SCP Auctions Presenting Christian Laettner Collection in January

Christian Laettner and “The Shot” are forever linked in basketball lore.

Depending on one’s loyalty, it was either a miracle or a tragedy. There were 2.1 seconds remaining in overtime in the 1992 NCAA East Regional Final and Duke trailed Kentucky 103-102.  Laettner took a 70-foot inbounds pass from Grant Hill at the top of the key, faked right, turned to the left and dribbled once, and then buried the game-winning shot against Kentucky. That would lead to Duke’s second national title.

That was an unforgettable game. And SCP Auctions is hoping that the Christian Laettner Collection it will be unveiling for its Winter Premier online auction will be just as memorable. More than two dozen lots will cover Laettner’s years at Duke, his time with the 1992 U.S. Men’s Olympic basketball “Dream Team” and his time in the NBA.

Bidding will begin on Jan. 4 and run through Jan. 21.

The highlight of the Laettner collection will be the two Final Four rings he earned during his freshman (1988-89) and sophomore (1989-90) seasons. Both rings will come with their original presentation boxes. Duke reached the Final Four in Laettner’s freshman season, lost in the NCAA title game to UNLV when he was a sophomore and then won the championship game during his junior and senior seasons.

During his senior season, Laettner won every major National Player of the Year award. Three of them will be on the auction block during the Winter Premier—the 1991-92 Street & Smith Exemplary Player of the Year award, presented by the Downtown Athletic Club in New York; his 1992 ESPY award; and a signed 1992 Chevrolet Division I Player of the Year trophy, selected by CBS Sports.

Also up for sale from 1992 will be a signed and inscribed Duke game-worn shooting shirt, photo matched to Senior Night.

Laettner was the only college player selected to compete on the “Dream Team,” and several of his memorabilia from the Americans’ victorious run in Barcelona, Spain, will be in the Winter Premier. One item is a 1992 signed official Molten Barcelona Olympic basketball, adorned with 18 signatures that include all the players and coaches on the U.S. squad. A Spalding basketball from those same Olympics have 16 autographs. Laettner’s warm-up suit from the Olympics also will be for sale, along with a signed Olympic Hall of Fame Class of 2009 trophy he won for being part of the ’92 Dream Team.

Selected No. 3 in the 1992 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves, Laettner played 13 seasons in the pros. His only All-Star appearance came in 1997 with Atlanta; Laettner’s game-worn Hawks uniform also will be part of the SCP auction.

“SCP Auctions is very happy to be unveiling the Christian Laettner Collection in our upcoming Winter Premier,” SCP Auctions president David Kohler said. “He was such a dominating player that we are really excited to see how his memorabilia performs at auction.”

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About Bob D'Angelo

Bob has been a sportswriter and copy editor for more than 35 years and a blogger for a decade. He is celebrating his 50th year of card collecting, and still counts his 1965 Topps Mickey Mantle as his favorite. You can reach him at [email protected].