Christian Laettner is one of the greatest players in college basketball history, but many kids today have no idea who he was.
Laettner, who won two NCAA championships with Duke and was a member of the Dream Team with Michael Jordan, now spends most of his time working at the Christian Laettner Basketball Academy.
Laettner, 54, returned to the Nichols School in Buffalo, N.Y., this summer for his first training camp since 2019.
The Covid-19 pandemic put Leitner’s plans for 2020, 2021 and 2022 on hold.
Although he was the school’s most famous graduate and one of the most famous basketball players of his generation, many participants had no idea who he was.
“The kids didn’t know, especially Monday morning they didn’t know,” Lightner told The Buffalo News.
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“But by Tuesday morning, they knew. They were probably like, ‘Mom, dad, who the hell is this old guy?’
“You can tell parents sit them down after dinner, turn on YouTube and show them something.
“Then you realize the power of it.
“Tuesday morning, they’ll probably pay a little more attention… We’ll all be taking pictures when camp ends Thursday morning.”
Laettner, who has a 13-year NBA career, said he’s a little anxious when he gets the recognition now.
But he’s happier than improving the skills of the kids he teaches at camp.
“I worked with a kid in Jacksonville named Sean who was 13 years old,” Laettner said.
“He wasn’t a very good player, but now he’s 16. Now, he’s doing things on the field and you think, ‘Wait a minute, I taught him this.'”
“Any time you see a kid succeed, doing exactly what you taught them, it’s so rewarding.
“It’s like, ‘I taught them that!’ It’s unbelievable.
“This situation is exactly the same.”