Coach K’s selfish Olympic reign is finally over.

 

Mike Krzyzewski did a tremendous job restoring America’s Olympic mission in basketball. Yes he did. In 2008, when his all-NBA dream team was focused, prepared and regained the gold medal for the U.S. For most coaches, that would have been enough. But not for Coach K the former Army captain.

He went back to London as Olympic coach in 2012 and won again, this time with a team that understood what they were playing for and could have been coached to the gold by any number of qualified men. That was it, Krzyzewski said, two is enough. How much room do I have in my personal trophy case at home, anyway?

But, no, the Czar of USA Basketball Jerry Colangelo asked the Hall of Fame coach with the most collegiate victories in history to come back one more time. And at 69 years old, Krzyzewski did with his trusted assistant, Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. For most of the games in Rio, Krzyzewski and Boeheim looked bored and their team underachieved until blowout wins over Spain and Serbia.

Now, almost embarrassingly, Greg Popovich takes over as Olympic coach in 2020 in Tokyo. Pop, who has won as many NBA titles as Coach K has NCAA championships (that’s five for each man) was passed over for the job in 2008 because he was an assistant to Larry Brown at the 2004 disaster in Athens. When you look at how that team fell apart before the Games ever began, no coach could be blamed for coming home with the Bronze Medal.

But Colangelo picked K and they both have controlled USA Basketball for the last 12 years, a ridiculous recruiting advantage for Duke that has angered many college coaches. And NBA coaches remained livid that K didn’t step down and let Popovich take over; a championship pro coach. Can’t he coach NBA players as well as Krzyzewski? But it seemed unpatriotic to complain in public.

Now it’s over, finally. Krzyzewski has taken his family and entourage around the world three times. By the time Popovich gets there in 2020, he will be 70. He didn’t deserve to wait that long.