Mike Dunleavy, Jr. came into the NBA in 2002 with a wealth of burdens.
The first one is the one he has had since he was born and named. Being the son of Mike Dunleavy, a former NBA player and current head coach, automatically put a host of expectations on him. Some people expected him to be as good as his son, while other people believed him to be trading on his name.
The second one is the stigma of failures players from Duke have had. Danny Ferry, Christian Laettner and Bobby Hurley all failed to meet the lofty expectations people had carved for them after amazing college careers. Grant Hill was a player that had found incredible NBA success, but after a host of injuries, the Duke curse lives on in many people's eyes.
The third and most important one was Dunleavy, Jr's 3rd place in the NBA draft, following Yao Ming and Duke teammate Jason Williams. When a player is drafted at that spot, teams expects the player to develop into a franchise caliber talent.
In his first two years Dunleavy, Jr. has shown flashes of brilliance, but has definitely had his share of struggles.
"Mike kind of reminds me of Dirk," says Eduardo Najera, referring to Nowitzki, his former Mavs' teammate. "I had a chance to see Dirk as he just started to find his way after struggling early, and I think that's where Mike is."