In the NBA, “The Shot” refers to the victorious shot by Michael Jordan on the Cavaliers’ floor, on May 7, 1989, to eliminate Cleveland from the playoffs and remain in legend, with this mythical “hangtime”.
In NCAA, the expression refers to Christian Laettner’s winning shot on March 28, 1992, against Kentucky.
It must be said that everything comes together in this shoot. It’s the March Madness regional final between defending champion Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils and Rick Pitino’s Wildcats. Christian Laettner managed the perfect match (31 points at 10/10 in shooting and 10/10 in free throws) but the two teams had to decide in overtime. Alongside Jamal Mashburn (28 points, 10 rebounds), Sean Woods (21 points, 9 assists) thinks to give victory to Kentucky over the opposing interior, with the board…
There are 2.1 seconds to play, throw-in under the basket. The sequel is well known but still remains as strong in emotions: Grant Hill throws the ball which crosses the entire field and finds Christian Laettner at the level of the free throws of the other half of the field. The most hated man in college basketball has time to dribble, shift and draw. The ball pierces the net, symbol of his perfect match!
In the process, Duke will win the title and Christian Laettner will be able to spin in the NBA, after a short passage by Barcelona to recover Olympic gold as a university guest within the “Dream Team”.
