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One day in November 1980, when mike Shashevsky, 33, first led the team to the field as Duke head coach, more than 99 percent of sports fans had never heard of him or even pronounced his awkward name correctly, let alone spelled it. To make it easier to address him, the Americans gave him the nickname "Coach K." Now, more than forty years later, Coach K has gradually become the old K coach, and after becoming the greatest coach in the history of American college basketball, the 75-year-old Coach K finally chose to retire.
In this season's NCAA semifinals, the winner Duke University lost to the University of North Carolina by 4 points, and the old K coach's 42-year legendary coaching career ended. While coach K isn't the oldest at the NCAA, and he's two years younger than Syracuse's Jim Bowham (77), he has no intention of breaking that record anymore, even if it's not a problem to do it for a few more years in terms of his physical and mental state. There has been speculation that the old K coach may be related to the new crown epidemic in the past two years and the NCAA reform, but his own explanation is, "I want to spend more time with my family." ”
Coach K's family includes his wife, Carol Marsh, three daughters, ten grandchildren, and three dogs — "Cameron," "Defense," and "Blue," all named after Duke basketball. "Blue" is a yellow Labrador dog that is the favorite of the old K coach. For so many years, "Blue" would lie quietly at the feet of coach K and watch video games with him for hours, but just last summer, the 12-and-a-half-year-old "Blue" died, which made coach K really think about retirement, and the last time he considered retirement was in the 1994/1995 season, when he was suffering from lumbar disc herniation, Marsh gave him an ultimatum - he did not want to be paralyzed and immediately ended coaching, but apparently, he did not follow his wife's wishes.
It was because of this unique professional attitude and fanatical competitiveness that Coach K established himself as a unique player in American basketball: 5 NCAA championships, 13 Final Fours, and 1202 wins, ahead of all coaches in NCAA First Division history. Although this time, the old K coach's curtain is not so perfect, but this faint regret can highlight the brilliance and brilliance of his coaching career. As he left the court with his wife Marsh and friends, Coach K said humorously, "I'm sure when I look back, I miss it, but not because the team lost." Damn it, I was on the field for so long. ”
It is worth mentioning that in the American basketball world, there is a saying that "the best coach is not in the NBA", which is the old K coach. Of course, the old K coach does not go to the NBA to coach, not because his qualifications and ability are not enough, on the contrary, because he is so good, the average NBA team can not pry him away from Duke University, in the NCAA, the old K coach with the first high salary, whether fame, status or income, are comparable to the NBA legendary coach Popovich. In addition, compared with the NBA's highly commercial operation model, the NCAA is an amateur event, and both players and coaches emphasize the sense of honor and belonging of the team. Coach K has been working at Duke University for 42 years, and he has made himself another monument in the American basketball world.
Of course, what is more reflective of the old K coach is that in his more than forty years of college basketball coaching career, he has been subtly influencing the NBA. Since coach K took over the Duke University team in 1980, 75 Blue Devils players have played in the NBA, including Brand, Irving and Zion, Jari, Battier and Irving have won the NBA championship, and Grant Hill has entered the NBA Hall of Fame although he has not won a championship. In the NBA, Duke University is known as a "star-making school", and how good is "Duke products"? Statistics show that they averaged 24.9 minutes per game in their careers, averaging 11 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game. Of course, this is all due to the old K coach.
It is precisely because of the strong appeal and appeal in the American basketball industry that in 2006, Coach K became the coach of the American "Dream Team". At the 2002 World Championships and the 2004 Olympic Games, the American "Dream Team" lost two consecutive world championships, and American basketball has fallen to the altar. At the time, U.S. Basketball Association Superintendent Jerry Colangelo made a bold attempt to reinvent the "Dream Team" by the old K coach who had been coaching at the university. Although at the time, many saw it as an adventure and a gamble, he did not disappoint Colangelo who had bet on him. During his 12 years at the helm of Team USA, Coach K led the team to three consecutive Olympic titles (2008 Beijing, London 2012 and Rio 2016), as well as two World Championships in 2010 and 2014. During this period, coach K's team led the team to an impressive 88 wins and 1 loss, and American basketball regained its peak and regained its dominance of the world basketball world.
For the success of the old K coach in the superstar national team, Jason Kidd, who entered the "dream team" with him at the time, revealed, "He dared to criticize Kobe Bryant and dare to say dirty things to James, and he never seemed to treat them as NBA players, but ordinary college players." He never talks nonsense, always goes straight to the point, tells you immediately what's going on, you don't have to guess what he's thinking, that's why he's been able to lead the team to victory on and off the field. Shaun Battier, a disciple of coach K who quit that team of the United States because of injury, said, "The professional coach is only responsible for the tactical arrangement, and at most he can go out with you for a drink." But a college coach really teaches you to be human, which is why people naturally have respect for him. ”
Back on the day of the Duke-North Carolina semi-final matchday, at 3:24 a.m., Coach K was still wide-eyed. Study video of opponents' matches with his aides. Coach K has spent the past forty years in this way, according to the 4-5 hours he spends every game to study, he has spent about 8,000 hours just watching the game video, and this does not include the time he leads the team to play, train, write training plans, and travel. What is certain is that this is his last night for work, and from now on, he can truly enjoy life.