Candidate describes rival as 'the Christian Laettner of Kentucky politics'

A Kentucky gubernatorial debate on live radio turned vicious on Wednesday when one candidate called a rival the most loathsome name imaginable to hoops fans in the state.

James Comer described fellow Republican candidate Hal Heiner as "the Christian Laettner of Kentucky politics."

The jab was the culmination of verbal sparring between the two candidates over an article that appeared in the Louisville Courier-Journal on Tuesday alleging that Comer had assaulted a woman he dated while the two were enrolled at Western Kentucky in the 1990s. Comer flatly denied the accusations and accused the Heiner campaign of being behind them.

The Laettner reference was timely since the debate aired on Kentucky Sports Radio, a popular statewide show with a heavy emphasis on Kentucky basketball.

Laettner became one of the most hated men in the state of Kentucky during the 1992 East Regional finals when his iconic buzzer-beating jump shot enabled Duke to oust a beloved Wildcats team. Big Blue Nation hasn't forgotten Laettner's 31 points on 10-for-10 shooting from the field and the free-throw line, nor has it forgiven the way he intentionally stepped on the chest of Aminu Timberlake underneath the basket during that game.

Word of Comer's zinger reached Laettner on social media, but the former Duke star had a clever retort of his own.

Well done, Christian, but it's probably good Heiner didn't respond with that one liner during the debate. A generation of Kentucky fans may never have forgiven him.

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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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