"Let’s get some things straight here and quit the double standard": When Coach K voiced frustration over officiating in the Duke-UNC rivalry

Mike Krzyzewski, aka "Coach K," is regarded as one of the finest college basketball coaches to have graced the circuit. The former Duke coach was known for voicing his opinion on officials when he felt hard done by them.

There were quite a few moments in Krzyzewski's career when he made sure the referees felt his wrath. In 1984, when Duke faced rival North Carolina for the first of their three encounters in the season, Krzyzewski was given a technical late in the game when he protested a call from the referees.

After the matchup, which the Tar Heels won 78-73, Krzyzewski had some strong words for the officials.

“There was not a person on our bench who was pointing a finger at the officials or banging on a scorer’s table,” Krzyzewski said, as per a November 2013 article by the Raleigh News & Observer. “You cannot allow people to go around pointing at officials and yelling at them without technicals being called. This is just not allowed.

“So, let’s get some things straight here and quit the double standard that exists in this league, all right?”

Krzyzewski was referring to the rather strange officiating incident regarding then-UNC coach Dean Smith's behavior. The Tar Heels coach slammed the scorer’s table late in the second half after he wanted a substitute to enter the contest following a stoppage in play, which the officials seemed to miss.

At the time, Duke was leading 67-64. However, play resumed without the scorer sounding the horn to let the North Carolina player enter the game. Smith was furious and went to the scorer's table to sound off the horn himself. Instead, he hit a button that increased UNC's score by 20 points on the scoreboard.

Despite Smith's angry reaction, he was not given a technical but was told to return to his bench.

Three days after Coach K slammed the officials in the Duke-UNC game, the Blue Devils gave him a five-year contract extension.

“I started out here, I was fighting for everything,” Krzyzewski said after signing his extension. “I’m not going to go back on anything that I said. However, I’m not sure that at another point in my career I would have said it. Probably because you mature as a coach, you have more capacity to respect. Initially, there’s no capacity to respect. You’re just trying to survive.”

Duke also went on to beat North Carolina in the two following games that season.

A look at Coach K's head-to-head record against Dean Smith

Former Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski - Source: Imagn

Coach K's Duke squared off against Dean Smith's UNC 38 times during their rivalry. However, Smith had the edge in the head-to-head record between the two coaches, going 24-14 against Krzyzewski's Blue Devils.

Coach K won five national championships at Duke during his 42 years with the program, from 1980 to 2022. Meanwhile, the late Smith coached North Carolina for 36 years, from 1961 to 1997, and won two national championships.

Both Krzyzewski and Smith were inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.