Duke University basketball legend Christian Laettner faces bankruptcy after several creditors collectively owed $14 million filed an involuntary chapter 7 petition against him last week, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The nature of Laettner’s debts weren’t described in the eight-page petition filed on Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Durham, N.C. A 2012 story in the Wall Street Journal noted that Laettner and his business partner in several real estate deals faced civil lawsuits seeking repayment of loans valued at about $30 million, including to sports celebrities such as former Chicago Bull Scottie Pippen, who played with Laettner on the 1992 Olympic men’s basketball team. Under bankruptcy-court rules, Laettner has 21 days to respond to the involuntary petition. His lawyer, Hassan Zavareei, said that the involuntary bankruptcy is related to the West Village real estate development in Durham, N.C., a downtown project that dwindled during the economic recession. The involuntary petition stems from two creditors who are fighting to recover money from the project and that Laettner plans to negotiate a deal that will lead the chapter 7 filing to be dismissed, he said.
