A DEAL WITH THE BLUE DEVILS
Bulls’ love for Duke is mystifying considering players’ track record in NBA
Ashow of hands: How many of you consider yourselves very familiar with Wendell Carter Jr.’ s game?
I’m guessing not many. That’s not a poor reflection on those unacquainted with the former Duke player. It’s the result of several things: college basketball’s brief embrace with its stars, Duke’s roster full of purportedly top talent and a million sports options on TV every week.
Another show of hands: How many of you don’t know much about Carter, but what you do know — that he went to Duke — is enough to make you seasick 1,000 miles from the nearest ocean?
I’m guessing a decent amount, judging by the way people’s faces turned green in their social- media reaction to the Bulls picking him in the NBA Draft.
The Bulls chose Carter seventh overall, leading us anti- Blue Devils people to think that someone down there doesn’t like us.
The Bulls really like Duke players, and I wish they’d stop. They’ve had Elton Brand, Jay Williams, Luol Deng, Chris Duhon, Carlos Boozer and Mike Dunleavy Jr. How many of those players moved the needle for you? Brand and Deng were fine players, but they weren’t showstoppers. Williams might have been if a motorcycle accident hadn’t ruined his career.
Along with all the other Duke disappointments in the NBA through the years, at what point do you ask whether the issue is the program?
The 6- 10 Carter might turn out to be the great player that Bulls vice president John Paxson and general manager Gar Forman say he’ll be. But we’ve all been around the block enough times to know that a team would gush that its three- legged horse shoots 75 percent from the field.
My overriding emotion to the Carter pick — and it is an emotion — was a sour ‘‘ He went to Duke.’’ It was followed by a somber ‘‘ God help us all.’’