Neither naiveté nor denial will make a growing Duke basketball problem simply go away — nor will blaming a star freshman with one-and-done intentions for being extra cautious.
The early-season precautions in 2016-17 were not ideal for that team’s success. Neither was last season’s sudden decision from Cam Reddish not to play a do-or-die game. Same goes for the coaches’ decision to have Zion Williamson sit out a few more games than “Twitter doctors” expected.
Skip to the present. Don’t blame an individual 17-year-old for peeking at all the mock drafts listing his name as a lottery pick or for replaying Kevin Durant’s gruesome injury at the NBA Finals last month — you know, the same ruptured Achilles tendon that even some of the most promising careers don’t survive.