What a crazy week in sports.
Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro signed a 15-year contract, 49ers running back Frank Gore was the leading fantasy football running back for the weekend, Yankee Bobby Abreu had six RBIs in one inning and a pitcher-catcher duo from the Royals came to blows in the middle of a game (OK, that isn't really surprising).
But lost in the midst of the Royals' assault and battery and an insane contract was the retiring of a basketball legend, No. 7 in the game programs but No. 1 in the hearts of basketball fans across the world.
That's right, the Croatian Sensation, Toni Kukoc, says he's likely done playing in the NBA.
No longer can children in Zagreb watch Kukoc light up the court with his stifling defense and barrage of three-pointers. Teenagers in Slavonski Brod have no more basketball role models, no grand goals to aspire to. The fallout can be felt from Milwaukee to Rijeka, and the NBA may never be the same.
The 6'11', 235-pound superstar was never the best player on the court (except in NBA Street, where he blocked everything in sight and brought the hammer down), but he constantly made his presence felt. Averaging 11.6 points, four rebounds, four assists and almost a steal a game for his career, Kukoc ruled the court for the Bucks, Bulls, 76ers and Hawks in his 13-year career. The seven years he spent with the Bulls were easily the apex of his dominant career, as his iron fist earned three championship rings with Chicago.
Starting your rookie year with a team that Michael Jordan just retired from is never easy, but Kukoc made it work. He started the majority of Bulls games in only his second season, averaged nearly 16 points and five rebounds per game and continued to get better from then on with Chicago.
Some may say Jordan returning was the reason the Bulls won another three championships from 1996-'98, but could he have done it without Kukoc being the Sixth Man of the Year in 1996 and contributing mightily the next two years? I think not.
Kukoc averaged almost 19 points a game in his last two seasons with Chicago, but they traded him to Philadelphia as part of the firesale of 1999-2000. The Bulls are just now recovering from the loss, and Kukoc was never really the same either. Foolish teams did not start him, so his numbers suffered accordingly. So finally, after Chicago and Milwaukee chose not to sign him this summer, Kukoc decided his reign of greatness had to come to an end after 13 years.
So shed no tears my friends, we can make it through this tough patch. Kukoc is at peace with his decision, telling the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel he'd rather play golf. Maybe so, but he will miss the game he so rarely dominated, yet always came through in the clutch. Perhaps someday he'll come back to the game and move on to Kukoching.
To scold Zach for ending his column on such a terrible pun, send e-mails to zlkukkonen@wisc.edu.
