15 best NCAA basketball players we wish played in the Twitter era

6. Best NCAA basketball players before Twitter: Christian Laettner, Duke

Love him, or hate him, the whole world was talking about Christian Laettner for basically the entirety of his basketball career—especially his college days.

Laettner was a tough, gritty player in an age where the grit and grind were all-too-real. Whether it would’ve been extreme love or ridiculously high levels of hatred, if he had played in the Twitter era, he would’ve been an absolute focus of the basketball community. He was, of course, known for being a cocky, dirty player, but his skill was also something well worth mentioning in any discussion of the former Duke Blue Devil.

The 1991-92 NCAA AP Player of the Year, John R. Wooden Award winner and Naismith College Player of the Year winner averaged 16.6 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, and contributed far beyond his stat line, playing in 23 tournament games out of a maximum possible 24 in four years.

Laettner was one of the earliest “big man” types that also came with a great outside shot at the collegiate level, sinking .485 of his shots beyond the arc. Whether or not you like him, Laettner would’ve had the Twitter world buzzing with not just his attitude and dirty play, but also his stellar on-court play.

One thing’s for sure to me, if Laettner’d had a twitter during his collegiate playing days? It would’ve blown up—for one reason or another.