Coach K on Jeff Capel, Kobe Bryant

Duke coach discusses both former players in emotional postgame

Coach Mike Krzyzewski had an emotional night on Tuesday. One of his former players, Jeff Capel, returned as Pitt’s head coach to face him in an ACC game. Capel had served on Coach K’s staff for seven years, and Krzyzewski ended up shouting at the Duke student section when they chanted “Jeff Capel, sit with us,” shortly before halftime.

The game also featured a tribute to Kobe Bryant, a former Duke recruiting target for Coach K. Krzyzewski finally got to coach Bryant on Team USA. Both teams wore special commemorative warmups honoring Bryant before the game, and Krzyzewski wore one to his postgame press conference.

Krzyzewski was asked about both players in his postgame remarks.

“Jeff can sit with me anytime,” Krzyzewski joked after apologizing for the dust-up with the fans. Then, more seriously, he added, “I love Jeff. Jeff’s my son, man. We’re part of a brotherhood. Playing against him is very difficult. I don’t like it.”

“The last couple days have been really emotional. Look, Kobe was one of my players. I coached him on three teams. He was my leader. We had special moments, private and public. He was amazing with my grandkids. The grandson on our team (Michael Savarino), his nickname is Mamba, because he met him in Beijing, and (Kobe) would go to my granddaughters and ‘Hi princess’ and kiss their hand. We have a picture of my grandson, Quin, with Kobe with a gold medal and Gigi (Bryant) all together. My wife and my daughters have been sharing pictures. Mickie had an unbelievable relationship with Kobe. So it’s been bad. It’s been bad, and I have been very emotional about it, not publicly, but for the other people involved too, are you kidding me? Nine people, horrific, so very tragic. Kobe was the key guy in building the continuity of culture for those 11 years that I coached (Team USA). His relationship with LeBron (James) was the key. Those two guys were magnificent together. That’s why I’m sure LeBron is going through a lot, quite a bit. They were the foundation, and everything else was built on the relationship that those two guys developed, and they allowed me to help in that a little bit, but also then to coach it. Those are moments in time. Those moments don’t happen for everybody. Those five championships, those two Olympics, those are moments in time, and all those guys involved and the coaches and the families recognize that.”