Former Duke guard Marty Clark went viral for his heartfelt tribute to Mike Krzyzewski ahead of Coach K’s final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Clark played four seasons at Duke from 1990-1994, winning consecutive national championships to begin his college career. He was mostly a bench player in his first two years, but he averaged 18.8 minutes per game as a junior and 21.1 minutes per game as a senior, topping out at an average of 8.1 points per game.
Clark praised Coach K in his tribute.
“I loved playing for him. As a player you always knew where you stood, you were always encouraged and played for the love for the game and each other – and never played out of fear. We always, always knew we had a chance to win every game we played,” Clark wrote.
But Clark’s tribute received attention for much more than that.
Clark says he struggled with alcoholism for two decades, and it was a phone call from Coach K that helped him get sober.
“The best coaching I received from him was not on the basketball court. I struggled with alcoholism for 2 decades before I sought help. I had been to treatment, been in and out of the rooms and couldn’t understand what was happening and began to not care at all…Relapsed, after relapse, after relapse I had become estranged from my wife and 2 kids. Life was sh*tty. Coach called me one day in the summer of 2014. He had known through my wife and his daughter Debbie Krzyzewski Savarino I wasn’t doing well at all. I questioned him as a good alcoholic would “who did you hear that from?” There was a long pause and I knew I needed to make a change right then and there. I hated that it was him to be that guy, I always wanted him to know that I was doing great. I couldn’t imagine disappointing him. Ever.
“This was the one man I could not lie to, and the one man I trusted implicitely (sic). I was embarrassed, angry, heartbroken all in the same moment. He wanted nothing from me but to know that I was loved and that whatever I was struggling with I didn’t have to do it alone. With his support I am closing in on 7 of years sobriety. And to this day I’m convinced this doesn’t happen without his phone call. Love this guy.”
That’s a great tribute from Clark.
Coach K is 75 and in his final season as Duke’s head coach before turning the program over to Jon Scheyer. He has 1,196 career wins and five national championships on his resume. There are likely countless stories like this regarding the impact he has had on the lives of people he has coached during his career. You may not be able to quantify these types of stories, but the impact is undeniable.
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