Retired Players I Loved To Watch #11 (When he was playing for the Wasington Wizards and let his hair and bread grow out, he looked like Jesus)

Christian Laettner

I'm very surprised to admit this, but yeah, I kind of, sort of, loved watching Laettner play.

All common reason dictates I should've hated the guy -- his style of play was relatively boring and unaesthetic, mostly limited to playing below the rim because of a lack of any inherent athleticism, burst, or leaping ability. He failed to live up to expectations; he had one of the greatest college careers of all-time, was the only collegiate player selected to play on the original Dream Team, and was selected directly after Shaq and Zo in the 1992 draft. And of course, he played for Duke. That's enough reason to hate anyone.

But still, I think any basketball purist, anyone who really loves the game, has to begrudgingly respect how Laettner played the game. He played like someone who first picked up a basketball not just because he happened to be the tallest kid in class, but because he sincerely appreciated all of the minute details and nuances of the game. You can see it every time he checks into a game -- the fluidity, the high awareness, the confidence, the efficiency. These were the trademarks of a player who spent countless hours on a blacktop, perfecting his craft, chasing down his own rebounds to the point of exhaustion. He couldn't out-run or out-jump or out-muscle anyone in the pros, but after studying for four years under a guru like Coach K at Duke, he was capable of out-thinking most opponents, and that cerebral edge carried him a long way. He always knew how to be at the perfect place at the perfect time; he knew the exact time to set a screen (not too early as to draw a moving foul on himself, not too late to miss the defender entirely); the exact time to pass out of the double team and to the back door cutter (he was so patient, waiting for the second defender to clear, then used his great court vision and perfect accuracy to pick up the easy assist underneath the basket); the exact time to pick and pop (after setting the screen for a teammate the first handful of times, his defender will invariably start to cheat and sag off him to help out with the ball-handler, but this is exactly when Laettner will step back and drill the elbow jumper...and his form was flawless, so it always went in).

His lack of natural athleticism held him back from the start, and once he blew out his Achilles tendon and started having lower back problems, his stats started to dip and he began his descent into becoming just a bit player. But I think the most impressive thing about his career was that despite never being a freakish physical specimen, he was always capable of manipulating everything around him to constantly put himself into a position of advantage. Basically, he knew how to work a room, or more accurately, a basketball court. There's a lot to be said about playing smart.

And as far as I'm concerned, that miracle last-second shot he hit against Kentucky was just as good any other game-winning shot I've ever seen, every bit as good as the one Jordan made over Bryon Russel against the Jazz in the Finals.

Christian Laettner's career statistics