Duke oriented we might add
We’ll be honest and admit that we have never been big fans of Jalen Rose. He was part of the Fab Five, and Planet Duke was never impressed with the barky young Michigan pups.
More recently he spoke on the Fab Five documentary about his dislike for Duke. Despite the fact that we never much cared for him we felt for him when he talked about growing up without his father, former NBA star Jimmy Walker, and how he was in some ways jealous of Duke’s culture. In particular he had an issue with Grant Hill and his life of privilege with another famous athlete for a father (former Dallas Cowboy Calvin Hill) who stayed with him his entire life.
It was a pretty human, vulnerable moment and it’s hard to dislike someone when they’re emotionally out there.
So it was a bit interesting to hear him interview NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on his new podcast, Renaissance Man.
After the NBA stuff, which is interesting, Rose asked some light personal questions including who his favorite Duke player was.
After saying that he was fond of Gene Banks and Mike Gminski who were on campus in his early days at Duke, he also pointed to...”Grant Hill,” who he described as “one of his bosses” (Hill is a part owner of the Atlanta Hawks).
Obviously Rose was professional and charming - he almost always is - but on some level you imagine he wanted to slap his forehead and say “not again!”
