Nickname: Novakaine

Introduction

This one is a deep cut obscure athlete. Steve Novak is ultimately a lesser Kyle Korver: white guys that can shoot from deep and bounce around from team to team. With all due respect to Mr. Novak, the only reason I have somewhat of an infatuation is because of the fact that he would not miss in NBA 2K13. I am not sure if his jumper was that clean or if I just got really good at the timing, but every time that I would play versus my friends, thirteen year old me would drop a cool 26 with 60 overall Steve Novak (clearly, I spent more time mastering random player’s 2k jumpers than talking to girls).

Why He Should Be Remembered

Sometimes some of these athletes deserve to be remembered simply for nostalgic purposes. He was a key piece on those 2011 and 2012 New York Knick teams as he was their deadeye. In fact his stint with them is where he started to make a little bit of a name for himself. He led the league in three point percentage in 2011 and was tied with Kevin Durant for third in total threes made that year (yes, I just used Steve Novak and Kevin Durant in the same sentence). The Knicks re-signed him after this year and thus his nickname was born. Coined by Knick legend himself Walt Frazier, Novak was called “Novakaine” after the drug Novocaine. With his newfound nickname, Novakaine had arguably his best season as he averaged his most minutes per game and competed in the 2013 NBA All Star Three Point Contest. His time in New York proved to be the highlight of his career as he knew his role and he played it well. Every team needs guys like that. So if you’re ever in a conversation and someone brings up the 2012 Knicks, feel free to bring up Steve Novak and I guarantee you will receive responses like “holy s#*t I remember that guy” or maybe even “wow, in my entire feminine life I have never been more attracted to a man before” (it could happen, you never know).

Why He Is Not Remembered

Besides his time with the Knicks (and even then it wasn’t anything crazy), Novak didn’t really do anything special throughout his 17 year NBA career. Sure, he had some impressive longevity, but he also did not play that much where it would be impressive. He only started six games out of 467 that he played in and his career high in minutes for a season was 20 minutes per game which was that 2012 season. I don’t want to diss him, but it wasn’t like he was logging 35 minutes on a nightly basis. He ran off of screens and was a catch and shoot kind of player. He did it well, but not well enough to earn him any awards. He also appeared to be a rather humble, reserved kind of dude, so it wasn’t like he was hitting three’s and then talking trash to his opponents often.

Where He Is Now

Currently, Novak is a pre and post game analyst for Fox Sports Wisconsin’s Milwaukee Bucks broadcasts. Sounds like he always wanted to do broadcasting, so I am sure he is happy where he is and how could one not be? For a guy that only shoots threes, Walt Frazier gave you a cool nickname. That’s an honor within itself.