Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal has gone down as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, and we have the Atlanta Hawks and Jon Koncak to thank for that. During an appearance on the New Heights podcast, O’Neal shared his love for playing football in his younger years and how Koncak ended up playing a big role in his choosing basketball.
“Football is my thing,” O’Neal said. “And then my father came in the house one day and smacked me in the back of the head with a paper. He’s like, ‘You need to f***ing stop playing football and focus on basketball.’ And when I opened up the paper, Jon Koncak had just signed 15 for three… I’m like, ‘First of all, who is Jon Koncak?’ My dad was like, ‘I got some tickets. We’re going to go watch him.’
“I was living in San Antonio at the time,” O’Neal continued. “So the Hawks were playing the Spurs. And no disrespect to Jon Koncak, he was [in] the NBA. He was a pro. He was a good player… I was doing the things in high school he was doing in the pros. And I was like, s***, if this dude was making 15 for three? My dream was to make 8 million for 10 years. That was my whole dream coming out… So I started playing basketball.”
The Hawks had selected Koncak with the fifth pick in the 1985 NBA Draft. He was highly rated coming out of SMU, but didn’t live up to the hype in the NBA. Fortunately for Koncak, he’d still get his big payday. How did that happen? Well, here’s how.
Heading into the 1989 playoffs, Koncak had averaged 6.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in the regular season in his career. That’s respectable, but nothing too noteworthy.
In the first round of those playoffs, though, Koncak put up 12.8 points, 9.6 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.4 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game for the Hawks against the Milwaukee Bucks. Now those were some pretty good numbers, and the timing couldn’t have been better.
Why? Well, Koncak was hitting restricted free agency that offseason. There was a chance someone could come in and offer big money, and the Detroit Pistons somewhat did.
The Pistons had lost Rick Mahorn to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 1989 expansion draft, and needed a replacement. General manager Jack McCloskey identified the seven-foot Koncak as the man for the task.
Now, O’Neal says Koncak received a three-year, $15 million deal, but that’s not accurate. The Pistons initially offered him a one-year, $2.5 million deal, which he accepted. The Hawks didn’t want to lose Koncak, though, and ultimately signed him to a six-year, $13.2 million deal. He became one of the highest-paid players in the NBA, and it’s safe to say it was a huge mistake.
Koncak, who earned the nickname “Jon Contract,” wouldn’t even come close to averaging double digits in points or rebounds the rest of his time in the NBA. He retired in 1996 with career averages of 4.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game.
It was also in 1996 that O’Neal signed a seven-year, $120 million deal with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Orlando Magic had selected him with the first pick in the 1992 NBA Draft, and he wasted little time in establishing himself as one of the best players in the NBA. The Magic reportedly lowballed O’Neal during negotiations, though, which opened the door for the Lakers.
Now, that was a massive financial commitment, but O’Neal proved to be worth it. He led the Lakers to a three-peat from 2000 to 2002, winning Finals MVP on all three occasions. He also won MVP in 2000 and was the best player in the NBA during those years.
O’Neal would go on to win a fourth title with the Miami Heat in 2006, and by the time he retired, he had made $286 million in salaries, according to Spotrac. Not too bad for someone who had a dream of making $8 million for 10 years.
