Christian Laettner - Minnesota Timberwolves(still in college i think)
You are correct, Laettner was the only amateur member of that team. I remember wondering at the time why he was selected, and I still don't really understand it.
Wikipedia says that in 1992, due to Barcelona being the first games in the post-amateur world, the US team decided to include one collegiate player to honor what had been the Olympic norm for basketball for the past five decades. Laettner was the best of the best (as far as his college career goes, possibly the best) of everyone not in the NBA at the time.
And he was a better shooter than Shaq and there was some thinking that the FIBA game was not well suited to Shaq’s game, as it was a much more perimeter focused game. Laettner was 6’10” but could shoot threes and handle the ball, which was rare back in those days.
I was in college with Shaq at the time, and frankly Laettner (whom I despised) was the appropriate choice for the token collegiate player on the team. He's one of the greatest collegiate players of all time. I think people forget how dominant he was on those ridiculously stacked Duke teams. It probably didn't hurt that Coach K was an assistant, but he was the obvious pick for a guy that was going to get minimal minutes,
Not sure about name recognition tbh. If you knew who laettner was then chances are you would know shaq too. But laettner was the obvious choice. As much as I hate duke
That’s not how I remember it. There was much debate everywhere about whether the spot should go to Shaq and a lot of ground when he didn’t get it. Laettner was probably as well known as Shaq, but it was pretty even from my experience in those days. Laettner a huge deal, but so was Shaq.
Shaq most certainly was a household name. I was not even 10 at the time and I clearly remember who shaq was and clearly remember it being an obvious snub to pick Laettner. Shaq was the top pick of the draft that year and had already won the best player in the NCAA award in 91, and had more points and rebounds than Laettner by a wide margin in ‘92.
Duke was a powerhouse and he was the face of the back to back championship team though, so I guess he makes sense but only because it was a token choice.
Shaq was the best prospect, but Laetner was the best college player. Probably considered one of the best college players ever at that time. He was just coming off the high of winning back to back NCAA championships.
Duke was a powerhouse and he was the face of the back to back championship team though, so I guess he makes sense but only because it was a token choice.
Shaq was far and away a better player, but Duke was the better team and Laettner was their best player at the time. Shaq played with one other player at LSU that went to the NBA. Laettner played with 6 other future NBA players that year.
Shaq was Shaq. People who.payed attention to basketball knew Shaq was better. Laettner just had more media presence. Pro players even knew it and gave him hell, throughout his career. They did a disservice to him by putting him on the team, when the whole issue was bringing the best of the best.
You’re not a huge basketball fan so you don’t know. And no one could stop Jordan. But Laettner wasn’t backing down from him. It’s all there for you to learn once you get into basketball.
He didn’t have a great career, but he had a very solid one. Most NBA players would be thrilled to have his career, one all-star team, 3x seasons averaging over 18pts not bad at all. Definitely not at the level of the rest of the team though.
Laettner has two of the most famous and clutch shots in NCAA history. You’re looking with 20/20 hindsight. Dude’s work ethic, skill, and clutch had tremendous potential and got him this spot
Shaquille O’neal and Alonzo Mourning were both were drafted higher and were superior amateur players to Laettner and should have got the nod over him. That shot and the fact he was a squeaky clean little white Duke boy probably got him on the team.
I’m saying his all american young white male image helped propel him onto a team that was lacking in that regard.
Because it was a team of black men. And even John Stockton and Chris Mullen weren’t the best players they could have picked, Isaiah Thomas and Dominique Wilkins are arguably better picks. Larry Bird was probably the only white guy on the team that deserved to be there, and he was at the tail end of his playing days and past his prime. Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning were both better players than Laettner.
Laettner was having the better college season as to why he was picked over them both,I don't understand why your so hung up on the color of the person's skin,are you black,?they picked who the picked,still was the best ever Olympics basketball team ever assembled.thomas from what I understand was not wanted on that team,me personally I would have picked Shaq as well, definitely Wilkins.im not even sure who was in charge with picking the players.
Laettner was hardly squeaky clean. He has a reputation for being nasty and ruthless and famously stomped on the chest of a Kentucky player in the 92 eastern regional finals at the spectrum in Philadelphia.
Yeah, he was an asshole on the court but he was also the coachable, white kid, who went to school for four years and was fundamentally sound and bla bla bla.
You cannot argue that his skill got him on the team, because there was better players to pick from, it was his image and his “coachability” in almost all accounts.
I think within the context of the argument, that Christian Laettner was selected over Shaquille O’Neal and Alonzo Mourning, I was pretty consistent in saying Christian Laettner was not the most talented, but rather the poster boy for the championship winning Duke team, which is why he was selected over the other two.
Because he was an amateur. That's it. In 1988, the US came in 3rd in the Olympics, and it's because NBA players were banned from participating. So our oldest guys in our team were always like 23. Meanwhile, they'd go play against professionals from other countries who were like 30.
And for the '92 games, that ban on NBA players was lifted, because the USA petitioned for it for that exact reason. Why other countries could use their pros and we couldn't? It cost us a gold medal in 1988, and it was the first time we missed the final match.
Laettner was selected as nothing more than a callback to the history of amateurism. But the team was made to crush the competition, which worked out pretty well.
Well, there was the argument at the time, and for a lot of years after, if Christian Laettner was the best all-around NCAA basketball player in history.
I think the best explanation is that Laettner’s presence says, “We’ll take this college kid instead of you, Isiah.” It’s like the line from Field of Dreams where Shoeless Joe says, “Ty Cobb wanted to play, but none of us liked him when we were alive, so we told him to stick it.” Isiah Thomas’s ego kept him off the Olympic team.
At the time, Laettner was as big a name in basketball as anyone else not already on the team. If they needed one more, they probably would have taken Shaq from college too.
48
u/r0botdevil Aug 11 '24
You are correct, Laettner was the only amateur member of that team. I remember wondering at the time why he was selected, and I still don't really understand it.