5. Christian Laettner
Arguably the best Duke Blue Devil of all time, Christian Laettner made history during the 1992 NCAA Tournament with “The Shot” to beat Kentucky in the tournament final as the buzzer sounded.
After his college career concluded, Laettner was picked by the Timberwolves with the third-overall pick of the 1992 NBA Draft. He was relatively small for a power forward/center during a physical era in the NBA, coming in at 6’-11” but weighing a meager 235 pounds.
Laettner didn’t let that stop him from having a successful NBA career, however. He spent his first four seasons in Minnesota before being traded to the Atlanta Hawks in the middle of the 1995-1996 campaign. In total, he played 13 seasons in the NBA with six different teams.
During Christian Laettner’s time in the Twin Cities, he tallied a total of 299 blocks. Although he was often labeled as a draft bust, he did great things for the Wolves on both sides of the ball, excelling at the fundamentals of basketball.
Laettner wasn’t an overtly flashy player like many of today’s NBA stars, but he did his job well and stuck around the league for 13 years. His physical glass cleaning, polished post work, and hustle on defense led him to average over 16 points per game and seven rebounds per game throughout his tenure with the Timberwolves.
Some of his best seasons, including his lone All-Star nomination, came with the Atlanta Hawks. But 299 blocks over three-plus seasons in Minnesota was enough to slot him fifth on this particular list.