The Big Interview: Killeen, the poster boy who has seen it all

Tonight Tralee hosts a top-of-the-table sellout as Garvey’s Warriors take on Superleague rivals Templeogue. But as someone who went up against Carmelo Anthony in his first game Stateside, played in the famed March Madness in college and the cut-throat Asian continental league where loony owners could fire a teammate at half-time, Jason Killeen will hardly be daunted.

Step foot in the lobby of the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght and right away the towering figure of Jason Killeen is there to greet you. Even if he’ll be down to you in a minute, he’s just finishing something upstairs in the office, he’s already there. Over by the entrance into the arena where he’s won three Super League National Cups, the sponsors of that same competition invite you to stand next to a glass-framed measuring tape and the gigantic, glaring, goateed player alongside it. ‘Think you’re tall?’ it reads. ‘Jason Killeen is 6’10. See how tall you are against him.’