Joey Payeur
Christian Laettner took the recommendation of a training staff employee from his first professional team more than 20 years ago—and has never regretted it.
The Duke Blue Devils’ basketball legend, 13-year NBA veteran, and 1992 Olympic gold-medalist will put on a two-day hoops camp for youth and adults at Pegamigaabo School on Big Grassy First Nation on May 30-31.
It may seem to be a strange union between the two-time NCAA champion originally from Angola, N.Y. and a Northwestern Ontario reserve off the beaten path.
But Laettner said his connection with the area spans more than two decades—thanks to a suggestion made by strength and conditioning coach Sol Brandys of the Minnesota Timberwolves, who selected Laettner third overall in the 1992 NBA draft.
“Sol said to me he thought I would like musky fishing, and he took me up to the Lake of the Woods area where he had a cabin and I fell in love with the area,” said the 45-year-old, who is a member of both the U.S. Olympic and Naismith Basketball Halls of Fame.
“I’m a country boy myself and I’ve been going up there for 20 years, at least three or four times a year, and been getting to know the people,” Laettner noted.
Two years ago, Laettner met Big Grassy resident Randy Morrison, who works as a guide at an area resort.
Morrison got to know Laettner well after taking him and his kids on an extended guiding trip, and began exchanging calls and text messages with him.
“Randy asked if I would be willing to do a basketball camp up there—something I had been hoping to do for the last five years,” said Laettner, who has run camps in International Falls, Bemidji, and Baudette in recent years.
“We’ve been working on it for the last six months to get it done and we’ve got the weekend all planned out.”
For someone who has played in virtually every major U.S. city throughout his college stint and NBA career, Laettner’s small-town roots is the overriding factor when it comes to visiting places like Big Grassy.
“I love working in small communities where they don’t get a chance to see or be coached by a player like me,” noted Laettner, who runs the Christian Laettner Basketball Academy and does about 30 weekend camps per year, along with two or three week-long camps in the summer in both the U.S. and Canada
“They have never had an NBA player visit and I’m going to be the first one,” he remarked.
“That was a very big attraction to me.
“I want to give back to the area and the community . . . people in the area have been treating me great and they always helped me achieve my goal, which is to catch muskys,” added Laettner, who counts Julius (“Dr. J”) Erving, Larry Bird, and Earvin “Magic” Johnson as his childhoold basketball influences.
“One way to give back is to show the kids in the area some of the basketball skills I’ve learned over the years.”
Laettner also hopes parents who attend to watch their kids take some valuable lessons with them when they leave.
“I want them to see players that are respectful and listen and pay attention,” he said.
“Then I tell the parents to go home and, if they need to wear a whistle around their neck and blow it, I give them permission to do that.
“I tell them that when they go home to hold the kids accountable,” he added. “Get your breakfast. Brush your teeth. Catch the bus.
“The parents only should have to say it once.”
Laettner was the Blue Devils’ top scoring threat during their 1991 and 1992 championship seasons.
He was thrilled to see his alma mater scale the mountain once again to win this year’s national title in Indianapolis, where he was on hand for Duke’s march to victory.
“I’m so proud of the kids there, and proud of ‘Coach K’ [Mike Krzyzewski] for the things he can do and the success he continues to have,” lauded Laettner.
“I was there 25 years ago and he was a great coach, and he has got better over the years, which is a testament to how great a coach he is.”
Krzyzewski is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA men’s basketball history with 1,018 victories. He also has five national championships since beginning at Duke in 1980.
“The thing I remember the most about playing for ‘Coach K’ is he does a great job of making you feeling important, feel loved, and feel like you’re part of the family,” Laettner recalled.
“Once he’s got you feeling that way, he is always very good at holding you accountable and describing rules you need to follow to be successful.
“We had a lot of success there with going to four-straight Final Fours and winning two titles,” he added.
Laettner was named the U.S. national college player of the year in 1992—the same season he delivered “The Shot” against the Kentucky Wildcats in the NCAA East Regional final that will live forever in the annals of basketball history.
With 2.1 seconds left in overtime, teammate Grant Hill threw a long pass from behind Duke’s baseline all the way to Laettner at the foul line in the Wildcats’ end of the floor.
Laettner caught the ball, dribbled once, spun around, and hit nothing but net to give Duke a 104-103 victory.
“I get asked about ‘The Shot’ almost every day,” admitted Laettner.
“My memory of ‘The Shot’ is that only happens on a very good team with a very good coach if you work hard your whole life, and you’ve got to throw a little luck in there.”
Laettner, who still holds the NCAA tournament record for most points scored (407), was the only college player to be selected to the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball squad for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
Nicknamed “The Dream Team” with the likes of Bird, Johnson, Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, and Karl Malone on the roster, the squad annihilated the opposition in taking the gold medal, with its lowest margin of victory in six games being 38 points.
“I was very lucky and blessed to be on the team,” said Laettner, who laughed when asked if he needles former NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal that the Blue Devil got the roster nod over the former L.A. Lakers’ centre who was playing for the Lousiana State University Tigers that year.
“I don’t remind Shaq because he’s much bigger and stronger than me,” chuckled Laettner, who remains one of the most controversial sports figures of the past generation.
That point was highlighted by the release in February of a documentary entitled “I Hate Christian Laettner,” which ran on ESPN’s “30 for 30” program.
“They asked me if I wanted to do a movie about me and I said ‘yes,’” he recounted.
“They didn’t tell me the title until we were about six months into it and then they told me they were calling it ‘I Hate Christian Laettner.’
“I wasn’t totally comfortable with that at first,” he admitted. “It was pretty odd to be the subject of something called that.
“But I took it in stride and I trusted the movie’s director, Rory Karpf, and he put out a great piece,” Laettner remarked.
“I was flattered and honoured, and it was good to see the positive response the movie for me.
“My parents loved it and my family loved it,” he noted.
Laettner’s camp at Big Grassy will include sessions each day at 11 a.m. (for ages six-nine), 12:30 p.m. (10-13), and 2:30 p.m. (14-18).
There also will be at least one session for adults, which will take place May 31 at 9:30 a.m. (a session may be added on May 30 if there is enough interest).
Cost for each day’s session for youth is $40 or $70 for both days.
The adult session costs $40.
Those wanting to register can visit Laettner’s website for his academy (www.theclba.com) to sign up or may do so at Pegamigaabo School on the morning of each session.
More information will be available on the event’s Facebook page, entitled “Christian Laettner/Morson area basketball camp,” which should be operational this week.
