An emotional Mike Krzyzewski eagerly accepted his enshrinement into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Friday evening, along with his longtime peer, Temple coach John Chaney, and 19-year NBA veteran Moses Malone.
Crying tears of joy as he walked onto the stage at the Springfield Civic Center, Krzyzewski thanked the numerous members of what he called his "train," including former Duke and Army players, University administrators, and of course, his family members for their constant support throughout his 26 years of coaching.
But the biggest thanks of all went to Krzyzewski's mentor, Texas Tech coach Bob Knight, who recruited the Chicago native to play at Army and later gave him his first job in coaching as a graduate assistant for Knight's Indiana Hoosiers. Knight was also influential in Army's hiring of Krzyzewski in 1976, and five years later, he recommended Krzyzewski to Duke Athletics Director Tom Butters.
"I've only called one person OCoach' in my life and that's been you," Krzyzewski said to Knight as stepped on stage to give his acceptance remarks. "Most of the things that I have done, I've learned from you, and there's no really greater honor for me than having you be the person who presented me tonight."
Despite ongoing rumors of a fallout between mentor and protege over the past few years, Knight had nothing but praise for Krzyzewski as he introduced the Duke coach to the audience. In particular, Knight hailed Krzyzewski for his coaching abilities, mental toughness, and his heavy emphasis on teamwork, all assets the Texas Tech coach believes have been instrumental in Krzyzewski's enormous success over the last quarter-century.
"The example that he gives all of us of teamwork, the example that he gives us all of playing the game--not to complain, not to worry about the officiating, not giving up passes--the example that Mike has set in his leadership, particularly during these last 10 years--I don't think anybody has ever put all of these ingredients together," Knight said of Krzyzewski. "That, more than anything, I think is Mike's legacy and that is why he deserves being honored here tonight."
Touched by the praise lavished upon him by Knight, Chaney, and Hall of Fame Presient Dave Gavitt, Krzyzewski expressed how humbled he was to have his name put alongsided basketball's greatest figures. In particular, he reiterated a theme that he first introduced in a press conference Thursday in Durham, in which he stated how happy his late father would be to see the Krzyzewski surname dignified in such high regard.
"I didn't know my dad very well; all he did was work and provide for us. But... I wish he was here," Krzyzewski said. "He wouldn't have been so surprised, because fathers are proud of their sons... but he would have been amazed that somebody with the name Krzyzewski would make it. When I grew up in Chicago, my dad was an elevator operator and my mom used to clean offices in downtown Chicago and they never went by the name Krzyzewski because of prejudice. Although we have prejudice today, at that time, there was a white world and a black world; we didn't call it prejudice because we lived in two different worlds. But there was a lot of prejudice in the white world and my dad always went by the name of OKross' just so he could get jobs so we could eat... So I'm glad my dad is in the Hall of Fame with me."
Race relations was also theme mentioned in the remarks by Chaney and John Thompson, two African-American coaches who rose to Hall-of-Fame status as a result of their glorified careers at Georgetown and Temple, respectively. New inductee Chaney spoke at length about his emergence as a coach from inner-city Philadelphia, thanking hords of his supporters during his 45-minute address.
And1999 Hall inductee Thompson, who presented the longtime Owls coach, commended Chaney for "doing a tremendous job directing young men in the right direction."
Meanwhile, basketball legend Julius Erving, who introduced Malone, credited his former teammate with having an excellent basketball mind and having the leadership skills to critique his teammates' play in order to improve his teams' chances of winning.
"To this day, people who watch basketball on TV has never really seen the skills, the true skills, of Moses Malone," Erving said.
Hosted by NBC basketball commentator Ahmad Rashad, the enshrinement ceremony took on an Academy Awards-style atmosphere with its red-carpet entrance and its national television audience on NBC. As many as 12 Hall of Famers were introduced throughout the evening, while celebrities like Bill Cosby and basketball stars such as Duke graduate Grant Hill, Temple alum Eddie Jones, and former Malone teammate Charles Barkley were asked to speak about the new class of enshrinees on massive television screens situated on either side of the stage.
The festivities also featured many wisecracks by Cosby, Rashad, the presenters, as well as the inductees. At one moment, Thompson mentioned that despite the possible danger of assembling in a large crowd because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he felt very safe attending the enshrinement ceremonies because of the presence of Army cadets Knight and Krzyzewski and the always tough Chaney.
"You've got Bobby Knight and John Chaney--now what terrorist is going to come in here and mess with them," Thompson said. "This has got to be the safest place in America."
Later, the always sarcastic Knight, known for his distaste of sports journalists, noted that a reporter had asked Krzyzewski what he would have done had he not been a coach.
"Mike said, Owell, I might have been a writer and written a sports column.' And I told him that that would be a hell of a waste of intellect because damn near anybody could do that," Knight said.
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