The NBA — and, well, every professional sports league — puts a huge emphasis on age when it comes to building rosters. Younger players are in their physical primes, and they have more upside to develop different facets of their games.
It makes sense. It’s why you often see a 22-year-old college star fall to the second round of the NBA draft behind an unproven 19-year-old.
None of that seems to matter to Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka.
He’s taken the approach of revamping the Lakers roster for next season with stars well into their thirties. It reached another level when Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard both agreed to deals with Los Angeles.
Look at this team! Those ages …
Carmelo Anthony — 37 years old
LeBron James – 36 years old
Trevor Ariza – 36 years old
Marc Gasol – 36 years old
Dwight Howard – 35 years old (turning 36 Dec. 8)
Wayne Ellington – 33 years old
Kent Bazemore – 32 years old
Russell Westbrook — 32 years old— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) August 3, 2021
Same energy here:
You: "I'm only 35, I have my whole life ahead of me."
Sports Broadcaster: "Here comes the oldest player in the league. He's 32. A miracle."
— Troy Johnson (@_troyjohnson) December 6, 2016
Between LeBron, Carmelo, Dwight, Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis, this would be an incredible 2013 superteam. Unfortunately, it is not 2013. So, NBA fans instead had jokes for Pelinka’s new-look Lakers.
