MIAMI, September 15 - The Miami HEAT announced today that they have signed free agent forward/center Christian Laettner. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Laettner, entering his 13th NBA Season, has averaged 13.3 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.08 steals in 30.6 minutes per game during the course of his career with five NBA teams. He has also appeared in 32 playoff games and one NBA All-Star Game. In 48 games with the Washington Wizards last season, Laettner averaged 5.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 20.5 minutes per game.
A 6'11", 245-pound forward/center, Laettner was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round (3rd pick) of the 1992 NBA Draft. In his rookie season, he was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team. Halfway through his fourth season, Laettner was traded to the Atlanta Hawks where he spent the next two-plus seasons. He was then traded to the Detroit Pistons, Dallas Mavericks and Washington Wizards over the course of six seasons. In June 2004, he was traded back to the Dallas Mavericks, who then dealt him to the Golden State Warriors. He was waived by the Warriors and became a free agent on September 9, 2004.
After four years at Duke University, Laettner was the lone rookie on the 1992 gold-medal-winning U.S. Olympic basketball team. He was also a member of the 1991 and 1992 NCAA Division 1 Championship teams and was named The Sporting News College Player of the Year in 1992. In the 1991 Tournament, he was named Most Outstanding Player. Laettner also won the Naismith Award (1992), the Wooden Award (1992), and was named to The Sporting News All-America First team in 1992, Second Team in 1991 and Third Team in 1990.