Successful NBA Players
While haters of Duke University will point out the fact that many of the guys who played for Mike Krzyzewski might’ve “maxed out” their potential when they were in Durham, that hasn’t always been the case. Krzyzewski has put his fair share of guys into the NBA who’ve gone on to highly successful and distinguished careers, even before getting with the times and going the one-and-done route with guys like Kyrie Irving, and the many others to follow. Here are four legends of Duke basketball who continued to shine at the pro level.
Grant Hill
One of the three cornerstones – along with Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley – that propelled Duke University to back-to-back National Championships in 1991 and 1992, Grant Hill was one of the best multi-skilled players to come out of college in the early 1990’s.
Picked 3rd overall in the star-studded 1994 NBA Draft, Hill and Jason Kidd would go on to split Rookie of the Year honors in 1995, and Hill was named to five All-Star teams his first six seasons in the NBA. If it weren’t for a nasty ankle injury (and the extensive complications from it), we could very well be talking about Hill as one of the all-time greats in NBA history.