Chicago Tribune

Teddy Greenstein: White Sox slugger Daniel Palka's tall tale of basketball greatness

CHICAGO - This is how it begins: Two buddies watching TV on a spring night in 2016.

The McDonald's All-American Game is on ESPN, and Chad Christensen is awed by what he sees.

Lonzo Ball fires a baseball pass that Josh Jackson slams down at the United Center. A pull-up 3 by Markelle Fultz. A beastly dunk by Malik Monk.

"Man, these dudes are freaks," Christensen remarks.

"Yeah," replies his friend, Daniel Palka. "I remember playing in that game."

"What? No way!"

"Yeah, dude."

A bit later, Palka shows Christensen his phone. It's open to the Wikipedia page for the 2010 McDonald's All-American Game.

Lo and behold, two lines above Kyrie Irving on the East roster is Daniel Palka, a

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