I think Christian has gotten a bad rap. He's not that bad of a guy. If a Dad wants to play hoops with his son ie spend time with him then that is a good Dad.
@@shaunr5450 his numbers were trash 🗑 compare to what they was hoping he would be stop it..he never lived up to his expectations u know it and I know it skip bayless voice....lol
His performance against Kentucky is arguably the best performance in NCAA basketball history. 10-10 FG, 10-10 FT and game winning shot to send Duke to the Final Four and eventually winning NCAA tournament.
"I prefer to play basketball with my son, then show him old stuff." I hope he gets into coaching proper. There is a man that loves the game, and cherishes his son.
Tbh it was between shaq, jim jackson, herald miner, and laettner. Laettner had more success in college then probably any college player. His ego was also a better fit because they would not have let any rookie play.
This guy is pretty humble. Can’t imagine what it would feel like to even spend 5 minutes a game with the legends. I mean the dream team roster was bananas. I would have just sat there with my mouth hanging open the entire time
He owns 2 of the most iconic/clutch game winning shots in NCAA history, Four Final Fours, Back2Back National Champions, Player of The Year, multi dimensional player...why wouldn’t he be picked for The Dream Team!? Late was a beast in college! And you don’t have a 13 year NBA career if your a bust
The shot against UK was more a result of bad defense by Kentucky than Christian's talent. If Kentucky had fronted Laettner and pressured the inbounds pass they would have won. Laetners success in college was more of a result of system and coaching than his talent. Christian's NBA career went relatively unnoticed, while the rest of the Dream Team are in the Hall of Fame.
I think he's MATURED into a genuinely nice and humble guy. I remember hearing and reading various stories about him as a younger player and guy and apparently he was often a bit of a chad with a gambling habit. Hopefully, he's now as nice as he seems here.
Sometimes you just stop growing too. In 7th grade, I was 6’1. I was 2-3 inches taller than the next tallest person. Everyone figured Id be 6’6 or so. Whatta ya know? Never grew another damn inch. Of course Im not short, but I dont consider myself tall either. It is pretty sweet being tall.
Doctors told me I would be around 6’4 when I was a kid and I’m 6’4 at 23 (though I haven’t looked at my height in a min so I might be a inch or 2 up) it’s pretty easy to tell if a kid will be tall, looking back all the kids that were around my height are also tall, obviously there are exceptions to the rule but the majority of tall kids will be tall adults
With the college landscape at the time, he was the right choice. Sure , other college players from his era had better pro careers. But he had the best college success at the time
@@Louie406 The NBA wanted to market him, but look what he did in the league. NOTHING....He was an average player. Now if he was black, they would say he was a BUST.
Johnny Dawkins made me a Duke fan at 5. Christian Laettner and Grant Hill kept me a Duke fan at 11/12. And nothing has changed. Still a die hard supporter. Been through all of the heartache and heartbreak. Which makes the big wins and championships when they do happen so much sweeter.
This guy got so much shade sent his way, I fine him humble and easy to listen to. Arguably the best college player of all time and he was not a bad pro.
I hated Duke, Hurley, Hill, you name a Duke player I hated them, Laettner beat dam near all my college teams in his career, no way in hell Duke was winning...guess what happened, Duke would win and Laettner numbers, why cant my team stop Laettner???frustrating just thinking about it...
@@LOUDsigh OP is saying that something about the experience makes him not enjoy the fact he owns a gold medal. He didn't sound proud of it, or interested in talking about it at all. He sounded kind of sad, if you ask me.
Exactly man . Poor guy feels like he didnt earn it, and that its not "Really his " to show off (is what I take from his resistance to talk about it or show people )
@@seansimms8503 I was a Duke fan as a kid... I had no idea people hated then so much .. I also liked Michigan and UNLV.. after Leitner, Hurley.. my favorite players were Larry Johnson.. and Jimmy King (im.born and raised in Dallas).. also liked Dante Callebria .. and yes STACK SHEED I cant imagine a fan of college bball not loving watching whoever in the early 90s.
The reason Christian was chosen over Shaq was because the dream team already had Patrick Ewing and David Robinson and, like Christian alluded to himself, Shaq's presence would have cut into their playing time.
Laettner is talking about the "triple threat position", which is a fundamental part of basketball that was drilled into me as well. Meaning when you catch the ball initially, rather than dribble, assume a postion where you can pass, shoot, OR dribble. Good stuff.
This is coming from a Kentucky fan. Christian Laettner is the greatest college basketball player I have ever seen. He shot 100% from the floor in that 1992 Regional against UK. And that game winner. Respect. I can't see why a lot of fans can't let go of that hate. It's been 30 years guys.
Being in the right nba organization is so important. He had the skillset that everyone looks for in today's game. He'd have more nba success then he did in the 90s
Leattner deserved it over Shaq. Shaq was way better when they got to the NBA but Laettner was definitely a better college player. Dude won 2 NCAA tournaments and took it to a bunch of great players that were studs in NBA.
Shaq was clearly the best coming out of College. Using your logic, Laettner should have been the #1 pick over Shaq. Shaq was clearly the franchise changing player coming out. This was now a pro Olympic team, so using the same criteria you would in the draft makes sense. Laettner I think nailed it when he mentioned they needed a guy who wouldn’t get much playing time and would understand it.
@@Johnny-xj5qu Pro teams knew Shaq had HOFer potential, which is why he was the 1st pick. But Laettner was def a better college player. He might be one of the top college players of alltime. Same reason why Duncan went 1st over Van Horn, even though KVH was a better college player. Teams knew he had the better chance to a be a better pro. There are a ton of other examples of this too.
