sigh...yahoo, yahoo...tsk,tsk

[Dukeford]

On the current sports front page, yahoo has Laettner listed as the no. 2 biggest NBA bust of all time.

I know we all know this already, but for his first 7 seasons, Laettner averaged 17 points and 8 rebounds per year. Plus, in his 13th season, his salary was 3 times more than his rookie season. So somebody didn't think he was the 2nd worst bust of all time.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Most writers are lauding Indiana for picking Hansbrough, because they say while he won't be a star, he'll have longevity. You could easily say the same thing about Laettner's career. To be fair to Yahoo, they call the Pacer's "losers" for the Psycho T pick.

[dukelifer]

On the current sports front page, yahoo has Laettner listed as the no. 2 biggest NBA bust of all time.

I know we all know this already, but for his first 7 seasons, Laettner averaged 17 points and 8 rebounds per year. Plus, in his 13th season, his salary was 3 times more than his rookie season. So somebody didn't think he was the 2nd worst bust of all time.

That is ridiculous- he was an All Star one year. You cannot be a bust and an All star. Kwame is a bust, Darko is a bust, Frederik Weiss was a bust but Laettner was no bust - no possible way,

[COYS]

That is ridiculous- he was an All Star one year. You cannot be a bust and an All star. Kwame is a bust, Darko is a bust, Frederik Weiss was a bust but Laettner was no bust - no possible way,

Yeah, this is just to get a rise out of people. I guess they just figure that the hype surrounding Christian meant that he should have been Michael Jordan's better-shade-of-blue foil or something. Anything less is silly. Plus, Laettener suffered a few injuries that took away some of his athleticism and he dropped off. Anyway, I wouldn't put to much stock in this.

Now, if hansbrough is out of the league in four years, I wonder what people will say about him? I guess he just wasn't picked high enough to be a bust of epic proportions (and actually, I don't think he'll be out of the league in four years, I'm just speculating.)

[moonpie23]

i, for one, do not think hans will be a bust. I think he's gonna surprise folks...

[miramar]

His career salary was $61,485,000. All of a sudden I want to be a bust too.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...laettch01.html

[-jk]

His career salary was $61,485,000. All of a sudden I want to be a bust too.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...laettch01.html

Let's see:

All-Rookie 92-93
All-Star 96-97

Per game over 13 seasons:
13.3 points
6.9 rebounds
2.7 assists.
47% FG
82% FT

Perhaps he wasn't a perennial all-star, but he certainly wasn't a bust. And never quite the same after the tendon.

-jk

[Billy Dat]

His career salary was $61,485,000. All of a sudden I want to be a bust too.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/...laettch01.html

Thanks for supplying this link...the career earnings info on this site is incredible...I just did a couple of quick searches and the results are mind boggling..

Michael Jordan's career salary earnings were $93MM while Pippen made $109MM...Shaq has made $250MM...Garnett $240MM...at least those guys are all time greats...you'd be astounded by some of the high end outliers...I guess all it takes is one or two horrendous general managers...Tim Thomas - $84MM...Steph Marbury - $130MM...Chris Webber - $176MM. I didn't look up all our guys but Grant seems to have the title at $125MM and counting.

[HaveFunExpectToWin]

I tried to find this article, but all I found was a Forbes article about what big bust Shelden is and Bobby Hurley was. The author then mentions Danny Ferry and JJ and says the Bobcats made a bad pick because Henderson played at Duke.

The list of over-hyped, underachieving Dukies is long, from Danny Ferry in 1989 (No. 2 overall) to Bobby Hurley in 1993 (No. 7) to Williams and J.J. Reddick (No. 3) in 2006.

For some reason, I don't find this argument very compelling.

[Tom B.]

Perhaps he wasn't a perennial all-star, but he certainly wasn't a bust. And never quite the same after the tendon.

So true. Things seemed to be looking up for Laettner before that injury. He had gotten out of Minnesota (where he put up decent numbers, but never really seemed to mesh with the organization) and landed on an Atlanta team that had a good coach (Lenny Wilkens) and looked to be moving in the right direction. He had a great year in 1996-97 and made the All-Star team. Then he blew out his Achilles tendon after the next season, got traded, missed almost an entire year, and was never really the same.

I'll always wish he could've hung on for one more season with Miami at the end of his career. Then he could've retired with an NBA Championship ring, on a team that would have featured the first three players taken in the 1992 NBA Draft (Shaq, Mourning and Laettner).

[Devilsfan]

Hanstravel will capture this distinction soon, imho.

[dukeimac]

I think the interpretation here is what is the meaning of "bust?"

The guys listed appear to be guys who came out of college and were suppose to lead a team or two to an NBA title.

I think Christian was one of those guys coming out of college that many people thought he would lead multiple teams to multiple championship games. I believe that is why they list him as a bust.

Stats or salaries are not an factor here.

[Azdukefan]

If I am reading dukiemac correct, he is saying that based on expectations Laettner was an NBA bust. A few weeks back I made a similar comment and stick to it. While Laettner was undoubtedly the best Dukie ever, he did not meet the expectations he had coming into the association. This is really no knock on him in my mind because I personally value what one does in college over the NBA. Christian was an NCAA great and an average NBA guy. Sometimes the truth hurts.

