Kris Humphries, who was a Duke recruit until Duke pretty much told him they
weren't interested anymore,
is expected to announce for the NBA Thursday. This was rumored to be a
big part of why Duke lost interest in the kid.
As it turned out, he ended up at Minnesota, where he averaged 21.7 points and
10.1 boards per game - and lost 18 times. Had he wanted to be part of
something bigger, he would have come to Duke, where he would have been a huge
part of the team as well, and would have almost certainly have been the
difference in the Final Four. Had he stayed, and if he had had the
opportunity to play with Luol Deng and Shaun Livingston - assuming they both are
here next year - he could have had a great shot at going in two years with two
titles, being part of one of the best teams of all time, and all the marketing leverage that would have provided. As we here
at DBR like to say, there are no salary caps on endorsements.
But he's living his dream, and you can't blame a guy for that. Still,
we wonder how much fun basketball was this winter for Kris. No matter what you're after, or how much money is involved, losing like that just really, really sucks.