Anti-Duke Manifesto-The Complete Hate

And still the media has happily bought into this false take on the Lakers saga. New York Times writer Michael Sokolove, in his lovefest piece entitled ‘Follow Me,’ called K’s decision ’something extraordinary.’ The article proceeded to explain that Krzyzewski’s decision to turn down millions rendered him ‘even more worthy of admiration.’ Consider the man’s full history and decide which is the more accurate perception.

Leadership During Crisis: the 1994-95 season

A man’s true colors show during times of crisis. For K, it was the 1994-95 season. That was the year that Duke suffered through a 13-18 season. Knowing when to fold them, K sat out the majority of the season, citing an ailing back and extreme ‘exhaustion.’ (This mind you, from a man who writes the following in his book on leadership: ‘During critical periods, a leader is not allowed to feel sorry for himself, to be down, to be angry, or to be weak. Leaders must beat back these emotions.’) He delegated head coaching duties to assistant coach Pete Gaudet. Any standup guy would have accepted responsibility for the season that unfolded with his players, at his school, following his game plans. Classy Coach K, however, petitioned the NCAA to have the season’s win-loss record stricken from his career totals. It was another curious move for a guy who espouses the following philosophy: ‘A leader has to be positive about all things that happen to his team. Look at nothing in the past as failure.

Other seldom-publicized details about this incident bring Krzyzewski’s true nature into sharper focus. Coach Gaudet went back many years with Krzyzewski, all the way to K’s previous coaching days at Army. According to Sports Illustrated, Gaudet was the ‘restricted earnings’ coach at Duke when he was asked to assume the reigns during K’s extended vacation. Consequently, he was paid a little over $300.00 a week, which probably correlated to a minimum wage hourly rate. So, in the end, K continued to draw his six figure salary and seven figure endorsements, while sitting at home on his rear. (Funny how he did not feel the need to give Gaudet the head coach’s salary; just the accountability for the win-loss record.) He then returned to dump all over his long-time friend and assistant, while taking formal steps to ensure that the NCAA pinned all losses on his newly converted scapegoat. And exactly how does this jive with the following quoted philosophy, again taken from the great coach’s own website: ‘You have to work hard at staying in contact with your friends so that the relationships will continue and live on… Friendships, along with love, make life worth living.’