Christian Laettner
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Christian Donald Laettner (born August 17, 1969 in Angola, New York) is a professional basketball player with the NBA. He has played for five different teams in the NBA, and he was a member of the Dream Team of the 1992 Summer Olympics. He was a member of the 1991 and 1992 NCAA champions, the Duke University Blue Devils.
College Career
He is perhaps best known for his game-winning last-second shot in Duke's dramatic 104-103 victory over Kentucky in the East regional final of the 1992 NCAA Tournament. Also of note is that in the same game, he shot 10-for-10 from the floor, and 10-for-10 from the free-throw line.
His number 32 was retired by Duke in 1992. His jersey was the sixth of eleven jerseys retired by Duke as of March 31, 2004. He averaged 16.6 points and 7.7 rebounds per game at Duke, and is the all-time 3-point shooting percentage leader at Duke at 48.5%.
Professional Career
Laettner was a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Atlanta Hawks, the Detroit Pistons, the Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, Golden State Warriors, and currently the Miami Heat in the NBA. Although he was an All Star in 1997, many believe Laettner has not lived up to the high expectations placed on him when he came out of college. Currently he is a reserve center/forward with the Heat, often substituting for starting center Shaquille O'Neal.
References
- Laettner's Duke University Statistics (http://www.dukeupdate.com/Legends/laettner.html)
| 1992 Olympic Champions Men's Basketball – "Dream Team" |
| Charles Barkley | Larry Bird | Clyde Drexler | Patrick Ewing | Magic Johnson | Michael Jordan | Christian Laettner | Karl Malone | Chris Mullin | Scottie Pippen | David Robinson | John Stockton |
| Coach Chuck Daly |
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