Editor’s note: This column originally was published June 2, 2021, the day Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski announced the 2021-22 season would be his last.
If you came of age as a basketball fan in the 1990s, it was impossible to be neutral about Mike Krzyzewski.
The program he built at Duke had become so big, so successful, so polarizing — and, yes, so annoying — that every time they took the court, it was cast as a battle of good vs. evil depending on which side you were on.
The complaints and conspiracy theories about the Blue Devils ran wild whether it was Krzyzewski intimidating the refs into giving them a friendly whistle or broadcasters like Dick Vitale supposedly rooting for them on the air. The Cameron Crazies were obnoxious, the flopping on defense was out of control and slapping the floor was an annoying gimmick.
Everything about Duke seemed like it dripped privilege and arrogance, all the way down to wriggling out of any responsibility for potential scandals…
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