A biography for Christian Laettnerhasn’t been written yet.
“It's hard to live up to the expectations. Besides that, I think I had a very good NBA career, and I'm proud of it. I might not have been an absolute monster, but I thought I did pretty good.”
“I want to see kids go to college more.”
“I was unique and still am unique.”
“When I'm older and my children have grown up, I would like to coach in the NBA.”
“Well, my last year was 04-05 with the Heat, and I relaxed for a few years, and I said, 'Well, what am I going to do?' I've got to do my passion, and my passion is basketball.”
“If you are not a Dukie, and Duke is having a lot of success year after year, you might get tired of it. They might not like your competing personality or competing persona, and if you are not a Dukie, or you don't love Duke or Christian Laettner, then I can understand the hating on me.”
“I used to tell my mother, 'Mom, when they write really flattering things about your son, don't believe it all. And when they write really negative things about your son, don't believe it all.'”
“You earn playing time on the practice floor.”
“I've got a beautiful wife and a beautiful family.”
“I went to Duke, and I stayed at Duke all four years because I wanted as many years under Coach K's tutelage as I could get. I think every year you get with him, the more it's going help you for basketball and life. So I wanted to play for him as long as I could.”
“It's not good to be a hater.”
“I was how I was in college because I had to be. I played angry. I played hard. I stepped on guys' chests, I hit a game-winner against UConn.”
“No one thinks more highly of me than probably myself. I think that's fine.”
“The Olympics in '92, I didn't contribute that much. I had more to do with winning the National Championships than I did the gold medal.”
“The only thing I can control is winning on the basketball court.”
“Anytime the premiere sports channel calls you and says they want to do a movie about you, you're going to say, 'Yes.'”
“For whatever reason, the people that don't appreciate Duke basketball or don't pull for Duke basketball, they have a tendency to vilify one of the players. And a lot of times, it might be a white guy. And has it happened over and over in the past? Yes.”
“You can't cry yourself to sleep every night because people from a distance hate you. So you gotta do with it what you can, and if that means using it as motivation, then that's what you do.”
“All I wanted to do was win. People have to remember that when I came to Duke, they'd started to get a reputation that they can't win the big game. We were aware of that, and we hated it.”
“I did pursue to be a good basketball player.”