The 25 greatest NBA players who went to Duke

We’ve decided to put these players into buckets, with the first bucket being guys who had solid, but not particularly remarkable, NBA careers. We start with Laettner because he is one of the most famous Duke players, and one of the most loathed. ESPN made a documentary called “I Hate Christian Laettner,” after all. He’s also notable for being on the famed Dream Team because Team USA wanted a college player. Laettner was comfortably the least good player on the team, and at that point, Larry Bird’s back was so jacked he was done as an NBA player. Laettner played 868 career NBA games and he was an all-star in the 1996-97 season. That was his only all-star appearance, though, and he averaged 12.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in his career.

Of the players we decided to include, Duhon probably had the least-impressive career, but for a second-round pick he managed to leg out a fine journeyman run. He was a second banana during a strong Duke run in the 2000s and then settled into being a backup point guard in the NBA. Duhon played in 606 games, and while he averaged 6.5 points and 4.4 assists per game, he did have one season where he averaged 11.1 points and 7.2 assists per contest.

Duke basketball existed before Coach K came to town. It’s true! Heyman was the first basketball star for the Blue Devils, being named the player of the year by most voting bodies in 1963. This then led to him being the first-overall pick in the 1963 NBA Draft. After a promising first season, Heyman did languish in the NBA, but then the ABA rolled around. He averaged 20.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 4.4 assists per game in leading the Pittsburgh Pipers to the ABA title in 1968. While his NBA career wasn’t remarkable, Heyman was briefly an ABA star, and we did want to shout out Duke’s first real success story. Well, there was Dick Groat, but Groat decided to play professional baseball instead.

Duhon wasn’t a remarkable player, but he lived up to the draft expectations. Dunleavy was a better player, but also had decidedly higher expectations. He was the third-overall pick, after all. Still, he was a good player, mainly as a scorer. Dunleavy averaged double-digit points in 10 different seasons, including a peak of 19.1 points per game in the 2007-08 campaign. He didn’t have the career you want from a third-overall pick, but he did have a good career. Dunleavy now serves as the GM of the team that drafted him, the Warriors.

If you are of a certain age, you likely only know Dawkins as a college hoops coach. If you remember Duke in the ‘80s, though, you know him as a two-time first-team All-American. The Spurs took Dawkins 10th, and he spent three seasons with the team and averaged 13.0 points and 5.6 assists per game. He then spent five seasons with Philly where he averaged 10.7 points and 5.7 dimes per contest. It was the playing career equivalent of his coaching career, in which he is a two-time winner…of the NIT.

Gminski was close to moving up a level to “good,” but he wasn’t quite up to that level. You may know him as a TV commentator, but he was a star at Duke and then a solid NBA big man. It’s weird to see Gminski on TV and think, “That dude is almost seven feet tall.” Gminski’s peak was definitely good, as he averaged over 16 points and eight rebounds per game for six seasons in a row. However, both the beginning and the end of his career were somewhat poor, so he ended up averaging 11.7 points and 6.9 rebounds per game in the NBA.

Redick is the last of the retired guys in this section, and we saved him for last because, well, he’s one of the most-famous faces in the NBA world outside of players. First, he was a major media personality. Now, he coaches the Los Angeles Lakers, aka the most prominent NBA job there is. Redick was a great college player, but his size and athleticism meant NBA stardom wasn’t likely. He struggled for a few years with the Magic, but fortunately then the rise of three-point shooting happened. Redick was an elite shooter and retired with a 41.5 three-point percentage. He averaged over 15 points per game for seven seasons in a row and really figured out his niche in the NBA. It’s that introspection that paved the way for his head coaching gig. Well, that and being friends with LeBron.

We have a bucket of players coming up that are active players who we are still assessing. First, though, the active players who, yeah, going down in the books as a good NBA player isn’t in the cards for them. Jones has carved out a solid career for an undersized point guard, but he’s spent the bulk of his career as a backup. While Jones’ last few seasons have been his best, he’s a decade into his career and is unlikely to play well enough long enough to end up averaging double-digit points per game.

We know. You hate Allen. He is perhaps the most disliked Duke player ever, and he remains a figure people love to hate. Lucky for you, he’ll never be an all-star. Unfortunately for you, he’s an elite shooter with a lot of tenacity and could play 15 years in the NBA. While Allen doesn’t board or dish out assists, he’s a career 41.4-percent three-point shooter and in the 2023-24 season led the NBA in three-point percentage.

Kennard is another player in the Redick and Allen mode. He has size, if not athleticism, but has become a floor spacer due to elite shooting. And we do mean elite. Kennard has made 43.8 percent of his threes in his career, and he’s led the NBA in three-point percentage twice. Now, if he was shooting more than a few threes a game, he’d score more points and wouldn’t be in this category. That’s not how his career has gone, though.

Next up we have our “to be determined” category. These are guys who are early in their careers and we aren’t sure where they end up when all is said and done. Williams has played three seasons with the Hornets, but all three seasons have been hindered by injuries. When he’s played, though, he’s been an average to above-average center. Williams has averaged 12.3 points, 8.8 boards, and 1.1 blocks per game. Now, Williams heads to the Suns, traditionally a better franchise. He’s just entering his mid-twenties, and with better health we think he could end up in the next bucket: good players with good careers.

Whether Carter ends up with a solid career or a good career will come down to his health. When the big man plays, he’s a strong complementary piece. He’s averaged over 15 points per game twice, and in one of those seasons he also averaged double-digit rebounds per game as well. The 2024-25 season was also a high-water mark for games played for Carter, and he appeared in 68 contests. He may only be in his mid-twenties, but if he never manages to cross the 70-game threshold, his ceiling is only so high.

