It’s been more than 43 years since Duke hired Mike Krzyzewski away from Army to coach the Blue Devils. Since that moment, Coach K racked up 1,202 wins, helped Duke win five national championships and produced All-Americans, NBA Draft lottery picks and dozens of NBA players. Coach K also produced four No. 1 overall picks in his tenure: Paolo Banchero, Zion Williamson, Kyrie Irving and Elton Brand.
Not every elite college player he coached went on to have an MVP-type peak in the NBA. The program’s most iconic player and notable “Duke villain” Christian Laettner isn’t on this list, but he still went on to have a lengthy NBA career, highlighted by an appearance in the 1997 NBA All-Star game.
Grant Hill is ranked as the player who had the best NBA peak under Coach K. During his 18-year NBA career, Hill established himself as one of the best do-it-all players in the game. Current Boston Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum is second on the list and it appears he hasn’t reached his ceiling.
CBS Sports previously ranked the NBA peaks of Kentucky players under John Calipari and Kansas players under Bill Self. Here is the list of the greatest NBA players at their peak out of Duke by Krzyzewski.
1. Grant Hill
Hill dealt with a nagging ankle injury which forced him to miss significant time during the peak of his NBA career. After averaging 25.8 points, 6.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists during the 1999-2000 season with the Detroit Pistons, Hill was traded to the Orlando Magic where he missed almost all of his first season with the team. Hill was one of only three players in NBA history at the time to lead their teams in scoring, rebounding and assists more than once, joining Wilt Chamberlain and Elgin Baylor. Hill and Chamberlain were the only two players in league history at the time to lead their teams in points, rebounds and assists per game three times. Hill went on to become a seven-time NBA All-Star and…
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