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T H E I N D E P E N D E N T D A I LY AT D U K E U N I V E R S I T Y
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6, 2019 DUKECHRONICLE.COM
ONE HUNDRED AND FOURTEENTH YEAR, ISSUE 45
DUKE’S OTHER COACH K The (Real) The rebranding of Duke women’s basketball’s Kyra Lambert
Good Doctor Duke prof. ensures medical accuracy for hit shows By Ashwin Kulshrestha Staff Reporter
Henry Haggart | Sports Photography Editor Women’s basketball player Kyra Lambert has found a new role for herself off the court.
By Glen Morgenstern Staff Reporter
Buried deep in the core of the Mike Krzyzewski Center— adjacent to Cameron Indoor Stadium and through a set of locked doors—another Coach K is being born. Her name is Kyra Lambert. No, Lambert is not some off-limits protégé, shrouded in secrecy, mentored since birth by a crack squad of Duke Athletics staff to succeed Krzyzewski when he finally calls it quits. Neither is she merely a fondly regarded goldfish lounging in a comfortable tank along with a toy castle and a disproportionately-sized scuba diver in the legendary coach’s office. Rather, Lambert’s nickname serves as an acknowledgement of the third step of her winding path from playing basketball to rehab to coaching, and in a few months, back to playing. “It’s funny how things are going full circle,” Lambert said in an interview last week. Lambert’s journey to the nickname begins with a set of extraordinarily adverse circumstances, which her heavily scarred knees will enthusiastically attest to. Yet, those circumstances have allowed her to flip the traditional court hierarchy on its head—and, come next October, she hopes to use her experience to restore Duke to its former place near the top of the women’s basketball hierarchy. The long road home The origin of Lambert’s coaching career is perhaps a disenchanting one, at least for her. An encouraging sophomore season—in which the former No. 9 recruit recorded 7.8 points and 3.5 assists per game on a team with two future WNBA draftees—was cut short when the point guard went down with a torn left ACL in the Blue Devils’ first-round victory against Hampton in the 2017 NCAA tournament. She spent the entirety of the subsequent season in rehab, and
her return date remained cloudy. Finally, at the Blue/White Scrimmage in October 2018, head coach Joanne P. McCallie entertained the idea of a return sometime in December. So when Lambert went down yet again in a late October 2018 practice with a torn meniscus and ACL in her left knee, the experience extinguished the hopes and expectations built up over a year and rekindled old frustrations. The pain of going through a third major surgery was real and fresh for Lambert and her teammates. “I was there for all of Kyra’s injuries, and each one was just as hard as the first one,” senior guard Faith Suggs said. “It was kind of frustrating for us and for Kyra to see her work so hard and then have another setback.” Like all great stories, there was initial resistance. Lambert did not want to coach after she went down in 2017, choosing instead to focus most of her efforts on rehab and academics. When disaster struck again, she did not repeat her mistakes. Already an acquaintance of the rehab process, she took a practical mental approach to recovery. “I was hoping I wouldn’t be coaching this year… but I try not to feel sorry for myself,” Lambert said. “We have this ‘24-48 hour rule.’ You can feel bad for yourself for 24-48 hours, but after that, you just have to go on with it.” Thus, with McCallie’s endorsement, Lambert began to take over some coaching duties, learning more about the various roles associated with the team. She even learned how to splice videos that go up on the team’s social media pages. It wasn’t long before McCallie dubbed Lambert the ‘Coach K of Duke women’s basketball’ early in the season.
Ever wonder if medicine on television is accurate? It’s professor of neurosurgery Oren Gottfried’s job to make sure it is on shows like “Elementary,” “The Good Doctor” and “Chicago Med.” Gottfried is a professor at the Duke University School of Medicine who not only specializes in spinal diseases, but also serves as a medical consultant for popular television shows. Since 2010, Gottfried said he has been involved with more than 30 different shows. Gottfried said he enjoys the creative outlet that the job provides and the chance to educate viewers. “Some of these shows have ten million people watching them every week, and I think it’s kind of nice to be able to tell a medical story,” Gottfried said. “I feel like I’m not just a professor at Duke, I’m also educating audiences with my knowledge and creativity.” Gottfried first became involved in the field of medical consulting after he was contacted by a School of Medicine graduate who had become involved in producing a new television show in Los Angeles. “I received a phone call in 2010 to help with a pilot script and I found that the work was interesting,” Gottfried explained. “The person who involved me in that project began to involve See GOOD DOCTOR on Page 4
EDITORIAL
Vote Daisy Almonte for DSG President Editorial Board The Chronicle
‘I understand why coaches yell’ The presence of a player-coach can throw a wrench into ordinary team mechanisms. Instead of taking the orders, Lambert now gives them. She must maintain the confidentiality of coaches’ meetings, honestly criticize her teammates and keep her teammates’ trust by withholding their private conversations from the coaching staff.
Every March, right before the start of spring break, Duke undergraduates have the honor of ranking their choice(s) for DSG president. Facebook becomes inundated with campaign photos along with personal and group endorsements as junior DSG candidates seek to curry enough votes to claim the crown of DSG president on March 8th. As the official undergraduate student government at the University, DSG has in the past been criticized for its lack of diversity, poor attendance on the part of elected student representatives and for perpetuating a cut-throat, resume-boosting culture among its members. Criticism aside, the role of DSG president holds with it many responsibilities, including being a representative of student voices and concerns across Duke’s diverse campus community. This year, as always, three very talented and exceptional student leaders compete for election in the race to be DSG president: vice president of academic affairs Saheel Chodavadia, vice president of services and sustainability Liv McKinney and vice president of equity and outreach Daisy Almonte.
See LAMBERT on Page 8
See EDITORIAL on Page 10
Duke receives $50 million for new faculty
Women’s basketball heads to ACC tournament
Column: Your career doesn’t define you
The grant from the Duke Endowment will fund new faculty hires in the sciences. PAGE 3
The Blue Devils will open up against Pittsburgh Wednesday evening in Greensboro. PAGE 8
Sophomore columnist Luke Sallmen argues there is no need to have it all figured out just yet. PAGE 11
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