[Matches]

Now, if hansbrough is out of the league in four years, I wonder what people will say about him?

Won't he be about 48 years old in 4 years? I'm not sure how much longevity one can really have in the NBA if you don't enter the league until your mid-30's.

[sagegrouse]

I think Christian was one of those guys coming out of college that many people thought he would lead multiple teams to multiple championship games. I believe that is why they list him as a bust.

My memory is different from yours. Laettner was drafted THIRD not first, and the pick was actually booed by fans in Minnesota.

If you assume that great players are effective for at least ten years, then that means that at any point in time there are at least 20 #1 and #2 draft picks in the league playing at a high level. Which means, if I do the math and logic correctly, that only one-half of these dudes would win an NBA champioship -- fewer if some (like Shaq) are hogs and win multiple championships, perhaps more if a bunch of #1 and #2 are on the same team. Then why, for goodness sakes, should a #3 pick be assumed "by many people" to "lead multiple teams to multiple championship games."

Jerry West once said that winning NBA championships was often a matter of having multiple number one picks -- not first-rounders, but the best players in the draft. And of course, a couple of his LA Lakers teams had Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and West. And later, as GM, he had Magic and Kareem.

sagegrouse

[dukelifer]

I think the interpretation here is what is the meaning of "bust?"

The guys listed appear to be guys who came out of college and were suppose to lead a team or two to an NBA title.

I think Christian was one of those guys coming out of college that many people thought he would lead multiple teams to multiple championship games. I believe that is why they list him as a bust.

Stats or salaries are not an factor here.

A title? That is a pretty high bar- amazingly high. Lets look at the top picks who played in college since '91 who led their teams to a championship, shall we ?

Larry Johnson- Bust
Shaq- no bust
Webber- bust
Robinson- no bust
Joe Smith - bust
Iverson- bust
Duncan- no bust
Olowokandi- super bust
Brand - bust
Martin- bust
Bogut - bust
Oden - bust
Rose - bust

So only Shaq, Robinson and Duncan were not busts although Robinson had Duncan- so technically he did not lead the team. Pretty high bar. If you put in the high schoolers and non-us guys Kwame Brown, Lebron. Howard, Ming, and Bargnani- they are all busts as well with this bar.

Even if you look at this group

Kwame, Olowokandi, Bargnani, Smith have to be ahead of Laettner -

[Matches]

Robinson only averaged 8 mpg on the '05 Spurs, and that was the only one of their championships for which he was present. He's slightly more important than Adam Morrison was to the '09 Lakers, but not much.

So yeah - pretty sweeping definition of "bust". (It would also mean that Stockton and Malone were pretty big "busts"). Laettner had a nice NBA carrer - he only shows up on lists like this because he played for Duke.

[miramar]

Thanks for supplying this link...the career earnings info on this site is incredible...I just did a couple of quick searches and the results are mind boggling..

Michael Jordan's career salary earnings were $93MM while Pippen made $109MM...Shaq has made $250MM...Garnett $240MM...at least those guys are all time greats...you'd be astounded by some of the high end outliers...I guess all it takes is one or two horrendous general managers...Tim Thomas - $84MM...Steph Marbury - $130MM...Chris Webber - $176MM. I didn't look up all our guys but Grant seems to have the title at $125MM and counting.

On the one hand, these totals make you understand why some of these guys are in such a hurry to get to the NBA. On the other, the good ones are going to make so much money anyway that you would think that some of the more sensible ones (without family cash flow problems, of course) would stay around and enjoy their college experience. I have always thought that, for example, Mike Dunleavy's senior year would be worth more than an extra year in the NBA, but I could be wrong.

[Billy Dat]

On the one hand, these totals make you understand why some of these guys are in such a hurry to get to the NBA. On the other, the good ones are going to make so much money anyway that you would think that some of the more sensible ones (without family cash flow problems, of course) would stay around and enjoy their college experience. I have always thought that, for example, Mike Dunleavy's senior year would be worth more than an extra year in the NBA, but I could be wrong.

The amounts we are talking about are too staggering to take the chance. Even though one would assume that Dunleavy or Gs parents would take care of them financially, you never know. With the threat of anything derailing that paycheck, I can't see how they can be expected to stay. In fact, had McRoberts been smart, he'd have left after 1 year when he was a projected lottery pick with tons of "upside".

[Son of Mojo]

In my battles with my unc fan co-workers, Christian's name always comes up and they love to bring up NBA success (along with other Devils success or struggles). I like to see Devils do well in the league, but I don't live & die on it. Until Christian's injury, he was much better than an average player and had been an all star. He never caught a break in Minnesota; they complained when he scored too much & didn't pass....then he'd start passing & they'd complain he didn't shoot enough--how can you win? He had a good thing in Atlanta but it was hard to get shots when Steve Smith would touch the ball....guy never met a shot he didn't like. After his injury I would say he did fall into the "average" zone but before that he certainly did well on the court.