Today, Joe Harris announced his retirement from the NBA, and he is only 32 years old, which is indeed embarrassing for many fans. There are still many veterans over the age of 35 in the league today. In addition to superstars such as Curry, Durant, and James, there are also some veterans who have not received much attention and still play a very important role in their respective teams. And it's an integral part of the team. For example, Da Lopez, who currently plays for the Bucks.
Da Lรณpez is 36 years old this year. He has played 15 seasons in his career. Although he is 36 years old, he can still contribute an average of 18+4 data per game in the playoffs last season. It is indeed very rare for this age to be able to contribute such outstanding data. Many players are already retired at his age. You must know that Da Lopez was teammates with Yi Jianlian before, and the two were both players of the New Jersey Nets back then.
Why is Da Lopez able to contribute such outstanding statistics at this age? Why did he become an evergreen? It comes down to being a player who knows how to change.
When you look at the stats from the first few seasons of Lopez's career, you see that in the first few seasons he didn't shoot three-pointers. In previous seasons, he played as an inside stumbling center. But as the league's style of play has changed, and as the Golden State Warriors have changed the tide of the league, the center's projection ability has been increasingly tested. So Da Lopez began to try to shoot three-pointers in the 16~17 season and began to adapt to the trend of the league. Because he knows that if he doesn't seek to change, he will soon be eliminated. For example, Drummond, who was also very strong in the league before, also fell quickly because he did not have outside projection ability.
And Da Lopez is a very strong learner, his three-point shooting ability is quickly practiced, and his shooting is becoming more and more stable? In recent seasons, the three-point shot has even become his primary scoring tool. Last season, he shot more than 1/2 of his three-point shots. Averages close to making two three-pointers per game. He made 148 three-pointers throughout the season. As a 2.11m centre-forward player, this is indeed very rare.
I have to say that Da Lopes is really the player who has the last laugh, because there has been no shortage of dominant interior players in the past so many years, but no player has been as evergreen as him. At the end of the day, there are a lot of players who aren't looking for change and aren't trying to adapt to the league. Many fans think that if Yi Jianlian grew up in this era, he may be more useful in the NBA, because Yi Jianlian is also a big player with three-point shooting ability. I wonder what the fans think?