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The Tar Heels and Blue Devils do not dominate the NBA like they once did. Carolina easily had the most in the 1960s, ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s – from Lennie Rosenbluth to Michael Jordan and dozens in between. Duke had Jeff Mullins to Grant Hill. Both bluebloods have continued to dot rosters through today.
Except, they are also a study on how popular pro basketball has become, from great players in high school to all-stars that are still playing the game. Barring retirements, Carolina will finish the current season with 13 players on NBA rosters, Duke with 24 and more all-stars.
With the 2024 NBA playoffs down to eight teams, Jayson Tatum of the Celtics and Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks are the best of four Blue Devils still playing. The Tar Heels had 12 before all of their teams were knocked out. Coby White and Cameron Johnson were the best of those.
Unless you are a true NBA geek follower, the best players in the NBA are either guys you have never heard of, guys you have no idea what schools they went to or guys who didn’t go to school at all. Some fans are already hailing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a Canadian who played one season at Kentucky who plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder, as better than Tatum. Anthony “Ant” Edwards, who plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves, is being called the next MJ. Where did he play? Georgia.
Slovenian Luka Doncic of the Mavericks is one of many foreign players at the top of the NBA stats, the leading scorer averaging 34 points. Then there is the Greek Freak, Giannis, who is injured and his Bucks team is out of the playoffs. Serb Nikola Jokic is the NBA’s third-best rebounder for the defending champion Denver Nuggets, who’ve lost the first two at home to the T-Wolves.
The leading rebounder is Lithuanian Dom Sabonis who plays for the resurgent Sacramento Kings who were knocked out in the play-in round. The NBA assist leader is Tyrese Haliburton of the Indiana Pacers after playing two years at – guess where? – Iowa State. The Pacers are going against the New York Knicks for a spot in the NBA Eastern Conference finals.
Did you know the Knicks have three starters and former national champions from Villanova, scoring ace Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo, who won three NCAA titles – one against Carolina – in the 2010s.
So my point here is have your phone in hand while watching the amazing NBA playoffs, go to ESPN and the box score of the game and click on the names of players who you are hearing but don’t know where they are from.
That’s the NBA of today.
Featured image via Associated Press/David Zalubowski
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
