Christian Laettner

“This is something people don't realize about me, but I can laugh - and laugh at myself.”

“For me, personally, on the inside, the best moment was winning my first championship.”

“Sometimes you've just got to will it into the hoop.”

“It's easier to work hard when you're passionate about what you're doing.”

“I realize everyone has the image and perception that I was the worst person.”

“Being a physical specimen doesn't mean you're any good at playing inside. Positioning, using your head, the mental stuff - that's my game. That's what makes a good inside player.”

“I played some ping pong with the guys on the T'Wolves team. I might have been the champ on that team, too. But ping pong is a big part of my life. I grew up playing it against my brother and my father when I was young. They used to kick my behind for a long time, so I got very good at it.”

“I'm sure I was insensitive. I'm probably still a jerk at times. But my priority as a freshman was to be good in basketball and play a lot. Not to be the nicest person in the world. I was one-track-minded. I still am.”

“I bought into everything Coach K preached to us. His whole philosophy.”

“When you're being interviewed every day, and you're tired, you can make mistakes and say the wrong things, especially when you're young. When you're young, you don't realize everything, and you're a little naive.”

“I had an older brother that would beat me in everything, and then he would rub my nose in it, and that made me work even harder.”

“If you're not a Duke fan, you're not going to like me.”

“People say I'm selfish. There might be some truth to that.”

“I always believed him. If Coach K said the sky will be purple when you get outside, I would have believed him.”

“Basketball is a non-aggressive game. So when emotions are high, there's a very low chance to get angry or yell. So that's why it never happens out there.”

“When you're at home for Duke-Carolina, you have a crowd of close to 10,000 around you, loving you. That's awesome. But it's also a lot of fun in Chapel Hill, where it's you, your teammates and your coaches, and no one else. I enjoyed the games at Chapel Hill a little more because of that.”

“When I went to work with Garinger, they were good kids and a very good team. But they had a nine-game losing streak, and you can see that they were getting down and depressed and not feeling rewards for their efforts. But when I came in there, I didn't need to teach them much about X's and O's.”

“My problem is being brutally honest. People don't like that.”

“I love muskie fishing in the summer time.”

“My senior year was crazy. We were defending champions, we were on national TV just about every weekend, and we were winning. Teams always brought their best when they went up against us, and we always matched it.”