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Was it Jon Koncak's big contract that influenced Shaquille O'Neal to play basketball?
Was it Jon Koncak’s six-year, $13.2 million deal that helped shift Shaquille O’Neal away from the dangers of football, with its Dan Patrick-sized free safeties, and influence him to fully commit to basketball? To hear Shaq tell it, it was Koncak’s “15 million for three years” (actually, again, $13.2 million for six years) deal that pushed the big fella over the edge as a youth.
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Even though, as you’ll read … probably not.
Koncak (who ironically ended his playing career starting alongside Shaq in the final three games of the 1996 Eastern Conference finals) was widely derided for the deal he agreed to with the Atlanta Hawks, but he was a solid enough player and the largesse of the contract had more to do with market elements than it did the Hawks wildly overrating their backup center.
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Listen to Shaq tell it, on the Dan Patrick Show, via Business Insider:
For those that can’t listen, the transcription, also via Cork Gaines at Business Insider:
"I actually started out playing football," O'Neal told Patrick. "I was a hell of a tight end. As you know, I have wonderful hands, my hands are impeccable, and I like to punish people. But then a guy your size, hit me in my knee one day, I was all bummed out, and my dream came true. I was sitting on the couch and Jon Koncak signs for $15 million for three years. I was thinking, 'If I can make $5 million doing the basketball thing, I think I am going to switch up now ... true story."
Well, we’ve heard a lot of “true stories” from very rich people this month, so why not add another?
As Business Insider notes, Koncak signed his contract late in the 1989 offseason after much haggling, as Koncak was a restricted free agent. The Detroit Pistons, fresh off of losing Rick Mahorn in the expansion draft to the Minnesota Timberwolves, decided to sign the reserve center (he started just 22 of 74 games the previous season, behind Moses Malone) to a six-year, $13.2 million deal.
In one swoop the defending champions would either shore up their frontline, or put a massive tax hit on an Eastern Conference rival should the Hawks decide to match. The Hawks, with Malone set to turn 35 partway through 1989-90, did match, and Koncak joined John “Hot Rod” Williams amongst the “how are these guys making more than Magic, Larry and MJ?”-set.
By the time Koncak signed his deal in Sept. 1989, however, Shaq would have already been a dorm fixture as a freshman at LSU. There probably wasn’t some “come to your maker”-moment for the big guy, nursing a football injury on his couch, wondering what his next move is. Had it happened at the very least, it wouldn’t have been a “come to Jon Koncak”-moment.
Not when he’s already over 7-feet tall, and the most highly recruited basketball player in the country. Even if Jon Koncak had signed his deal a few years earlier, when Shaquille may have very well been wondering about whether to choose between football and basketball, the story still seems a little farfetched.
And now that we know that Koncak didn’t get his contract until possibly a year after Shaquille O’Neal agreed to a scholarship to play basketball at a major university … yeah, take this with your usual grain of Shaq Salt.
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is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at KDonhoops@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KDonhoops
