jorge-gonzalez The Draft Review - The Draft Review atlanta72-95 The Draft Review - The Draft Review
From Hoops to Wrestling

The second oldest of 4 brothers, Jorge Gonzalez’s life started off anything but famous. Growing up in the small town of Colorado in Formosa, Argentina Gonzalez’s height became the talk of the town. At the age of 14 he was already the size of a grown man standing at 6-2 and weighing more than 200 pounds.Many local residents of Formosa couldn’t help but to stare in amazement.

By the time he was 16, he stood 7-1 and many of the local basketball clubs started to envision dreams of a dominate center. Because of his body still adjusting to his tremendous growth spurts, Gonzalez had a very hard time with coordination. After years of training with local basketball clubs and the National team, Gonzalez suddenly started to become less mechanical and more fluid in his movements while building up his stamina. In 1987 he joined the professional team Canada De Gomez. But as fortune would have it he could only play 4 games of the season due to a knee injury. The very next season he remained healthy enough to develop into the center many expected the year before. A scout of the Hawks who had seen Jorge called them with an amazing story of a player who was 7-6 and mobile. On July 28th, 1988 Gonzalez became the first Argentinean ever selected in the NBA draft.

Ted Turner, the owner of the Hawks, immediately sent representatives to enter into talks with his Club. After negotiating Gonzalez out of his contract with his club, Canada De Gomez, the Hawks immediately brought him into their camp to work out with the team. But the Hawks soon saw their plans had backfired as he was too slow and mechanical. This forced Atlanta’s Coach Mike Fratello to face the fact that he was not NBA material.

But ever the Business man, Ted Turner had another future for the now 7-7, 403 pound giant professional wrestler. Thus Gonzalez entered the WCW (World Wide Wrestling). Under the ring name of "El Giante", he became a fan favorite with his engaging personality and massive size. Life was good for the former basketball player. Later in 1993 he was signed by the WWF (World Wrestling Federation) where he adopted a new character of "Giant Gonzalez". Even though he trained hard, Gonzalez never was able to gain the good technique that most of his wrestling brethren possessed. Because of his limited ability he became more of a side show than the main event. After a year the WWF released him. Another year later, he signed with the Japan Pro Wrestling league as the Giant, but much to his disappointment, he was let go.

Now at 38 he spends much of his time fighting a for his quality of life rather than an opponent. The same thing that brought him fortune and fame now brings him serious health problems. Gonzalez suffers from a multiple number of afflictions as his disease, Gigantism, affects his stamina, sight, liver, kidneys, perspiration, and tolerance to light.

To top it all off he has been diagnosed with diabetes. Still, despite everything that has happened, Gonzalez still fights on. No longer the main event, he is content for the peace and quietness of his hometown, where he fights everyday to get a better grip on his life. Maybe he wasn’t the best wrestler, but he certainly is a fighter in every sense of the word.

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Statistics

SEASONS

GP

FG%

3PT%

FT%

SPG

BPG

RPG

APG

PPG

1986-87 Gomez

4

N/A

---

50.0

N/A

1.0

4.1

N/A

8.5

1987-88 Gomez

28

68.2

---

52.7

N/A

1.0

10.9

0.2

22.3

INT. Totals

32

N/A

---

N/A

N/A

N/A

7.5

N/A

15.4

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