The most polarizing and talked about team in college basketball are the Duke Blue Devils. For almost four decades, Duke has been the staple of college basketball; for good and bad. They have their fans, but they also have their haters.
The haters might even outweigh the fans. It is just so easy for the public to hate this team. There is the winning they have been constantly doing for such a long period of time.
There is the man behind it all, Mike Krzyzewski. He has been there forever with his signature look that gets under the skin of the masses. Coach K is entering his last season with Duke, which might be a good thing for other fanbases.
Lastly, there are the players over the course of decades. We have seen a plethora of different types of Duke players. Most of them were villains to the public.
Throughout the long list of the players we all hated, some had to be the worst. Here are the top three biggest Duke villains of all-time.
3. Grayson Allen (2014-2018)
Grayson Allen is the most recent entry into the Duke villainous history and might be the last for a long period of time. Coach K is stepping to the side and the one and done era has stripped away long tenure players at Duke.
Duke is too high profile to have to worry about grabbing a guy that will be there for four years. They can simply rinse and repeat. However, Allen was there for four years.
Those four years were highlighted by a National title, but also some treacherous moments. He has had moments of tripping opposing players and even kicking them. Then there are the times where he lets his emotions get the best of him on the bench.
We have seen him cry and shout like a screaming toddler. It is easy to hate someone like that on a team like that. Allen was also good though.
He was a two time All-Acc player and even an All-NCAA tourney member. Allen was good, but was so easy to dislike.
2. J.J. Redick (2002-2006)
The hatred for J.J. Redick was during the time I started getting into college basketball. Watching every ACC road game for Duke was Redick versus whatever team Duke was facing that night. The problem wasn’t even his attitude; it was that he was good.
Redick’s accolades are impeccable, despite never winning a National Title. He was the Wooden Award winner, ACC Player of the Year twice, and a consensus All-American twice. He holds multiple records, while being one of the best shooters in college basketball history.
Rival schools tried everything in their powers to rattle him. They gave out his phone number. There were signs and chants with vulgar language.
Nothing worked, which made the hatred stronger for the fans. Redick was such an amazing force with Duke, but that didn’t stop the country from despising him.
1. Christian Laettner (1988-1992)
There is only one answer and that is Christian Laettner for so many reasons. One main reason is that he wasn’t just hated by their rivals, but he was universally hated. The attitude and winning just drove everyone crazy.
Laettner might be the greatest player in college basketball history. He won two National Titles, while winning Most Outstanding player for the tournament. He was a Wooden award, two time All-American, and three time All-ACC.
However, he was known for trash talking and getting on his teammates if they were not playing up to his standards. Laettner seemed self-centered, but in reality he was just a winner. That is what made him the ultimate villain.
