Back When Stan Kasten Let His Hair Down

You know how some people wish the Nationals would get around to jumping back into the international market? What fuddy-duddies these guys are! But what if I were to tell you that, in the 1987 NBA draft, a certain professional sports executive with whom we're rather familiar drafted a Chinese dude, a Greek dude, a Spanish dude, a Yugoslavian dude, an Italian dude, another Italian dude, a Soviet dude, and another Soviet dude? Would you think I was joking?

"This is no joke," said Stan Kasten, the Hawks' president and general manager.

Well, there you go. No joke.

I don't know precisely how or why I got around to doing this, but I spent fifteen minutes searching the New York Times' archives for articles about Kasten. It's better than some other hobbies, at least. Anyway, Kasten's Hawks were kind of nuts innovative back in the day. I do wonder what happened, as Kasten's level of selling out innovating seems a lot less satisfying these days.

Never mind that the 1980s Hawks routinely did quirky stuff like taking a chance on Spud Webb or essentially becoming Team Glasnost. Those things were certainly interesting, but they don't compare to drafting a 7'6", 403-pound Argentinian with no discernable basketball skills:

The Hawks have not signed Gonzalez, and Fratello said the odds against the player are long. At this point, Gonzalez cannot shoot a hook, cannot shoot well with his left hand, cannot spin on his pivot foot and cannot move cleanly and quickly across the lane.

As Russell pointed out, most of Gonzalez's habits are bad ones. He dribbles the ball with his palm instead of the tips of his fingers, and he tends to fall backward when shooting.

After an hour-and-a-half private workout under Russell's patient tutelage 10 days ago, Gonzalez asked his mentor, through an interpreter, ''If I learn these things, can I play in the N.B.A.?''

The answer, in case you couldn't tell, was no.

Anyway, the Nats don't seem to be doing any of this kind of stuff. You know how the Pirates signed those Indian pitchers? Something tells me that Kasten's Hawks would've been all over that, but, when it comes to Kasten's Nats, your typical daring move is non-tendering Scott Olsen in order to bring him back for a lower price.

Then again, maybe this says less about Kasten, and more about Ted Turner and Ted Lerner. I don't know.