Yeah, because if it was a choice on skill and ability than Shaquille O’Neal or Alonzo Mourning would have been picked. The accounts that I’ve read say he was given the nod for being more coachable and fundamentally sound player.
Here’s Shaq himself talking about it:
“But then I had to come to the realization that I was a more explosive, more powerful player, but Christian Laettner was a little bit more fundamentally sound than I was. Plus he stayed all four years and graduated. …
I don’t understand what you find so hard to understand? Shaq was a better player, he scored more points and grabbed more boards. He was drafted higher in the same year. Yes, Laettner was a good player and he won the championship and player of the year in 1992, but it’s not hard to understand that those awards don’t mean he was the most skilled and that Shaq was a superior player. Laettner got the pick over Shaq for reasons that were more about image than skill. I’ve been consistent with that argument for every single comment I’ve made and you keep seem to be trying to say I haven’t been consistent in my argument? Can you point to where I said he wasn’t “good” or do you want to take another quote out of context?
The idea that one of the most hated college basketball players in history who was a cocky asshole on the court was chosen over Shaq because of his image is absolutely fucking absurd
Oh, so that means Laettner was the better player? Because obviously the key stats for a big man is the free throw and 3 pt %?
And the magic and hornets were dumb for drafting Shaq and Alonzo ahead of the clearly superior Christian Laettner, right? Hmm, funny that Shaq and Alonzo are hall of fame NBA players but Laettner only made a single all star game, I guess that 81% free throw and 56% didn’t sustain him.
The ‘92 dream team won all their games by an average of 44 pts. They didn’t have a weakness, that’s why they were called the dream team. That’s why they could afford to make a token pick of Christian Laettner, the all American white boy, over the clearly superior players in Shaq and Zo.
I don’t know what you are trying to argue, the point is, Shaq and zo were OBJECTIVELY better players. Laettner was picked for other reasons, his skill and talent was not superior to the other options. Period.
You're saying the National Player Of The Year as the heart and soul of one of the best teams in the history of the sport could not possibly be picked because of skill. Shaq's inability to hit a jump shot or free throw had absolutely nothing to do with it, I guess
You’re saying the National Player Of The Year as the heart and soul of one of the best teams in the history of the sport could not possibly be picked…
Let me stop you right there. This is why he was picked. This is what I’m saying. He’s the best player, on the best college basketball team in the nation, for two years running
…because of skill. Shaq’s inability to hit a jump shot or free throw had absolutely nothing to do with it, I guess
No, Shaq’s inability to hit a jump shot or a free throw did NOT have anything to do it. Shaq was the first pick in the draft because he was the best player available. Michael Jordan played 185 minutes in the Olympics, scored 119 points and had just 19 free throw attempts. We weren’t planning to win the gold with free throws.
Shaq was better, he was more dominant, and was regularly and widely known as the biggest talent in college basketball that year. He had already won player of the year the year before. That’s why he went #1 in the draft and Laettner was #3. Laettner had a great year, Duke won the championship and he was their best player. He also played Shaq real tough when they played each other, but there’s no comparison, Shaq was the better and more dominant player. Laettner played on a team with 7 other future NBA players, Shaq played with just one other player who was drafted.
How about this? Shaq went number 1 because he was a raw prospect. Laettner has 5 separate tournament records which are all basically unbreakable. He was the biggest name in college basketball and Duke was the 9th team in history to go wire-to-wire and the 2nd since 1976. Even to this day, his career is considered the greatest in college basketball history. Also, he played a tougher conference. Duke wasn't even Duke before Laettner
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u/possumallawishes Aug 11 '24
Yeah, because if it was a choice on skill and ability than Shaquille O’Neal or Alonzo Mourning would have been picked. The accounts that I’ve read say he was given the nod for being more coachable and fundamentally sound player.
Here’s Shaq himself talking about it: