If you were looking to field a team of self-righteous jerks, look no further than the Duke Blue Devils. Dating back to the Coach K era, the squad’s been defined by guys that look like Adam Levine but walk and talk like the frat president that’ll do a keg stand—but also study hard so their law firm job doesn’t look like a straight nepotism hire.
While mid-2010s stereotypes dictated that each Duke roster would be loaded with arrogant, white boy shooters who couldn’t dunk, they’ve evolved with the times. These days, Duke recruits everyone from white, John Wick-level snipers to once-in-a-lifetime athletes like Zion Williamson and iso killers like Jayson Tatum. But one thing that hasn’t changed is the aura—that appearance of military discipline combined with understated arrogance. The unspoken, “We’re Duke—we’re just better than you” mentality emanating from players and fans makes them the perfect target for a Shaq-sized middle finger.
The institution helps maintain that annoyance, but it’s the players that sustain the legacy. These are the Most Annoying Duke Players of the Last Decade.
Cameron and Cayden Boozer
Years Played: 2025-26
Some Duke players are annoying because they’re outwardly arrogant and good. Some because they’re simply too good and, in some way, embody the school’s tradition of blue-blood elitism. Cameron Boozer and his twin brother, Cayden, are the latter. On one hand, their pops is former NBA All Star Carlos Boozer, who helped Duke win a national championship a quarter century ago. With that connection, from the moment it became clear that Cam and Cayden were basketball phenoms, any recruiting news felt like unnecessary plot filler: these two were always going to Duke. They did, and as if Cam destroying everyone every night wasn’t enough, Cayden’s also become a crucial member of the rotation and is quite possibly also headed to the NBA lottery next year. Between Duke’s institutional blue blood, Cam and Cayden’s genetic blue blood, and Duke’s dominance, it’s all just … a lot.—Peter A. Berry
Luke Kennard
Years Played: 2015-2017
If they looked more alike, you might say Luke Kennard was JJ Redick’s nearly as annoying little brother. In his two-year Duke stay, Kennard assumed Redick’s mantle as an irrepressible white shooter with average athleticism and zero conscience; he was going to shoot your team out of the gym and look like a smarmy frat bro while doing it. When you throw in his foul-baiting and his general, “I’m gonna give it my all” aura, you’re looking at a human pet peeve.—Peter A. Berry
Kyle Filipowski
Years Played: 2022-2024
Kyle Filipowski was a double double guy at Duke, but narratively, it always felt like he was more concerned with being the proverbial bad guy than anything else. You could hear him complain no matter where you sat in Cameron Indoor Stadium. He admittedly loved taunting University of North Carolina fans, and players on your favorite team. And he would be busting your ass. With his demonstrative complaints, mid-game corruption, and metronomically consistent production, he was the designated “guy you love to hate.” And hate we did.—Peter A. Berry
Cam Reddish
Years Played: 2018-19
There was a time when Cam Reddish was considered a better prospect than Zion Williamson. That didn’t last too long. After all, less than 14 points per game on 36% shooting from the floor isn’t just underachieving; it’s inefficient. When you put up those numbers alongside the other two best players in your recruiting class; it’s a cosmic injustice. Reddish managed all that in his 36 games as a Dukie, and his physical abilities only made the matter more agitating: His length and fluid athleticism could make him look like Paul George, which only made it more frustrating when he finished the season as a chucker who took possessions away from Zion and R.J. Barrett.—Peter A. Berry
Jalen Johnson
Years Played: 2020-21
So here’s the thing: at Duke, Jalen Johnson was solid. On the court he wasn’t a problem. The issue is that he was barely on the court. After playing 13 games with the Blue Devils, Johnson cited injury woes as a reason to bounce from the team midseason. Coach K outwardly condoned the decision, but that doesn’t change the fact that Johnson’s absence doomed any chance of a late season surge; even if they were 8-8, the idea of a star player leaving a team in need for draft prep is a hard one to swallow. It’s the type of thing that gets even more annoying as he played in his first NBA All-Star game this season.—Peter A. Berry
Gerald Henderson, Jr.
