Christian Laettner led Duke to four Final Four appearances and to the 1991 and '92 national championships.
Laettner routinely got the better of future NBA stars, and he made one of college basketball's most memorable shots when he propelled the Blue Devils to a 104-103 overtime victory over Kentucky in the 1992 NCAA tournament's East Regional final. He also collected his share of enemies along the way, which director Rory Karpf chronicles in tonight's ESPN "30 for 30" series titled "I Hate Christian Laettner."
Karpf was a guest this past week on "Press Row" on ESPN 105.1 FM.
In this March 28, 1992, file photo, Duke's Christian Laettner runs down the court after making the last second, game-winning shot to defeat Kentucky 104-103 in overtime of the East Regional Final of the NCAA college basketball tournament in Philadelphia.
Miami Heat's Christian Laettner scores two of his game-high 23 points during the third quarter against the Chicago Bulls on Friday, Dec. 3, 2004, in Chicago. Miami won the game 105-81.Q: Michigan's hatred for Duke was evident in "The Fab Five," so is this sort of a "30 for 30" spinoff?
A: "The 'Fab Five' film was very popular. It re-aired quite a bit, and there was a lot of buzz about that section of the film where they talked about Duke and Christian Laettner. Another thing was that Grantland.com did a poll of the most hated college basketball players in recent history, and Christian Laettner won it hands down.
"ESPN was interested in exploring why he was so hated and why certain athletes become so hated."
Q: After directing this, what about his college accomplishments amaze you the most?
A: "We just don't see players stay in school for four years and dominate like he did. He was synonymous with that program and outplayed players like Alonzo Mourning and Shaquille O'Neal, and all of his NCAA tournament stats still exist. I don't know that they'll ever be broken."
Q: So who hates him the most?
A: "It's an equal opportunity crowd. Everybody hates this guy. His own teammates didn't like him. His opponents didn't like him. He really ushered in Duke being a hated program, because people forget that before he got there, Duke and Mike Krzyzewski had a reputation of getting to the big game but always losing.
"When Christian got there, there became a perception to where the school was elitist and arrogant and entitled. All that came in with Christian and kind of stayed there."
Q: Why did his pro career pale to what he did at Duke?
A: "Christian was on the (Minnesota) Timberwolves, and he lost more in his first season than he had lost in his entire life before that. That was difficult for him, but then he went to the Atlanta Hawks and did pretty well until he blew out his Achilles' (tendon). He missed a whole year, and when he came back he was never really the same.
"He played 13 seasons in the NBA and actually has surprisingly good numbers, but he was never that dominant player. If he had not been injured, I think he could have been a pretty good player."
Q: There was speculation that Laettner and Duke teammate Brian Davis had a homosexual relationship. Does the film delve into that?
A: "It sure does, and it goes into another reason of why he was so disliked -- his looks. A lot of girls liked Christian, and the most derogatory thing you could say back then was that he was gay. Homophobic rhetoric was very prevalent in sports arenas back then, and we have footage of Christian at an LSU game where homophobic slurs are being chanted by the whole arena.
"It's actually kind of shocking to watch now. We go into that, and the thing about Christian is that he doesn't care what other people think. He never would outwardly deny it, which helped perpetuate things, and we bring up the fact that he and his teammate would hold hands on campus. He got a kick out of letting people think he was gay."
Q: You also directed "The Book of Manning," where Archie Manning comes across as one of the great fathers of all time. It's hard to find a fault with Archie, isn't it?
A: "It's all an act. The guy is really a jerk. I'm just kidding. He's a good guy, and they've actually adopted me as the fourth Manning. I love that family, and I still talk to Archie and Olivia.
"Archie has been through the ringer these last two years having a number of surgeries, but they are a great family. It was a privilege to be able to work on that film."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.