Rookie hazing is an age-old NBA practice, just like in many other pro-sports leagues. And one cannot easily escape that, irrespective of the accolades in college basketball. Appearing on an episode of The Rich Eisen Show, 2x NCAA champion Christian Laettner has recollected his time as a rookie in the 1992 US men’s Olympic basketball team (Dream Team). Laettner revealed what he faced from his senior players back then. Especially from Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley, though all in good humor as he claims.

Laettner stated that he faced some hazing during his first practice match. But once the senior players recognized he could take it sportingly, he did not face trouble. “Once they saw that I wasn’t acting like that and I knew my place, I realized that I was a rookie or a freshman, and I was willing to get their donuts and their cigars and pick up their dirty laundry after practice. They treated me just fine,” the Duke legend stated. He further mentioned that Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley were among the players to assign him the most errands.

He further mentioned that Jordan loved to tell him what to do and called him a Dookie. “So they were all having fun with me at my expense. And I loved every second of it,” Christian Laettner expressed. The former Minnesota Timberwolves big recalls it as a memorable experience, something he could live all again for the sake of memories. “There’s so many pictures, you know, in books and photo albums where I’m sitting next to Jordan talking to him, or he’s teasing me about the Duke Carolina rivalry,” he said.

However, the experience is not just happy memories for all the rookie players. There have been multiple instances where rookie hazing got out of hand as well.

Some of the extreme rookie hazing stories from NBA

Rookie hazing in NBA can range from simply getting NBA stars’ laundry to ending up in some unique scenarios. One such story, hanging in there somewhere between good humor and extreme limits, is of Chris Webber and Jason Williams. Webber recollected the story during his appearance on a broadcast for NBA on TNT in 2020. He admitted making J-Will ride in the bus’ undercarriage with luggage from the airport to the team hotel.

However, ‘White Chocolate’ himself did not consider this to be as extreme a story because of what he witnessed with Gordan Giricek at the Memphis Grizzlies. According to Williams, there was an instance of Giricek refusing to bring donuts for the vets even after being asked multiple times. Apparently, Giricek did not consider himself a rookie because of the pro-basketball experience in Croatia and Russia.

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“So at the end of practice they put a bin up…they dumped all that sh*t out there. Duct taped his legs… hands behind his back, butt naked, put him in the laundry bin, filled it up with ice, rolled him into the shower… left his a** there for like three hours bro…,” Jason Williams recollected.

However, the nastiest rookie hazing story was told by Gary Payton on VLAD TV. And it has Shaquille O’Neal written all over it. “If one of the rookies would be in the stall, then he (Shaq) would take a bucket and use the bathroom in it for about a week. And then all of a sudden he would pour it on them, so we started being jokesters,” Payton stated. What is the craziest rookie hazing story you can recollect of hearing? Let us know your favorite one in the comments.

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