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Toyota Throwback Thursday | Christian Laettner Brings Us Through 'The Shot'

Christian Laettner is widely regarded as one of the best college basketball players to ever play. 

The accolades are endless, but more than anything, Laettner is known for “The Shot.” 

In the 1992 NCAA Tournament, Laettner and the Duke Blue Devils were defending the NCAA Championship. That came into jeopardy in the East Regional Final in Philadelphia against the Kentucky Wildcats, another college basketball blueblood.  

Duke trailed 103-102 in overtime with just 2.1 seconds left. Duke had to go down the length of the court and score.  

If you’re a fan of basketball history, you know how this went. Grant Hill threw the inbound pass the length of the court to hit Laettner. Laettner faked right, dribbled and hit a fadeaway at the buzzer to give the Blue Devils a 104-103 to advance to the last remaining four teams in the tournament. 

Laettner finished with a game-high 31 points to go with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Remarkably, Laettner shot a perfect 10-for-10 from the field, 9-for-9 from the free-throw line and 1-for-1 from the free-throw line. 

Laettner talked to our John Focke earlier this season and broke down the play. 

“The first thing (Coach K) said to us was that we can win the game,” Laettner said. “I always believed him. If Coach K said the sky will be purple when you get outside, I would have believed him.” 

“I remember Coach K saying ‘Grant, can you throw a good pass?’ And Grant said, ‘Yes.’ And then ‘Christian, can you catch the ball?’ He didn’t say ‘Christian can you make the shot and make us win?’ because that’s too big of a goal,” Laettner continued. “Coach K was very good at the psychology of the game, so he got verbal acknowledgment from Grant Hill out lout in front of everyone, ‘Yeah, I can make the pass.’ . . . Just to get us thinking in some positive ways really was a huge psychological thing.”

Laettner finished with a game-high 31 points to go with seven rebounds, three assists and two steals. Remarkably, Laettner shot a perfect 10-for-10 from the field, 9-for-9 from the free-throw line and 1-for-1 from the free-throw line.

Duke would go onto the win the championship that year, beating Michigan 71-51 in the final game.