Years Played: 2006-2009
Henderson probably wouldn’t have appeared on this list of Duke players, if not for one fateful night back in March 2007 when he decided to bust North Carolina star Tyler Hansbrough’s nose on a hard foul at the end of a game. Henderson was simply frustrated and appeared to get caught up in the moment. But that moment lingered with him for the next two years and made many people—especially those in Chapel Hill—hate him.
Brian Zoubek
Years Played: 2006-2010
Zoubek seemed like a nice enough guy during his time at Duke. He never developed into a spectacular player, but he was serviceable enough and won a national title with the team in 2010. He also went on to run a (now-defunct) cream puff shop in New Jersey after a back injury forced him to give up his pro basketball dreams. None of this would suggest Zoubek was that annoying, but he apparently annoyed enough people to get his own "I Hate Brian Zoubek" Facebook page.
Ryan Kelly
Years Played: 2009-2013
Kelly is another guy you might not automatically classify as annoying. But the fact that he stayed at Duke for four seasons and gradually got better each and every year got on some ACC fans’ nerves. He was clumped in with all of the other annoying white guys who came up through the Duke program, even though he didn’t necessarily have the same attributes as some of the other prominent Duke players. One UNC hater even had to invent a reason to hate Kelly by critiquing him for his "complete lack of a chin." That seems like a stretch, but it goes to show you just how far people will go to find reasons to hate on Duke.
Miles, Mason, and Marshall Plumlee
Years Played: 2008-2016
How’s that old saying go? Familiarity breeds contempt? That was definitely at play here. In reality, the Plumlee brothers were able to make it through eight years without causing any major controversies at Duke that would rile up opposing fan bases. But the fact they hung around for eight years with one Plumlee after another showing up on campus in Raleigh was enough to annoy even the most tolerant ACC fans. The Plumlee era just…wouldn’t…end.
Kyle Singler
Years Played: 2007-2011
Singler once apologized for Duke not coming out with the right attitude during a game against lowly Presbyterian that the Blue Devils won by 31 points. He very well may have been right, but it’s that overconfident, arrogant, and sometimes even smug approach to basketball is the reason so many people root against Duke once March comes around.
Jon Scheyer
Years Played: 2006-2010
Scheyer was a little like J.J. Redick—without all of the things that made J.J. Redick one of the most annoying Duke players ever. Scheyer didn’t usually show opponents up. He didn’t taunt opposing crowds. He didn’t pull off crazy celebrations every time he made a three. He just played ball. But he had this annoying habit of making what fans called the "Scheyer Face" every time he shot, passed, dribbled, or did anything else on the court, and it drove Duke haters insane. As Coach K’s hand-picked successor, he’s now deploying the “Scheyer Face” from the sidelines.
Austin Rivers
Years Played: 2011-2012
When nepo baby Austin Rivers announced his jersey number at Duke he did so in the most Duke (i.e. annoying) way. Rivers explained that he was changing his number to 0 to reflect his self-given nickname: Subzero. Why Subzero? “Because my moves freeze people, got ice in my veins,” he explained in a tweet.
Greg Paulus
Years Played: 2005-2009
Remember when people used to get so mad at Duke players for trying to take charges? Long before everyone else started doing it, Duke players were notorious for trying to step into the lane to take a charge. And no one tried it more often than Paulus.
Grayson Allen
Years Played: 2014-2018
Consider this: Back in late 2016, GQ put out a piece called "Grayson Allen Is Already the Most Annoying Player in Duke History" after he got suspended for tripping an opposing player. And that was before he tried to trip someone again, before he appeared to shove an opposing coach, and before he used his butt to knock a North Carolina player to the ground. If he was "already the most annoying player in Duke history" back then, what is he now?
