I am not a fan of Mike Krzyzewski, the basketball coach at Duke University who apparently will retire following the 2021-22 season, but only after an adulation tour. My dislike I am sure surprises no one.

But what might surprise a few is that I used to be a fan, although closeted so I could attend reunions of family and best friends. I have always had an appreciation for excellence, and there is no question that Coach K is a great basketball coach, perhaps the GOAT.

I say that fully aware of the accomplishments of John Wooden, and understand that 10 is twice five. But Wooden was racking up his championships when a conference crown advanced his UCLA Bruins to the Sweet Sixteen, just four wins from the title, and came when the number of true contenders could be counted on a single hand. K’s five all came after a much longer path, often flush with landmines.

So what changed for me with K? It’s not that the 74-year-old’s hair remains jet black and mine is mostly absent, the stubborn strands graying.

It’s not even that K has coached the only college program that can match UNC’s record since 1980, when he was named the Blue Devils head coach, with five national titles each and K possessing a 49-48 record against my Tar Heels. Did you ever notice that in those highlight reels spotlighting the greatest rivalry in sports it’s always the players in Carolina blue who have blood on their face? At least none were tripped.

K has piled up 1,170 victories, the most ever and by a bunch. He could have four more, but that would have come with 15 additional losses, the Blue Devils’ record when K exited early during a disastrous 1994-95 season, claiming a bad back and exhaustion. K petitioned the NCAA to pin those losses on Pete Gaudet, his assistant coach at the time, and that remains an early eye-opener when it comes to K’s narcissism.

No, I am not a fan because I don’t think K is a good person, which is apart from his coaching ability.

The evidence is abundant, although largely ignored by a fawning media.

He is a bully, once terrorizing staffers of The Chronicle, Duke’s student newspaper, because the coverage was too negative.

He once got busted lying about what he said during a post-game lecture he put on Oregon player Dillon Brooks after Brooks sinned by leading the Ducks to a win over the Blue Devils in the NCAA tournament.

K is profane, noted for dropping F-bombs while working the sidelines during a game, time spent mostly badgering the referees. I am far from a prude, but how hard is it not to scream curse words for two hours when children and television microphones are nearby? Remember when a reporter asked him about his salty language? Me neither.

He is the chief architect of “The Flop,” the practice of a defender feigning significant contact and falling to the floor like he has been shot in an effort to get a charging call, a stain on a great game. It was rewarded for years, but way too late has fallen out of favor with the referees, especially in the NBA.

Coach K is near the top for highest paid coaches in sports, pulling in north of $9 million a year, a salary that was built not only by his winning, but by his penchant for flirting with the NBA and in a very public manner. The NBA would call, K would sequester and reappear with a raise. That was his prerogative, but it’s fair to point out the extortion of a university that gave him a chance and stuck with him in the early years when the losses were piling up.

Coach K is also a sell-out, years ago abandoning the notion that players are on campus for an education first, and to play basketball in between classes. He adopted the Kentucky model, building a team of one-and-doners, which effectively fastened loyal and veteran members of the program to the bench, and leading many to transfer. It was a win-at-all-expense approach, one that has not been rewarded as recent Blue Devils teams not only didn’t embrace that hand-slapping-the-floor defense that K was once famous for, but have taken a spectator approach when an opposing player drives the lane.

K’s impending Victory Tour is another example, and it was easy to forecast. Dean Smith and Roy Williams retired suddenly and unexpectedly, doing so with a smidgen of fanfare. K has decided on gluttony and will feed his ego for almost an entire year.

I have only cleared my throat on this, but will end it here knowing some dark-blue blood is boiling. These aren’t, by the way, nitpicks in dispute, but are wide-open windows into Coach K’s true character.

I know some will believe this to be unfair, but being a good guy isn’t that hard, especially when you are being paid millions to coach a game and there really isn’t anything left to prove. But K fans can take comfort knowing these words will be vanquished like a gnat in a hurricane by the slobber fest that has commenced and will continue for long after Coach K hurls his final expletive and walks off the court a last time.

I need to stock up on Dramamine.