| Issue date: May 16, 1999
Who's News
A chat with
Christian Laettner
Christian Laettner was pumped
when he talked to me after his first game in weeks since pulling his
Achilles' tendon. Laettner, 29, had high hopes for leading his team
to the NBA play-offs, and with the May 13 blowout win against the
Hawks (ironically, Laettner's old team), the Pistons are back in action.
Q. How did your injury psychologically affect you?
It feels great to be back. You play basketball because you love
it. I really really enjoy it. I get that part of my life back. It
was hard being out. It was especially hard because I got traded
and I was on a new team and wanted to show my stuff right away.
I feel like my Achilles' is fine. I have to remember that everyone
out there has a 20 game head start on me. I have to be patient with
me. I felt like I was extremely lucky with the injury and the lockout
coming [at the same time]. That was a blessing in disguise. It's
going to be a little hard because of the shortened season. I have
to be patient with myself and hopefully get a few games under my
belt.
Q. What's it feel like to be traded?
You just think of it as part of the game. You think, like, they
fell out of love with you or they think someone else is better and
they don't need your services. To never be traded -- that would
be the best way to get through the NBA. That would be the ultimate.
Q. What's your top basketball priority?
It's for me to get back to playing good basketball. I want our
team to make the play-offs and see how deep we can go.
Q. When you were with the Timberwolves, you bought a house
in Minnesota. What happened to it?
In the summer I live in Minnesota. I sold the original house when
I got traded to Atlanta, and a few years later I married a girl
from Minnesota. Her name's Lisa. We have two daughters. She gave
birth a month ago. Her name is Summer Rhae.
Q. How do you relax?
To relax, I spent a lot of time with my family during the lockout.
And I'm very good at relaxing. I sit around and watch TV. I go ice
fishing. In Minnesota in the winter there's not too many things
to do. So I decided to give [ice fishing] a try. They say everyone
falls in at least once (he hasn't fallen in yet).
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