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Grant Hill Says People Hate Duke Because of 'Good White Players'

Olympic Gold medalist Christian Laettner was the target of fans' aggression when he played for the Blue Devils.

Duke University is no doubt one of the most hated teams in college basketball. With four NCAA championships, the Blue Jays attracted many haters because they kept on winning. However, Duke alumnus and retired NBA star Grant Hill says he knows why people really hate Duke.

According to Hill, whose four-year tenure at Duke from 1990-1994 includes two NCAA titles, the reason for all the hate boils down to racism. “We've had a lot of really good white players," Hill said. "I think that plays a role."

(Photo: Rick Stewart/Getty Images)

Back in the '90s when Hill was helping the Blue Devils achieve one of the best four-year records since the John Wooden-led UCLA teams of the mid-1970s, the Blue Devils were led by Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley -- the two white stars of the team. Laettner and Hurley felt the wrath of their haters despite Laettner being one of four players to play in four consecutive Final Fours and the only college player selected to the U.S. national team or the “Dream Team” of 1992.

"The funny thing is, I've played with Bobby Hurley and Christian Laettner, and they were despised when we went on the road," Hill said, "but you look in the crowd, nothing but white students at the game. So it was white-on-white hate. I don't understand that."

(Photo: Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

More than two decades later, the Blue Jays are still abhorred by many, but not so much for their “good white players,” but because this is their third consecutive year bowing out in an early round.  
Projected 2014 top NBA draft pick Jabari Parker, a Duke freshman, and the Blue Jays couldn’t hold off the Mercer Bears on Friday. Duke, the No. 3 seed, had their NCAA tourney cut short after the No. 14 seed won 78-71.

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