Phil Jackson doesn’t shy away from speaking his mind; in a sense, he has earned his right. ESPN is currently doing a series on the Knicks President and his attempt to rebuild the franchise. When asked about the NBA Draft, he not only gave reasoning behind his picks, but also he spoke of a distaste for Duke players.
At best, the Knicks would get the first pick and tab center Jahlil Okafor, although Jackson thinks he might not be aggressive enough. “Also, if you look at the guys who came to the NBA from Duke, aside from Grant Hill, which ones lived up to expectations?”
As you sit and ponder, if you’re not entirely a duke, but in which case if you are, I’m 95% sure you’re yelling off players right now, Jackson isn’t necessarily wrong. While Duke has a consistent history of supplying the NBA with players, not many have made this same splash as they had in college. There are at least 20 former Duke players on NBA rosters this season; who can you name that has had a major impact? Can you prove Phil wrong?
(H/T CollegeSpun)