College basketball has changed dramatically in recent years with NIL and the transfer portal, and the game is going to continue to change. There are some people that are in favor of the changes, but a lot of people think that the sport is being ruined. One of those people is Duke basketball legend Christian Laettner.
Christian Laettner played for the Duke basketball team from 1988-1992 and he is forever a Blue Devils legend. He won two national titles with Duke, and he is responsible for one of the most legendary shots in college basketball history.
The game was very different back when Laettner was a player, and he isn't a fan of the recent changes to college basketball.
“You know everyone says the horse is out of the barn and I’m here to tell you that everything’s going wrong,” Laettner said during an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show.” NIL, take it away. Transfer portal, take it away. Expanding the stupid tournament, take it away. You have to make it feel special, you have to make people earn their spot to get in the tournament. I know everything is about money, and money makes the world go round, but everything they’re doing is wrong.”
If NIL was a thing when Laettner was a player at Duke, he probably would've raked in a lot of cash as he was one of the best players in the game. However, he says that he wouldn't have asked for NIL money because the NBA is where the money comes into play.
“No, even though everyone says, ‘boy Christian, you would’ve made a lot of money if NIL was going on when you were there.' That’s what the NBA is for,” Laettner added. “That's why there’s guys in the NBA making $50 million a year. That’s what you train and work hard for, and the payoff comes at the end.”
Christian Laettner explains why he was a better fit for the USA Olympic Dream Team than Shaq
While Laettner was on the show, he also discussed the USA Olympic Dream Team that he was a part of. A player that was not part of that team was Shaquille O'Neal, and Laettner explained why he was a better fit than Shaq.
“It would have been harder for Shaq or Alonzo Mourning to be on that team because, maybe you’ve got to throw the ball to Shaq a little more, and maybe Shaq doesn’t accept his role as willingly as I did,” Laettner said. “I was a very good rookie, I knew my role, I loved the fact that when the media came in, no one came to me and wanted to talk to me. And after practice I would just go pick up the balls and put them in the racks, and pick up everyone’s dirty towel and get ready for the next practice.”
It sounds like it doesn't have much to do with who the better player was, but really more along the lines of Laettner not having any issue with his role. Perhaps Shaq would've wanted more.
Follow Us
Subscribe