GastonGross Laettners college career came down to making one shot. Shaq and c Webb were no question more dominant that Laettner at the college level. They just did not have the buzzer beating shot.
Blank Name I agree...outside of his 2 tourney most outstanding player awards, 2 NCAA championships, Naismith Award, 4x all ACC tourney awards, wooden award, 2 all American awards...all he had was 1 shot 🙄
@@teehuanharvey3520 Nope. Per 36 minutes played: Pts: Laettner 21.9, Duncan 17.0, Ewing 17.9, Sampson 19.7, D Robinson 25.7 Assists: Laettner 2.4, Duncan 2.3, Ewing 1.0, Sampson 1.4, D Robinson 0.8 Rebounds: Laettner 10.2, Duncan 12.6, Ewing 10.8, Sampson 13.4, D Robinson 12.6 Definitely in the mix with some all-time great college bigs. To say otherwise is just a low basketball IQ.
You can really sense that he felt like he didn't deserve the gold medal. He played well in college. He had a decent NBA run. The media really portrayed him as a bust...
He didn't play well in college, he was one of the greatest college players of all time. He didn't have a decent NBA run, he had a good NBA career. I doubt very much he feels like he didn't deserve the gold medal. He played well in his minutes for the Dream Team.
It happened because you were the best collegiate player that year and they chose to keep a spot open for the amateurs that had composed the teams for years.
@@jamman5610 lmao I love Shaq but this is 100% true. He can't even give proper respect to Barkley who is one of the best power forwards ever lol. I honestly almost died of shock when Shaq said Giannis can be Superman now lol
He did say he was just along for the ride. He didn't demand any minutes(of course). He knew he was going to be at the end of the bench. He was still chosen to be part of it. Would anybody decline that?
Yeah, but even the 12th guy off the bench gets a ring in the NBA, and they contribute other ways. Like encouraging their teammates or pretending to be the opponent.
Was 11 years old living in Las Vegas when he led the huge upset over UNLV in ‘91. Never thought I’d say it, but I’m starting to like this guy. Haven’t come around to liking Hurley yet though!
Christian has a better college career than any of the other members, but yeah, what was he going to do, bump his chest and ask for the ball, he played his part, picked up a gold medal. Then end.
@@teehuanharvey3520 I mean if you compared him to, let say Barkley who shared the same position as him, of course he is weaker Even Stockton maybe stronger than him at that time After all, he's a college player and duh, college players definitely doesn't have the same workout intensity like NBA players Let alone NBA players who has been playing in top flight for like more than 5 years
CL is a straight shooting guy. He understood his role and went along for a magical ride. Famously, the pick up games before the Games, he was sidelined, but that wasn't disrespect that was respecting the name players who were all HoF, top 75. Glad he isn't sour
As a lifelong Kentucky citizen, and a die-hard member of BBN, I'm going to "be respectful and follow the community guidelines" by keeping my mouth shut.
Same. But unfortunately he actually seems like he matured into a decent humble guy. That’s as nice a thing as I can ever say about him lol. The sports hate is eternal.
Think of it this way: David Robinson single-handedly carried Navy to a 30-5 record and an Elite Eight appearance during the 1985-86 season. At Georgetown, Patrick Ewing appeared in three national championship games, winning one of them. Meanwhile, in 1989-90 Shaq played alongside Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (then known as Chris Jackson), an All-American who averaged 27.8 per game, as well as Stanley Roberts, who played 15 seasons in the NBA. And yet LSU couldn't even make it out of the second round of the NCAA tournament. The point is, college Shaq wasn't able to carry his team the way the others did.
Shaq was good, but raw. They had to choose a college player, Laettner was definitely more polished, but we all knew Shaq was going to be great. They chose the safe choice, a guy that would play the rookie like he did.
ruffgook his status at the college level was equal to the dreams team guys status at the nba level. he certainly was not as good, but they wanted a college player and they should take the national player of the year
The guy literally said he never expected to be included in the Dream Team, or was deserving. He knew he would never play. So you people hating are just salty he got chosen? People are sad man.
He knew he didn't win that gold meddle. He was there because the politics of the selection committee was required to put a collegiate player on the roster. It was the equivalent to affirmative action and he knew it.
I give Laettner credit for mentioning Shaq who people knew was already a more dominant player. But he's right that Shaq probably would've commanded more playing time than he did
Yeah and he would've had a big problem with MJ and Magic who would not tolerate anything from him. Shaq's ego would've ruined that team most likely and disrupted their chemistry, just to try to make it about himself.
When he said "my son did something the other day that let me know he is getting it". I so wanted to hear him say "he stepped in an opponent wearing a Kentucky jersey"
Shaq should've been selected over him. I have no problem with him getting chosen I just thought shaq shouldve gotten the nod. Im glad CL acknowledges the reason he was likely chosen over Shaq.
1992 was the last year where Christian Laettner was more popular and well known than Shaq. Laettner was the household name and Shaq wasnt. Now its the opposite.
No, he should not. Stop looking at Shaq's nba career and look back at the moment the team was being assembled. It would've made no sense to pick Shaq over him. None.
I remember arguing with my uncle that Shaq should have been chosen over Laettner. Ill never forget when he said, "All Shaq can do is dunk!" Thirty years later, its pretty sweet knowing I was right as a kid, and he was wrong as a professional high school sports coach.
