Former NBA big man, Marty Conlon, makes Connecticut his home court
FAIRFIELD, Conn. (BVM) — Marty Conlon likes to joke that if you take away his hair, you’ll find a scalp crisscrossed with scars — the result of decades spent clocking his head on door jambs and airplane overhead bins.
But it’s those extra inches — along with hours and hours of drills and a dose of good fortune — that took the 6-foot-10 Conlon to heights he’d dreamed of: Nine seasons in the NBA, a five-year career on the courts of Europe, and an eight-year stint as the NBA’s manager of international basketball operations.
Married and the father of two adventurous young boys, Conlon, 52, currently lives a suburban life in Connecticut, where he also coaches basketball at a local private high school. But during the coronavirus pandemic, he found a new niche: offering small, at-home clinics as part of a new business, Marty Conlon’s Pro Hoops.
Being around young people keeps Conlon on his toes, but the pace is nothing like the non-stop motion that marked his early professional career. Often, Conlon would end up going head-to-head with the likes of the “Reign Man,” Shawn Kemp, or Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon.
Growing up in Bronxville, N.Y., Conlon was drawn to soccer. But it became apparent that fate was pulling him in another direction. That direction was up.
“I was always the tallest in the class,” Conlon said. “It was only a matter of time before I found basketball.”
By his sophomore year of high school, Conlon was determined to play in college.
“I would bring this notebook to write down different ideas and drills and I would think of areas I could improve on,” Conlon said about what he did while attending camps or clinics. “I was thinking two or three seasons ahead.”
Conlon earned a scholarship to play at Providence College, during a time when college basketball was attracting talent such as Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo. Over four years, he scored more than 1,000 points for the Friars, and grabbed nearly 600 rebounds. He was a freshman on the 1987 team that went all the way to the Final Four, and returned to the NCAA Tournament with the team twice more, in 1989 and 1990.
One of Conlon’s most notable teammates at Providence was Billy Donovan, now head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Donovan would often try to encourage the younger Conlon through small gestures such as patting him on the shoulder when he missed a rebound, telling him, “it’s OK” and “keep your head up.”
Conlon knew height alone wouldn’t guarantee him a spot in the NBA. So, he worked on as many skills as possible, from ball-handling and his outside shot, to a pump fake that caught his opponents off guard.
Chris Webber, the top pick in the 1993 NBA Draft, later bemoaned that move in an interview, saying, “He gave me the business many times, Marty. He was the man.”
Conlon played in the NBA from 1991 to 1999, catching his big break in 1994 when the Charlotte Hornets — decimated by injuries — needed a big man to boost their offensive game. During that season, Conlon often found himself playing around 25 minutes per contest.
The height of his career followed in two seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks, which remains his favorite team. During the 1994-95 season, Conlon played in all 82 games for the Bucks.
“My time with the Bucks were my most productive years,” Conlon said. “I was embraced by the people there. It’s a great city.”
When his NBA days ended, Conlon followed his passion overseas, playing in Italy, Greece, Spain, and Ireland. While in Ireland, he even became captain of the Irish national basketball team.
“It was really rewarding to finish the last five years of my career in Europe,” Conlon noted. “I was playing and living in places where people go for their holidays.”
His subsequent corporate job for NBA International took him on jets around the world, where he led grassroots clinics and coaching seminars in India, China, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, among other countries.
Conlon’s career came full circle when he rejoined his Providence teammate, Chris Watts, in Fairfield, Conn., to coach the Notre Dame High School basketball team. The coaching duo helped lead the Lancers to a state championship in 2018.
When working to build confidence and drive among young players, Conlon counsels, “stay honest and work hard.”
As for his own boys, James, 5, and Charlie, 3, organized sports may be in their future, but Conlon and his wife, Carolyn Kelly, insist there’s no rush.
“We don’t pressure our kids to play basketball,” Kelly said. “We want our kids to find where their own passions lie.”
