Nearly six decades ago, Mike Krzyzewski and Jim Valvano wanted to beat each other on the basketball court as players. Today, Coach K is doing everything he can to beat what took Jimmy V way too early.
Valvano, of course, died of cancer in 1993, yet it was his speech at the ESPY Awards, just weeks before succumbing to the disease, that kick-started what has become perhaps the most notable cancer research fund in the world.
That speech occurred over 31 years ago, and today, the longtime Duke head coach is a board member of The V Foundation.
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Mike Krzyzewski hosted a Jimmy V Foundation event in his hometown of Chicago last month. (Jimmy V Foundation)
“Jimmy and I, obviously, were competitors when he was playing at Rutgers and I was at West Point. … We both came down to North Carolina together. We were not close friends, we were competitors. Once he got out of coaching and into broadcasting, we became good friends, and when he was diagnosed with cancer, we became brothers,” Krzyzewski said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital.
“He had an amazing vision to try to beat cancer, because his was incurable. So 31 years later, I’m still on the V team. The V Foundation has raised over $350 million, and it’s morphed into billions of dollars of research. It’s magical.”
Last month, Krzyzewski hosted a Jimmy V event in his hometown of Chicago that raised more than $2 million, which was a full-circle moment for the 77-year-old. It also hit home even more as both Coach K’s mother and brother died of cancer.
North Carolina State coach Jim Valvano, center with fist raised, celebrates after the team’s win over Houston to win the NCAA men’s college basketball tournament championship in Albuquerque, N.M., April 4, 1983. (AP Photo)
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“It’s something we need to build on. It was a magical two days. Good food, good wine, and really developed a mood, a really positive attitude mood, from everyone there. They were all really happy to be a part of the occasion,” Krzyzewski said.
Jimmy V’s legendary “Don’t give up, don’t ever give up” is just as powerful now as it was when he first said those words, ignoring a flashing button that told him he had roughly a minute left to speak on the stage.
But because the disease still exists, and despite the millions of dollars invested, Coach K owes it to his old friend to do what he can to eventually knock cancer out.
Mike Krzyzewski (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
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“The thing that keeps my passion is that cancer is still here, and it impacts over 2 million people in our country in some way. We’re finding cures, we are winning, we just haven’t won the whole game. This works,” Coach K said.
“When something works in a game, you keep running that play.”
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