Earning an NBA

On June 30, 1999, it seemed like things

had finally changed. National Basketball Association Commissioner David Stern kicked off the 1999 NBA Draft by doing something that had never been done before: He announced the name of a Duke Blue Devil as the top overall pick when the Chicago Bulls

selected Elton Brand.

A few hours later, Duke found itself entrenched in the NBA record books, as Trajan Langdon, Corey Maggette and William Avery were also selected in the first round, marking the first time four players from the same school had ever become first-round draft picks in the same year.

Although Langdon was the only one of the four to obtain his degree--Brand and Avery left school after two years, while Maggette stayed for just one--Mike Krzyzewski's program nearly shed its label of being unable to produce solid NBA talent, an accomplishment whose significance was not lost on junior forward Carlos Boozer.

"The NBA is a whole other level," Boozer says. "You've got grown men, really athletic players. It's the NBA, those are the top players in the world. It's just a different level of competition--the competition is a lot greater than in high school or college."

Prior to 1999, Duke players' success in the NBA was limited, but not absent altogether. A consensus All-American and ACC player of the year during his senior year at Duke, Grant Hill is a five-time All-Star in the NBA. He led the league in All-Star voting twice, including his rookie season. He has averaged 21.5 points per game during his career with the Detroit Pistons and the Orlando Magic.

But in terms of big-name players meeting their projected levels of success, Hill stands alone. Christian Laettner, drafted third overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1992, now finds himself on the Wizards, his fifth NBA team, during a career that has fallen short of expectations. Current Duke associate head coach Johnny Dawkins, the 10th overall selection by the Spurs in 1985, was shipped to Philadelphia and Detroit before retiring in 1995.

Krzyzewski, for one, sees a change in the road ahead. After recently catching up to and arguably even surpassing the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the recruiting world, Krzyzewski knows that the talent he now brings to Duke has the potential to flourish as pros.

"For many years, North Carolina had the most talent," he says. "We're getting that now.... You do the best you can do with the group you have and we've had great kids who have been great college players. A guy like Danny Ferry, he's had an amazing career. Now is he a Michael Jordan? No. We haven't had a guy like Michael Jordan or James Worthy or those guys.

"If that's the knock on us, we'll just have to live with it and try to win another national championship."

Anything but certain

Krzyzewski's faith in his players is clearly a reciprocal commodity. Boozer, who led the ACC in field-goal percentage at .604 last season, thinks Duke's program has done all it can to help him prepare for his lifelong goal of playing professional basketball. But Boozer acknowledges that, as has been the case with many collegiate players both at Duke and other programs throughout the NCAA, the transition can be smooth for some, but can result in failure for others.

"I think [Duke's] program is leaps and bounds ahead of other programs in [preparing players for the NBA]," he says. "This is the elite program in college basketball. I'm fortunate to be a part of it. But I'm not going to know how prepared I am for the NBA until I get there. I do feel very prepared from the outside looking in, but until you get there, you never know."

Such a lesson has been learned the hard way by many of Duke's best players. Less than three years after the 1999 draft, life has gone in drastically different directions for the four Blue Devils taken in the opening round.

On one hand is Brand, who led all rookies in scoring, rebounding, blocks, minutes played and double-doubles in his first season. Co-winner of the Rookie of the Year Award, Brand averaged 10 rebounds and over 20 points per game in each of his first two seasons with the Bulls. After being traded during the off-season to the Los Angeles Clippers, Brand has continued his success, averaging 20.5 points and 11 rebounds per game as of Dec. 13, while starting in all of his team's first 22 games this season.

Joining Brand on the Clippers is Maggette, who spent his first season with the Orlando Magic before arriving in Los Angeles. Only 22 years old, Maggette has shown both the flashes of brilliance as well as the inconsistency that characterized his only year at Duke. Averaging 11 points and 9 rebounds per game, as of Dec. 13, Maggette has started 17 of the Clippers' first 22 games this season. Whether he lives up to his status as the 13th overall pick, however, is yet to be determined.