Part of it is the hype. Barrett was a highly touted prospect, possibly even generational, and then ended up as the third-overall pick after one season with Duke. He was good with the Knicks, but he never made an All-Star Game and seemed to frustrate fans. Barrett averaged essentially 20 points per game over his final two seasons there, though. He then got dealt to Toronto in his native Canada, and he’s averaged over 20 points per game with the Raptors as well. What’s encouraging is that he’s also passed a little (a little) more with the Raptors, as Barrett was seen as something of a black hole with the Knicks. He’s never going to be the guy he was hyped up as in high school or in college, but he should end up having a good career.

Ingram won’t fall into “solid” when all is said and done. We’re wondering if he ends up rising above merely having a good career and having a really good, or even great, career. The Hall of Fame isn’t really in the cards, but Ingram has been an all-star, he’s won Most Improved Player, and he averaged over 20 points per game during his six-year run with the Pelicans. However, Ingram’s health has been worse than Carter’s. He’s played more than 64 games once in his career.

Off-court questions have emerged around Zion that add to the concerns about his health and conditioning. He’s made Carter and Ingram look like iron men. When he plays, though, Zion shows why he was the first overall pick. He’s been an all-star twice and has generational athleticism. He’s remarkable to watch at full speed. Zion was also born in the year 2000, which is to say in theory he has several seasons left…or does he? That’s the question. Zion could be the second-best Duke alum in NBA history, maybe even the best if things really turn around from a non-game perspective, or he could be a case of “If only…”

Banchero knows how to get buckets, and he’s already ensured he won’t go down as a bust as a first-overall pick. He’s been an all-star and he won Rookie of the Year. Banchero will at least make the “good” category, as he’s already been too impressive to be considered only solid. He won’t even be into his mid-twenties for a couple more seasons, though, so it’s just too early to have him anywhere but here.

We enter the “guys who had good careers” bucket with the analytical darling Battier. When analytics and non-traditional stats started to gain a foothold in the NBA, Battier was front and center. Battier didn’t get buckets, but he played 13 seasons and was part of the LeBron Era Heat for a reason. He could guard five positions, averaged essentially one block and one steal per game in his career, and was second-team all-defense twice. Go beyond the traditional box score, and Battier was quite good.

Mullins played alongside Heyman in the 1960s, and he was the better NBA player of the two. His first two seasons, with the then-St. Louis Hawks, made him look like a guy who was swiftly going to be out of the NBA. However, he joined the then-San Francisco Warriors, and things really took off. Mullins had four seasons in a row where he averaged over 20 points per game, and he was a three-time all-star. He held on to win a title with the Warriors (now with Golden State branding) in 1975, but by that point he was a tertiary player.

Maggette played for the Clippers during the bad days of the franchise, but that opened up a space for him to have a larger role than he would have with, you know, a well-run team. You could count on him to average between 16 and 20 points and between five and six rebounds per game. Those are what you would call “good numbers” for a wing player. Maggette even had a couple solid seasons with Golden State, and he is the quintessential example of the kind of career that qualifies as being “good.”

Deng was a guy you could play…and play…and play. While with the Bulls, he started all 82 games twice, and he also twice led the NBA in minutes per game. Why yes, Tom Thibodeau was his head coach in those seasons. Deng was an all-star twice, and was second-team all-defense once. Even with all the minutes he played, Deng’s career was lengthy. He just never had the kind of season that would lead you to believe he was more than a reliable secondary piece of the puzzle. You need Dengs on playoff teams, but they don’t lead you to titles.

Soon enough, Carlos may be best known as the father of Cameron and Cayden Boozer, his twin sons who followed him to Duke as vaunted prospects. Though Carlos was a second-round pick, he had a better NBA career than most NBA picks have ever managed. Not only did he make two All-Star Games, like Deng, but he was also a third-team All-NBA once. Boozer averaged 20-and-10 twice and came close to averaging a double-double in his career. Boozer retired at 16.2 points and 9.5 rebounds per game.

People talk about the first-overall picks who become legends, and the first-overall picks who become busts. What about the guys who have careers where you go, “Okay, that’s sufficient for a first-overall pick,” though? That’s what Brand was. He was Rookie of the Year, was a two-time all-star, and was a second-team all-NBA guy once. Brand averaged 15.9 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks per game, but he also hung on for a few years (and even came back from his first retirement) and dragged down his overall numbers. Over his first 12 seasons he averaged 18.8 points, 9.6 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per contest.

We were close to putting Tatum in the next bucket, the greats who went to Duke. He’s already a six-time all-star and has been first-team all-NBA four times. The problem is how his 2024-25 season ended. Tatum ruptured his Achilles tendon. Given his age, he should return and be a good, likely a great, player. He’ll get back on the Hall of Fame trajectory. We just want to see it first. For now, we consider him the best of this bunch, and likely will end up in the Hall someday.

We get to the top of the pyramid. Kyrie is out of his skull. He’s not a likable guy, but Irving is going to the Hall of Fame. He’s played in nine All-Star Games and has won a ring. Irving has averaged 23.7 points per contest in his career and is one of the best ballhandlers in NBA history. You don’t have to like him as a person to recognize he’s one of the best players of his generation.

Hill is kind of in a class of his own. He is, after all, the current Hall of Famer in the mix. That’s even with injuries hampering the middle of his career. Hill was a star with the Detroit Pistons early in his career, a classic point-forward who won Rookie of the Year, was second-team All-NBA four times, and first-team All-NBA once. The Orlando years were tough, purely owing to injury, but he became a solid, and durable, player with the Suns, which got him into the Hall of Fame and has given him the best career of any Duke alum…for now.