The NBA has added former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski to its league office, announcing Wednesday in a press release that Krzyzewski has been hired as a special adviser to basketball operations (Twitter link).
In his new position in the league office, Krzyzewski will “provide counsel to the league office, NBA team executives, and other leaders across the league on a host of issues related to the game,” the league said in Wednesday’s announcement. He’ll be in attendance when the NBA’s general managers meet next week in Chicago.
An inductee into both the College Basketball Hall of Fame and the Basketball Hall of Fame, Krzyzewski coached the men’s basketball team at Duke from 1980 to 2022. He won five national championships during that time, with the latest coming in 2015. The Blue Devils made the Final Four during Krzyzewski’s final season in 2022.
Krzyzewski also spent time as the head coach of Team USA’s men’s basketball squad, winning Olympic gold medals in Beijing in 2008, London in 2012, and Rio De Janeiro in 2016.
Krzyzewski received a good deal of interest from NBA teams over the years, but always opted to remain at Duke. He’ll finally make the move to the NBA now, at age 76, but in the role of a league executive rather than the head coach of a franchise.
“This is a tremendous opportunity to deepen my connection to the NBA and participate in conversations about further strengthening the league and the game,” he said in a statement. “Even in my retirement from coaching, my passion for the sport has never been higher. This role will enable me to stay engaged with basketball at the highest level.”
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