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"I Hate Christian Laettner" film prompts apology from former Duke star

/ CBS News

Christian Laettner apologizes for 1992 stomp on player's chest

Before Christian Laettner hit "the shot" that propelled Duke over Kentucky in the 1992 NCAA East Regional Final, he delivered "the kick" to Wildcat forward Aminu Timberlake.


The blatant stomp on Timberlake's chest only served to fuel the ire of all the fans who despised Laettner, the cocky star who led the Blue Devils to four consecutive Final Fours and two national titles. ESPN chronicled that animosity Sunday night when it aired the "30 for 30" documentary called, appropriately, "I Hate Christian Laettner."

But rather than snubbing the film, Laettner, now 45, embraced it, live-tweeting throughout the documentary with equal parts humor and contrition. More than two decades after kicking Timberlake, Laettner apologized:

For his part, Timberlake said he wasn't going to "hold his breath" for the apology but said he appreciated it:

Laettner was busy on Twitter throughout the airing of the documentary, chatting with fans and commenting on his hair:



It seems like the documentary actually converted a few haters to admirers:

First published on March 16, 2015 / 1:48 PM EDT

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