What the Hell Happened to...Marty Conlon?


He was a lumbering big man to say the least, who epitomized the term "NBA journeyman."  Along with the Celtics he played for the Supersonics, Kings, Hornets, Bullets, Heat, Clippers and Bucks, the latter whom he had his most successful run with.  He was from Providence College where he played under the Evil Emperor, whose name is never mentioned on this blog.  And he had a really peculiar looking foul shot where he'd lower his butt way down towards the floor.  You might remember Marty Conlon.

The only season he played for the Celtics was the putrid 1996-97 campaign, where they were in full tank-mode for Tim Duncan.  That team won 15 games, an all-time low for Celtics teams.  Not surprisingly Marty played a major role for that team playing in 74 games (starting 15) at around 21 mpg where he averaged about 7.5 ppg and 4.5 rpg.  When that same Evil Emperor came to Boston the following season to coach, Marty was shown the door.


Of all the WTTHT segments I've done, I must admit this one holds a special place in my heart.  See me and Marty Conlon graduated from the same high school, Archbishop Stepinac.  We both played for the Varsity Basketball team for 2 years.  Our similarities come to a screeching halt after that.

If you scroll down to the 1985 and 1986 team rosters (on page 15), you'll see Marty Conlon's name. Yep we both played there alright, me ten years after in 95-96.  I never got to see Marty play in high school but his younger brother David Conlon I did.  He was about 6'5 and pretty athletic.  He wound up playing college basketball at Vermont.

I can tell you Marty is still a god at Stepinac.  Anything ever having to do with the basketball program there always seems to mention him.  They had a dinner in his honor last October.  And being an alumni of the basketball team I'm on an email list that includes him.  So what the hell happened to him?  He apparently does work for NBA International and lives in NYC.  Anything beyond that, I'm not entirely sure so maybe you'd like to email him and check in: mortedente@aol.com.

For a complete roster of this feature:
What the Hell Happened to? Index