When the Philadelphia 76ers hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night, it was a normal November matchup for almost everybody involved. For two men, it was much more than a regular-season game.
Cavaliers coach John Beilein is fresh off 12 seasons as head coach for the University of Michigan and he coached Sixers guard Trey Burke for two seasons and the two of them had a lot of success during their time together in Ann Arbor. Burke was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team and he improved on those numbers in a big way in his sophomore season as he was named the Player of the Year in the Big Ten as well as taking home both the Naismith and Wooden Awards.
The Cavs coach had nothing but praise for him:
He’s good. He’s got a great in-between game. He really is a guy who has a lot of courage when he plays, he’s not afraid to make or take the tough shot. He did it so many times for us. This is so unique to be able to do this. I love him, he was the National Player of the Year, a three-star recruit got the Wooden Award, and he’s had a good pro career, but he’s a young guy right now. He still has a lot of good basketball left in him.
Burke has a lot of respect for Beilein as he was the one who really grew and developed him into an NBA player.
I think just the accountability. He held each player accountable, to the same standards, he didn’t treat no one special. He didn’t treat this guy better than that guy or this guy. Everyone was held to the same standard, the same level, of accountability. I think that’s what got the respect from his players and he trusted us, we trusted him as well.
The 2013 NCAA Tournament run was a highlight for both Beilein and Burke during their Michigan careers as they went all the way to the title game before coming up short to Louisville. During the run in the Sweet 16, Michigan trailed the Kansas Jayhawks by 10 with roughly two minutes remaining before the Wolverines went on a run to tie the game with Burke draining one from a few feet behind the three-point line to force overtime to lead them to win.
It was great. It’s still one of the memories that will always be in mind, it’s something that will never fade away. I watch it from time-to-time, I get reminded of it a lot, a lot of people send it to me all the time. Sometimes, you just sit back and you say ‘that was you who did that’ and that was a crazy game. Just being down 10 points with two minutes left, people think those games are over, but you’ve got proof right there that the game is never over until you finish. A lot of lessons to be taken from that game, but it felt great to be a part of it.
Cavs coach John Beilein said Trey Burke is “good, he’s good”. Burke responds to that here. Beilein coaches Burke in college. #Sixers pic.twitter.com/wndt29hdsl
— Ky Carlin (@Ky_Carlin) November 12, 2019
Even with Burke in the NBA, the two of them remained in contact over the years and they speak even more now that Beilein is in the NBA with Cleveland.
We reach out to each other from time-to-time. He’s just as busy as I am now. He was that busy in college so when we get the opportunity to touch base, we do.
With Burke bouncing around from team-to-team, he hopes to find a home in Philadelphia for a long time. [lawrence-related id=19121,19093,19074]