LA Clippers’ North Carolina Ties: The Duke and UNC Rivalry

With the Duke’s journey to Chapel Hill coming up, we take a look at how the greatest college basketball rivalry can divide even the most tight-knit locker rooms on game day.

On one side of the court: Coach K. He is arguably the greatest college basketball mind in the history of the sport. Last season, he took the top spot in all-time wins.

On the other: Roy Williams. He’s an animated Hall-of-Famer and North Carolina Native who is number seven in all-time wins.

The coaching match-up alone is enough to make this rivalry a hot topic of debate and that’s before you get down to the history.

The Facts

The Duke/UNC rivalry was born in 1920 when the Tar Heels claimed an eleven-point victory over the Blue Devils on their home floor. Since then, the biggest game in college sports has had its fair share of history, drama, and “WTF” moments.

The all-time series has weighed, thus far in favor of UNC. The Tar Heels have claimed 134 victories to Duke’s 109.

Both teams have been a consistent source of NBA lottery-bound players since the very beginning. In the last 70 years Duke has produced three #1 picks in Art Heyman, Elton Brand and most recently Kyrie Irving. UNC have only produced two in James Worthy and Brad Daugherty. However, both schools have produced NBA greats, including Michael Jordan, Grant Hill, Vince Carter and Christian Laettner.

Clippers’ North Carolina Players

This is particularly relevant to the current Los Angeles Clippers because four players on the roster have been through it all. As a UNC or Duke basketball player, this is the rivalry that you live and breath, even long after you move on to a professional career.

In fact, due to convenience of their scheduling, several Clippers’ players were able to attend the first match-up this season at Cameron Indoor.