Christian Laettner is a power forward/center from Duke University who played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Detroit Pistons, Dallas Mavericks, Washington Wizards, and Miami Heat.
Laettner was born in Angola, New York and went to high school at Nichols School in Buffalo, New York. He went on to star at Duke University, which is located in Durham, North Carolina. After his four years there his number 32 was retired. He made what is considered one of the greatest basketball shots ever in the East Regional Final game in the 1992 NCAA Tournament, cementing a 104-103 win over Kentucky.
Internationally, he played on the 1990 U.S. team that won the bronze medal in the FIBA World Championship, the 1991 Pan American Games that won the bronze medal, and the 1992 U.S. Olympic basketball team (the first "Dream Team") that won the gold medal.
He was drafted in the 1992 NBA Draft 3rd overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves. In his three and a half years with the Wolves he would average 17.2 points per game and 8.1 rebounds per game. On February 22, 1996 he was traded by the Timberwolves with Sean Rooks to the Atlanta Hawks for Andrew Lang and Spud Webb. During the 1996-97 season he played in all 82 regular season games and had a career high 3-point percentage at .352. He missed much of the 1998-99 NBA season due to a torn Achilles tendon. On January 22, 1999 he was traded by the Hawks to the Detroit Pistons for Scot Pollard and a 1999 first round draft pick (Jumaine Jones). His numbers declined after his injury until his retirement, except his free throw percentage, which never went below .763. After the 1998-99 season Christian spent half a year with the Dallas Mavericks, three and a half years with the Washington Wizards, and one final year with the Miami Heat in 2004-05.
He is co-owner of Blue Devil Ventures, a community development company, with Duke Blue Devil alumni Brian Davis and Tom Niemann. Laettner is also a minority owner, along with Davis, of Major League Soccer's D.C. United. He has also purchased a triple A baseball team with Jason Kidd, and Brent, Jon, and Scooter Barry. He is one of the greatest college basketball players ever, but his NBA career did not turn out as successful as many had hoped.
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