For a brief moment, they all just get to enjoy it.
The players stand in a cluster in the Rose Garden as President Barack Obama works his way around, careful to personally greet and shake hands with each and every one of them. Obama compliments Kyle Singler’s finals performance and calls Jon Scheyer his “homeboy”—the two share Chicago-area roots. It’s 92 degrees and no one seems to notice.
There are no questions about whether or not Duke has lost its luster, whether senior Brian Zoubek could have been a solid college big man had he not been plagued by injuries or whether junior Kyle Singler is not a natural fit at the three. There are no John Wall what-ifs, no whispers that head coach Mike Krzyzewki’s program has seen better days and no talk of “no Final Fours since 2004.”
As the president formally greets the team from his podium, the Blue Devils can barely contain themselves. A group of guys that has been on national television nearly 30 times this year cannot stop giggling. Lance Thomas looks like he’s about to lose it.
Obama brings up the day in 2009 when he picked rival North Carolina to win the national title to the chagrin of Duke fans across the nation. At the time, Krzyzewski playfully dismissed the president’s prediction and encouraged Obama to stick to politics.
“It wasn’t anything personal. Just trying to win some money,” Obama jokes about his correct pick. “I was right. Coach K wasn’t too happy. He basically told me to stick it. Or stick to my day job, is what he said. And then, this year, he went out with all these guys and he won, so he could come to the White House and crow about it. Payback is sweet, isn’t it, Coach?”
Krzyzewski, known for his snarky, sharp wit, just smiles as he stands a few feet behind Obama’s right shoulder. No need for a comeback; the coach just listens.
A few minutes later the team heads outside the Rose Garden, and Krzyzewski walks up to a microphone by the North Grounds entrance to answer the media’s questions. He starts by introducing the five starters that stand behind him—Singler, Scheyer, Thomas, Zoubek and Nolan Smith.
Now a few weeks removed from the whole experience, the players field questions about how the season set up a deep run all the way to Indianapolis. A reporter brings up the almost-greatest-shot-in-basketball-history and that brutal moving pick that Singler went crashing into as time expired, almost changing everything. But the shot didn’t go in, so they can laugh it off.
“It was something that wasn’t called either way,” Krzyzewski says of the contact on that last play. “There would have been a little bit more controversy on our side if that shot had gone in.” Krzyzewski turns to Singler and says, “But do you even know that it happened to you?”
“No,” Singler replies, laughing. “As long as that shot didn’t go in, I was fine.”
A few more laughs and a bit more reminiscing, and all of a sudden it’s almost over. The time for just enjoying the victory is almost up. Reporters bring up next season; one asks Krzyzewski how his team can keep its edge, another asks the two juniors how today’s experience might make them stronger leaders next year.
The pressure to look ahead and move on, to some degree, makes sense. To the program’s outsiders, the uncertainty of who might compete next year is a hotter story than who won in April. And for the players themselves, it was perhaps their commitment to constant self-improvement that got them to the title in the first place. It’s an attitude that doesn’t necessarily disappear, even after Gordon Hayward’s shot rims out. So the day at the White House ends with everyone talking about next season because there just isn’t any more time to stop and savor the moment. Reaching the pinnacle of the game instantly imposes the challenge of staying on top.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.