Pipe Down, Jim Boeheim: Jalen Johnson Gets To Live His Own Life

In our latest edition of “Springfield: Coaches Gone Wild,” Duke freshman forward Jalen Johnson found himself getting ripped this week by a Hall of Fame coach in his mid-70s. 

Only it wasn’t Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski who publicly criticized Johnson for opting out of the rest of Duke’s disappointing season in order to prepare for the NBA Draft. It was Coach K’s good buddy and occasional offseason tennis partner Jim Boeheim taking potshots at Johnson from 625 miles away. 

“That guy was hurting them so they actually are much better now without him,” Boeheim, 76, said Thursday on his weekly radio show. “ He was just doing some things and keeping other people from playing that are good. They’ve had two monster wins since he’s opted out.”

Couple of problems here. First, Duke had played just once since Johnson announced his decision on Monday, pounding a hapless Wake Forest team by 24 points on Wednesday. 

More importantly, this wasn’t Boeheim’s issue and, despite his friendship with Krzyzewski, he couldn’t possibly know all the factors that led to Johnson short-circuiting his one-and-done experience. 

“Our team loves Jalen,” Krzyzewski said after the win over Wake Forest, which came the night before Boeheim went public with his thoughts. “He’s a brother to these guys. … [T]hese kids should have the choice to do whatever they want.”

ESPN’s Jay Bilas, who played and coached under Krzyzewski, took to Twitter on Friday to chastise Boeheim. He called the comments “inappropriate” and noted Boeheim had criticized another program’s player under similar circumstances. 

That was in 2019 when Boeheim called out former Georgetown guard James Akinjo for entering the transfer portal. 

Bilas, a practicing attorney who still has a direct pipeline to the Duke program, also noted Johnson’s decision came with the input of his parents, not a coterie of hangers-on. 

“We can differ with the decision,” Bilas tweeted, “but the undertones of the criticism of Johnson are concerning.” 

The 19-year-old Johnson, a product of suburban Milwaukee, missed three games in December and January with a foot injury. Even when healthy enough to play, Johnson averaged just 11.2 points and 6.1 rebounds in 13 games. 

According to Duke basketball’s official statement: “While we are encouraged by what we are seeing medically, for Jalen’s future, we believe this decision is in his best interest. We are ultimately careful with every one of our players and will continue to support Jalen as he progresses toward his goal of playing professional basketball. He deserves to be fully healthy for the upcoming NBA draft.” 

If Coach K and Johnson’s teammates have no problem with his decision, at least publicly, what makes Boeheim think he has the right to play the heavy here? 

Boeheim, after all, isn’t just the Hall of Fame coach of an Orange team struggling to reach the NCAA Tournament. He’s the parent of an active player; his son Buddy is a junior guard and the team’s third-leading scorer.

Boeheim, of all people, should recognize the thin line modern players and their families must walk as they attempt to balance the college experience with professional aspirations.

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