The Duke-NBA Myth
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by user Wrmjr
According to this story, you can now field a better starting NBA lineup consisting of players who went to Duke than of players who went to UNC. Obviously, that hasn't always been the case. Of course, for a long time, UNC could claim a player named Michael Jordan, which made all debates on this issue moot. However, Duke was able to amass a reputation of players who failed to meet expectations all on their own. Whether it was complete busts like Alaa Abdelnaby or players like Danny Ferry (who had a long and pedestrian career) and Christian Laettner (who made the all-star team but was never dominant) whose pro careers never matched up to their college stardom. Throw in players whose careers were shortened by injury--Hurley and Jason/Jay/Jason Williams--and a conventional wisdom was born: Duke players can't make it in the NBA.
Today, though, that opinion is no longer valid. Former Duke players Elton Brand, Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer are among the NBA's rising stars. If you've been reading the entries by Jakeblloyd on ranking the players at each position, you'll find Dukies near the top at several positions. Conventional wisdom needs to change: Duke players can make it in the NBA--n.b., this may not apply to Josh McRoberts :-)
Now whether Duke can field the best team of NBA players is debatable. UNC has some great players, and UConn could field a pretty good team too. But Duke is no longer a black sheep in the NBA debate.
