As you guys move into another week of basketball, why don't we just evaluate this game?

I'm not into what?

Our next step forward this right now.

We just finished the hard fought game.

I don't know if, like when What?

What?

What's your major?

Yeah.

What's your major at Duke?

What's your hardest class?

Okay, so say you just had the toughest e con test in the world.

And when you walked out, somebody asked you What's your next step?

Uh, you see, what I mean is that you have some empathy and Mm, You know, just give us time to evaluate this game, and then we'll figure out just like we always try to dio Jay What he thoughts.

So, Zubin, I've known Coach K for 23 years since I've been 16 years old and just the preface, these comments, because I know how when these things were said, people become very inflamed about it.

I also want people to understand that I have been willing in my career through broadcasting to stand up for what I thought was right.

And there were a lot of times, you know, during the Grayson Allen tenure that I felt very uncomfortable because I said that Grace and I was wrong for tripping people.

Okay.

And going back into Duke was a very uncomfortable situation for me.

So I've been willing to stand up for what I when I think Coach K is right where I think Coach K is wrong with certain things.

I've known this man for almost all my life.

I know when he is angry.

I know the tone when he is angry.

He was not angry when he was speaking to this young man.

I think there was a teaching moment that he was trying to insert in.

The analogy actually made sense.

It was, Hey, I just got my head beat in.

We lost three games in a row.

This hasn't happened since 2015 16, and I need time to assess what our next steps are, and that comes with watching the tape.

Now I know people are gonna say, Well, the tone of it, he was, you know, he seemed chippy.

Well, let's not forget that we're living in a virtual reality world to a degree that was on Zoom.

I think what happened from when I watched the tape is that Coach K asked him a question to try to make this bridge.

To build this analogy.

I didn't hear the young man responded first, Coach K then asked again.

I didn't hear the young man respond then and then he asked, You know Hey, what's your major?

You know, what's your most difficult class?

And then I think the young man kind of like, Hey, well, I don't know if he'd impress the mute button, whatever the situation was.

And I think that's what makes the tone of its sound like Coach K was trying to pick on this young man.

I also called Coach K yesterday and spoke to him for about 45 minutes, and he proceeded to tell me, Hey, I didn't want there to be any confusion.

I called the young man.

We spoke for about 30 minutes.

Uh, you know, he has the right to ask whatever question he wants.

I was just trying to build an analogy so we could understand where I came from.

And I also say this, you know, look, it would have been easy for coach K to sit up There is a look.

Let me give you the the stereotypical answer here and say, Well, you know, we didn't play well.

We didn't score the ball well, We turned the ball over enough instead of saying, Actually, I don't know what the take away is in the Hall of Fame coach, maybe the greatest coach of all time, And I don't know what the take away is right now because we just lost our third game in the road to a Louisville team that we're in a position to be.

And we didn't play well down the stretch.

So I just don't like when we get into the scenarios where people don't want to take this small thing because of confusion about it and turn into, you know, calling coach cave names that he's a bad person.

Look at the work he's done again.

Once again, the body of work standing up for black lives matter really questioning about Hey, should we be playing basketball right now?

What are we doing for?

You know what's in our kids?

Best interest?

I know people want to say Well, you know, ducks down in the top 25.

Coach K is and relevant, and it's very easy to use things like this and say, Of course he's gonna be chippy with a young reporter because he's not in the top 25.

No, none of this stuff matters, okay, He he's gonna be the winningest coach of all time.

Moving forward.

He's gonna be a guy with five national championships.

He's gonna be a Hall of Famer regardless of what happens this year in a pandemic.

But I don't think it's wrong.

It's right to just jump to conclusions, to assassinate this man's character for everything he stood up right for doing throughout his entire career.

I would agree with you.

I think people sadly, commentary on 2021 is People just sharpen their knives all day long, and now they're just looking for someone to poke.

I would guess that most of the people that air criticizing him absolutely, positively didn't hear the full exchange.

They just heard Coach K's answer.

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