WATCH: North Carolina legend Kenny Smith gives heartwarming take on Coach K's career ending

Kenny Smith joined North Carolina back when Mike Krzyzewski was just beginning his ascent at Duke. Fast forward, Smith watched as the Tar Heels sent Krzyzewski home from the 2022 NCAA Tournament in the Final Four, effectively beginning his retirement.

While the jubilation of North Carolina defeating their rivals on the way to the title game was prevalent, Smith was overcome with a myriad of emotions. Afterwards, the Tar Heels legend spoke about what Krzyzewski has meant to the sport of basketball in the state of North Carolina for over four decades.

“As happy as Tar Heel fans are probably around the country, this is a sad day for Carolina basketball,” started Smith. “Because there’s no one, absolutely no one — no team, no university — that can create the type of intensity that was going on here tonight for Coach K. It’s a sad day to see him walk out. First time I’ve kind of removed myself from a Tar Heel, and felt teared up watching him leave. Because of what he means to us. He pushed us to make North Carolina better. Pushed us when we initially pushed him. And then he’s like, we’re chasing Carolina. We’re going to be that. And then he caught us, and surpassed us, honestly. We were like no, we have to get back.

“As Hubert [Davis] said it, subtlety, he said Carolina’s supposed to be in this spotlight. What he really was saying is because Duke is already there all the time, as well. So, I’m going to miss him. I’m going to miss what he’s done for the ACC. But more importantly, what he’s done for Carolina basketball, in all.”

As you can see, the moment is bittersweet for Kenny Smith, due to the immense respect he has for Mike Krzyzewski.

Mike Krzyzewski on Duke after loss in Final Four: ‘This team has been a joy for me to coach’

Moreover, Kenny Smith will be cheering on North Carolina against Kansas, while Duke and their talented roster will be watching from home. Still, the Blue Devils overcame a lot and made it to the Final Four. Due to having a lot of young players, Krzyzewski said that a lot of Duke players were beating themselves up for mistakes in the Final Four loss to UNC. But without those players, the Blue Devils wouldn’t have even been in the position that they were.

“They’re really down,” said Krzyzewski. “Especially younger players. They’ll look at a free throw and say, ‘I lost the game.’ And that’s the other thing. One play does not win or lose a game, don’t beat yourself up. We had our opportunities, they made one more opportunity than us. But don’t beat yourself up because we wouldn’t be here without them. They’ve all done really good things to get us this far.”

“But I love the fact that they feel that bad. We just have to take care of them.”

Ultimately, the goal is to win a national title. Duke might have fallen short of that goal, but Krzyzewski is proud of what his team did accomplish on the run to the Final Four.

“This team has been a joy for me to coach,” Krzyzewski said. “And especially them turning it around in March and to put us in a position where we had a chance to play on Monday. That’s the ultimate goal, to play on Monday and have a chance to win.”