski has handled countless of multi-millionaire athletes over the course of his USA Basketball tenure, and if there’s one thing that has happened again and again for the 69-year-old coach, it’s that he always earned the players’ respect.
He has zero experience coaching in the NBA, but that never came as a knock on his abilities. Everyone knew his mettle, and, apparently, they were even surprised after getting to know more about the coaching legend.
Two outspoken players on the Olympic squad expressed their thoughts on Team USA’s head coach, via Marc Stein’s recent article for ESPN.
Kevin Durant sees Krzyzewski as more than a coach.
“He’s (Mike Krzyzewski) more of like a father figure slash mentor than he’s a coach. On top of being a coach, when you have that combination, that makes for just an incredible leader.”
“We were taught not to like Duke. I grew up in Maryland, so they used to always play each other, so we hated Duke. And I didn’t think that was my style of play, just from hearing from everybody [what Krzyzewski] was like.”
Meanwhile, DeMarcus Cousins has words that are rarely heard from him when talking about his former coaches.
“I hate to say it [as a Kentucky guy], but I really have enjoyed playin’ for K.”
There’s no doubt that Mike Krzyzewski will be leaving quite an imprint not only on Team USA, but also on the players that he has handled.
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