When the Los Angeles Lakers were looking for their next head coach earlier this summer, the team reportedly turned to legendary Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski to help them find their next man.
According to a report from Shams Charania, the Lakers used Coach K as an unofficial resource in their job hunt due to his personal relationships with the top candidates that the team was considering.
The Lakers ended up hiring JJ Redick, but according to Krzyzewski, if the job had been offered to him and he were a couple decades younger, he would've said yes.
" I think if I was 57 now and it was offered, I would go," Krzyzewski told ESPN's Dave McMenamin . " I still love Duke. College basketball is terrific -- the product. All the stuff you have to do for it is not as gratifying as it was 20 years ago. At least for me ."
The Lakers' head coaching job was offered to him when he was 57
When Coach K mentioned the age of 57, he wasn't just putting up a theoretical number. That's because 20 years ago, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak actually offered a then 57-year-old Krzyzewski a five-year $40 million contract to replace Phil Jackson as the Lakers head coach. Coach K famously rejected the Lakers by saying his heart belonged to Duke.
" Your heart has to be in whatever you lead ," he said after turning down Kupchak's offer. " It became apparent that this decision was somewhat easier to make because you have to follow your heart and lead with it, and Duke has always taken up my whole heart ."
The decision proved to be correct as he went on to win two more championships for the Blue Devils to raise his total to five. Sixteen years later, he told Redick on the latter's The Old Man and the Three podcast that he was closer to accepting the Lakers' proposal than any other offer he ever had.
Related: Mike Krzyzewski on JJ Redick coaching the Lakers: "He's prepared as well as any player I've coached at Duke"
Coach K had a lot to say about the NCAA when he retired
After turning down the Lake Show in '04, Coach K went on to spend the rest of his coaching career at Duke. In total, he was the Blue Devils' chief bench tactician for 42 seasons and when he finally stepped down in 2022, he had a lot of things to say about the state of the NCAA.
" Every decision that was made concerning our sport eventually had to go through many committees ," he told CNN two years ago. " Do you know that a basketball coach was never present in the room where the decision was going to be made? How can you have a good feel for what you're deciding on if you don't hear from the people who coached the game or the head of our coaches' association ?"
Krzyzewski could have been the perfect replacement for Phil in '04. Unfortunately, the stars did not align back then. Unfortunately, he is retired and already 77. You could say that the stars didn't align again. Or that Coach K and the Lakers were never meant to be.
Related: "More than any other coach, he knew what button to push" - Shane Battier on what makes Mike Krzyzewski special
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