In the early 1990s, due to FIBA (FIBA) changed the competition rules, professional players began to be allowed to participate in international basketball events. The famous Dream Team came into being. Among the players, only one was not a NBA player. The remaining 11 players were all top players in the league led by Jordan, Magic, and Bird. The only non-professional player was Christian Leitner . The protagonist of this article was still a college student at that time.
As we all know, the Dream Team emerged from nowhere and showed terrifying dominance at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Not only were there no losses in 8 games, but they also led their opponents by an average of 43.8 points per game. Chuck Daly, the head coach of the Dream Team at the time, did not even call a timeout in the entire game. Although Leitner all played as a substitute, being able to enter the dream team with superstars is an affirmation of his strength, and it also proves that he has already become famous in college.
Family Background
was born on August 17, 1969 in Angola, New York, USA. His father (George Lightner) is a printing factory worker, and his mother (Bonnie Lightner) is a teacher. Due to his modest family background, he and his brother learned to work odd jobs on nearby farms since childhood to earn some pocket money to subsidize the family's living expenses. In high school, he attended Nichols High School, a local private school. Although he received a partial scholarship because of his excellent academic performance, he still worked as a part-time janitor at the school. On the school basketball team in high school, he not only led the team to two state championships, but also broke the school record with 2,000 points in personal scoring, attracting the attention of many prestigious schools.
Created the legend of NCAA
in college. In 1988, among the olive branches offered by many colleges and universities, Leitner chose the traditional prestigious school Duke University. At this time, the 19-year-old has reached 2.1 meters tall and weighs 105 kilograms, allowing him to play center and power forward positions with ease in the NCAA league. Coupled with the guidance of legendary coach "Old K" Mike Krzyzewski , his skills became even more proficient. In just 20 games during his freshman season, he was promoted to the starting lineup. Although he only averaged 17 minutes of playing time per game, he scored 8.9 points and 4.7 rebounds. His field goal percentage was as high as 72.3%, breaking Duke University's single-season field goal percentage record in one fell swoop. In his freshman season,
led the team to the semi-finals and finally finished third in the NCAA League. In his sophomore season, he led the team all the way to the NCAA finals, but unfortunately lost and finished second. In his junior season, he reached the final again and defeated University of Kansas , successfully bringing Duke University its first championship in school history. Leitner was successfully elected to the Final Four MOP.
The senior season can be said to be Laettner's most fruitful year. Not only did he lead the team to the NCAA Final Four for a historic four consecutive years, he also successfully led the team to defend the championship. He personally won awards, such as the "ESPY Best College Basketball Player Award", "Best College Player in America", "Wooden Award", "Nai Smith Award" and a series of personal awards. It is also worth mentioning that he scored a buzzer-beater in the Elite Eight, which is still talked about to this day.
In the 1/8 finals of the 1992 NCAA, the defending champion Duke University faced last season's third place Kentucky Wildcats . With 7 minutes left in the game, Duke University still held a 10-point advantage, and then its opponent launched a 12:2 counterattack. The two sides tied at 93:93 and returned to the same starting line. In the end, the two sides failed to decide the winner within regular time and had to enter overtime. The game went until the final moment. With Sean Woods of the Wildcats hitting a mid-range hit, Duke fell behind by one point 102-103. At this time, there are only 2.1 seconds left in the game, and the team still has to serve from the bottom line of the backcourt. This is almost a dead end. However, Laettner created the impossible. After receiving Grant Hill's pass across the court, he made a decisive shot and successfully killed the opponent.
In the entire four years of college, he scored a total of 2,460 points (second in school history); 1,149 rebounds (second in school history); 243 steals (fourth in school history); 145 blocks (fifth in school history) ); field goal percentage of 57.4% ranks fourth in school history; especially three-pointers are as high as 48.4% (first in school history). When graduated from college, he not only received a degree in sociology from Duke University, but his alma mater also held a retirement ceremony for his No. 32 jersey in order to thank him for his contribution.
A career that started high but started low
He participated in the NBA draft in 1992, although he was selected for the Dream Team, compared to O'Neal. When he participated in the draft, O'Neal overtook him. The Magic selected O'Neal with the No. 1 pick, the Charlotte Hornets selected Alonzo Mourning with the second pick, and Laettner was selected with the third pick. Drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Facts have proved that the rankings of this draft are still high-level, and the first two picks are indeed better than him.
Compared with the brilliant achievements of the NCAA, it is very appropriate for Christian Laettner's NBA career to start high and go low. In the 13 seasons of playing in the NBA, he has been changed to 6 teams. He has played for Timberwolves , Hawks, Pistons , Mavericks , Wizards and Heat , an average of almost two years. It's time to change the team.
For a new team that only joined the NBA in 1989, the Timberwolves have only spent three years in the league, and they are still an out-and-out team. Therefore, the team has high hopes for the arrival of this young prospect, especially after seeing his explosion in the second game of his rookie season. In 35 minutes of playing time, made 11 of 17 shots and scored 26 points, 14 rebounds and 4 assists with a shooting rate of 64.7%. averaged 18.2 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.3 steals and 1 block per game throughout the season, and was successfully selected to the All-Rookie First Team. The performance is not bad for a rookie, and the team began to focus on training with him as the core. However, in the following seasons, Laettner could never surpass his rookie season, and the team's record did not improve at all. So after the Timberwolves selected Kevin Garnett in 1995, they decisively sent him to atlanta .
The Eagles ushered in a short second spring.
After coming to Atlanta, he was under the guidance of "Thousand Wins Coach" Wilkens in the 1996-97 season. Not only did he have the best game of his career, on December 26, 1996, he scored 37 points and 14 rebounds in 39 minutes, successfully defeating the defending champion Bulls. This season he once again averaged 18.1 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, and was successfully selected to the All-Star Game for the only time in his career. At the same time, he helped the team achieve a good result of 56 wins and 26 losses, and successfully entered the playoffs . Unfortunately, they were eliminated after encountering the invincible Bulls in the second round.
In the following seasons, he was never able to perform at the level he should have. Coupled with the recurrence of injuries from time to time, his competitive status continued to decline. Although he was later recruited by basketball god Michael Jordan, it still ended dismally. After coming to Miami in the 2004-05 season and teaming up with fellow draftees O'Neal and Mourning to no avail, Laettner announced his retirement at the end of the season and sadly withdrew from the NBA stage.
