Jayson Tatum shares the story of when Coach Mike Krzyzewski called him a ‘soft-a** St. Louis kid’

Jayson Tatum shares the story of when Coach Mike Krzyzewski called him a ‘soft-a** St. Louis kid’

When Jayson Tatum was in high school, Coach K made his way to his home, to recruit him to join Duke. Coach knew where Jayson was from, how he grew up, and what kind of potential he had. Along with that, he also knew how to push Tatum’s buttons.

Tatum only played one season at Duke before registering for the NBA Draft, but that season made a big impact on him. Once Duke was playing Virginia Tech on the road, and JT was struggling against them. He recalls,

“We (were) playing at Virginia and I only had two points. I had two points in the first half, and I guess I kept passing up shots. Came in, (Coach K) took his suit jacket off and he threw it like right at my feet. And he was yelling at me, and I’ll never forget this — he said, ‘You acting like a soft-ass St. Louis kid. I should’ve left you where I found you.”

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