So let me get this straight

[The Sleeper]

I know I could be the best Sports Guy Intern, but I don’t want to bore you with self-congratulating. Instead, I will use this space to talk about my favorite 90s white NBA center of all time: Jon Koncak. My appreciation for Big Jon started back in the early 90s when TBS would play just about every Atlanta Hawks game. Sure TBS was stationed in Atlanta and showed all the Braves games, but the Braves had somewhat of a national fan base, while showing Hawks games piqued almost no one’s interest. However, my NBA obsession compelled me to watch every one of them. Big Jon would lose almost every tip-off, even if he had a few inches on his opponent, but “mad ups” wasn’t what Koncak was in the game for. No, he won over my young budding teenage heart with his impeccable shooting touch. Here was a 7 foot center who insisted on taking 15 foot jumpers every time he got the ball! Looking back on that era through maroon-colored glasses, I feel like Jon Koncak revolutionized the center position. He had the perfect coach in Lenny Wilkens, who was lax enough to let Koncak play like a 7 foot small forward. He let the more menacing Kevin Willis do all the dirty work down low, while Koncak epitomized finesse and grace just inside the 3-point line. In this era, where almost-7-footers like Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Garnett have the skills to play every position, it’s almost easy to forget that the man that paved the way for their interchangeability was a gentle giant from SMU.

At least that’s how I remembered him. But I was about 12 at the time. Surely you had a favorite obscure player during your youth, that you have never forgotten. If you haven’t written a column detailing his exploits with gleeful exaggeration, I encourage you to do so. This was a freeing experience for me and I feel like I can now move on with my life. Now that I’ve finally paid tribute to the Magic Mustang: Jon Koncak.

I was totally robbed