Coach K has been at Duke for 40 years. Saying he’s been successful during that time would be an understatement… I mean, he is the winningest coach is college basketball history. When you accomplish what Krzyzewski has been able to in Durham, there will be suitors on the NBA level that will do anything to get you to leave – including offering you “generational” type money.
Coach K has stayed put, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t think about leaving. Wednesday, when speaking with the media, he was asked just how close he came to taking the Lakers job in 2004. Apparently, it was pretty darn close.
Things ultimately worked out well for both parties. Coach K has won two NCAA Tournaments since then and Duke is still one of the premier college basketball programs in the nation. Phil Jackson would return to the Lakers in 2005 and win two more championships with Kobe Bryant, but you can’t help but wonder how successful K would’ve been if he’d taken the job.