"There was a lot of running, a lot of profanity" - Grant Hill reveals his craziest Coach K experience at Duke
Mike Krzyzewski is widely regarded as arguably the best team basketball coach in the history of the sport and the greatest NCAA coach of all time. However, those who played for Coach K knew he was more than just that. According to Duke and NBA legend Grant Hill, Krzyzewski was also a hard-nosed mentor who would not hesitate to go to extremes just to make his team better.
When asked to recall his funniest Coach K story in 2013, Hill said he would never forget one incident which he admittedly found funny nowadays but was more of crazy back then. As per “Mr. Nice,” Coach K once called an impromptu practice after a terrible loss. Hill revealed that Coach K was so mad that he got in their faces the whole time while yelling profane words.
"Oh, man. If I tell the craziest, funniest stories, I might not be invited back there on campus. The craziest story—it wasn't necessarily the funniest—but my freshman year playing our first game in the ACC at UVA, we lost; we got blown out. We bus back for three-and-a-half hours, we got off the bus, and he wants everybody taped and ready on the court in 10 minutes,” Hill told Bleacher Report in 2013.
"We practiced, and it was the worst practice I've ever been a part of. I actually broke my nose during the practice. But it was also very eye-opening in that he let me know about establishing a standard of excellence,” he continued. “There was a lot of running, a lot of profanity, a lot of getting in our faces, but I am proud to say that after that, we never had another practice like that with Coach K."
Coach K spoke the language too
Team USA knew Krzyzewski fitted the bill not only because of his remarkable resume in college basketball but also because Coach K was all about the team. So when he coached Team USA on the international stage, Krzyzewski was as good as advertised. He had no bias regardless of how big an NBA star was in front of him. Just like Hill, Team USA players got to witness Coach K cuss and utter words of profanity firsthand.
Jason Kidd once recalled the first time it happened and admitted that he was blown away. According to J-Kidd, never once did he imagine that the famous face of Duke and national college basketball with a calm and peaceful aura would lash out like that.
"First meeting, we got to hear coach K cuss, and I couldn't believe it! Like this is the same guy that's on TV?? I think he set the whole tone, the whole mood relaxed, and everyone wasn't on edge….When he first cussed, I couldn't believe it!," Kidd recalled.
As it turned out, Coach K knew exactly how he struck his players and he had no problem unveiling his side that most people are not aware of.
"They don't expect me to come in and say ‘motherf***er.’ And when you're talking and saying, ‘Come on, you motherf***er we gotta get this gold medal.’ All of a sudden, I wasn't this guy from Duke and West Point. I was more the guy from the inner-city of Chicago," Krzyzewski opened up.
The best for a reason
In all fairness, a coach with 13 NCAA Final Fours, 15 ACC tournament championships, and 13 ACC regular season titles, and five NCAA titles to his name should have the right to cuss whenever he sees that his squad isn’t performing at the highest level. That is also why nobody ever questioned or opposed Krzyzewski’s ways, if anything, most of his former players even appreciate his tough approach.
Reflecting on his overall development as a player under the tutelage of Coach K at Duke, Hill said that Krzyzewski was not really the most intelligent coach there is but he was a true master of his craft, especially in squeezing the best out of his players.
"He's not necessarily an X and O genius. He's not a guy that's going to diagram... There are certain coaches who are all Xs and Os. He's a relationship coach. He's going to get to know you and figure out how to get the most out of you," the two-time NCAA champion once said of Krzyzewski.
"He's smart enough to understand that everybody in the room, everybody in the huddle, and everybody in the locker room is different," he added. "And so he knows how to connect with young men and try to get the most out of them. He also understands how to bring everyone together."
Krzyzewski has sent a total of 73 Duke players to the NBA. He may have never coached a single NBA team but the entire league recognizes his brilliance. In fact, in May 2023, Coach K landed a role in the NBA as a special adviser, and he continues to influence players in that way.