For Langdon and Avery, NBA life has been anything but wonderful. As of Dec. 13, Langdon has seen only 86 minutes of action for the Cleveland Cavaliers this season, a woeful disappointment for the player who was named as a second team All-American during his senior year at Duke and holds the Duke record for career three-pointers made--342. Due to injury, Avery has not seen action in a single game this season for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Criticized by Krzyzewski for leaving early, Avery may have erred in leaving Duke--and its teachings of basketball fundamentals--early to pursue the riches of the NBA.

Every man for himself

Boozer can look at Avery and Langdon as examples of collegiate ability not translating into professional success. Even more recent is the example of Chris Carrawell, who played for four years at Duke, earning ACC Player of the Year and second-team All-America honors during his senior season. However, he fell to the draft's second round before being selected by the Spurs, and was subsequently cut before playing in a single NBA game.

Despite the fortunes of players like Carrawell, sophomore guard Chris Duhon refuses to hold Krzyzewski accountable for the NBA fate of his players. Duhon acknowledges Duke's negative reputation regarding its NBA preparation, but similarly feels the bad publicity is unjust. Succeeding in the NBA is less a function of a player's collegiate experience, he says, than it is of the player himself.

"It's a different world out there in the NBA," Duhon says. "[Lack of NBA success] definitely doesn't go to the program. The coaching staff does a great job of improving our players and making them even better. All of the players are great college players, they are [on the] ACC first-team or MVPs or whatever, but they just didn't have what it takes."

Boozer acknowledges that the collegiate game can make a player seem better than he truly is. In the NBA, he says, a player is less able to exploit a weak opposition.

"You've got to be ready for that level," Boozer says. "I don't know what makes you ready, but to be successful at that level you have to step your game up, keep improving and getting better and better, because those are the elite players in the world."

No reason to rush

It is this determination that many feel will propel current Memphis Grizzlies forward Shane Battier to success in the NBA. Battier, Duke's Mr. Everything during his senior season, epitomized hard work both on and off the court. Unlike many college players, Battier was intent on staying all four years at Duke, fully developing as a basketball player and earning his degree.

Battier's decision is something Duhon plans to mimic, in the hopes of getting as much out of his Duke experience as possible.

"I'll probably stay four years because I love it here and I think there is so much else I have to learn," Duhon says. "I don't want to rush it. I'm still not totally ready and I would regret my decision. So I think I am definitely going to stay four years, so I know when I leave that I am prepared for the NBA, not just from a basketball standpoint, but as a person."

Duhon recognizes that what happened to Langdon, Avery and Carrawell could happen to him or any other player dreaming of success in the pros. However, his confidence in both himself and a higher power keep him assured that if he continues to work hard, his chances of failure in the NBA are slim.

"I'm confident in my ability to work hard, to where I wouldn't let that happen," he says. "I'll do whatever it takes to become good. It also depends on what God wants from me. Maybe God doesn't want me to play in the NBA; maybe He wants me to run a team or own the NBA or something. It sort of depends on what my purpose is in life, and I think that's what Duke is going to help me figure out."

More than just hoops

Ultimately, both the players and their coach acknowledge the need to see the greater picture. Basketball is a game for some, and a career for others, but remains secondary to the more important aspects of life.

"[Preparation for the NBA is] definitely important, besides academics, trusting your coach and being around great players," Duhon says. "Trusting your coach means you trust him to make you better--a better player and a better person. The key component for me choosing a school was going to a program that cares about its players--cares about them becoming men and cares about them improving as basketball players. This is what attracted me to Duke."

Duhon may only be a sophomore, but he has caught on quickly to the ideology promulgated by his coach. Krzyzewski stresses that developing his student-athletes as players is important, but not everything.

"For us, part of our goal is not just to produce players, but to produce successful human beings," he says. "One of the things for us is that when you graduate from Duke, you do understand there are other options in your life. Hopefully one of them is to play basketball, to learn how to have a good life and to have continued education--that's what this school is about."

Craig Saperstein contributed to this story.