Christian Laettner

Laettner was born in Angola, New York to a blue-collar Catholic family. Although the Laettner name was German, his father George was of Polish descent. George had attended a Polish-American school, and his grandparents spoke Polish as their first language. The young Christian and his brother frequently worked as farm laborers to supplement their allowance.

Laettner attended Nichols School, where he played high school basketball. Although he received a financial aid package that paid a substantial part of his tuition at the exclusive prep school, his family had to sacrifice to send him there, and he also did janitorial work at the school to defray some of the cost. According to ESPN.com columnist Gene Wojciechowski, He was, in all probability, the poorest student at the school and almost certainly the only one whose parents ordered his clothes from the Sears catalog, which was the one place they could find pants that fit his growing frame. Read Less

Footage of Laettner's buzzer beater shot is frequently included in televised montages depicting college basketball and the NCAA tournament; in 2003 it was used in a nationally televised commercial by Allstate. In 2009 Laettner appeared in a commercial for Vitamin Water, again replaying the shot with a Vitamin Water bottle; the ad also features Rick Pitino, who was the coach at Kentucky in 1992. In the game as a whole, Laettner made ten of ten shots from the field and ten of ten from the free throw line. His performance in the game as a whole earned him a 1993 ESPY Award for "Outstanding Performance Under Pressure," and the shot in particular received the 1993 ESPY for "College Basketball Play of the Year." Laettner also received the 1993 ESPY for "Outstanding College Basketball Performer of the Year." The shot was also named the most memorable basketball shot of all-time (including the NBA, college, and high school) by The Best Damn Sports Show Period in 2007 and the fifth most unforgettable sports moment of all-time across all sports in 2006. Read Less