Suns among NBA teams with ‘young-old’ veterans leading locker room

PHOENIX — “Hmmm. Trick question, eh?”

Phoenix Suns head coach Jordan Ott was one of many members of the team asked to name who the oldest player on the roster is. His squad is one of many in the NBA that has gone away from what is now a past-time of the league, the wily old veteran as a locker room presence and nothing more. Another way of looking at it is a lot of organizations do not feel anymore that a certain number of elder statesmen are required in order for a unit to function properly.

Fourteen of the 30 NBA teams do not roster a player 35 years old or older. Perhaps more glaringly, only five teams have more than three players over the age of 30.

The Suns don’t even have one. In fact, they are one of two teams without a player over 30 at all entering the season, joining the Los Angeles Lakers.

Their players had to pause for a handful of seconds to think on their answer of who was the oldest. The only one to answer right away was the only one who knew it was correct.

“Me,” Dillon Brooks said.

Jordan Goodwin, who initially guessed Devin Booker, was shocked at his half-realization.

“It’s not Dillon, is it? Oh my god!” Goodwin said.

Brooks is one of a few Suns players born in 1996. At the age of 30, he is the oldest of them all. Booker is ahead of everyone else by two years when it comes to NBA experience, entering Year 12, but Brooks has got him by nine months on age.

“Yeah, he’s old as [expletive],” Jalen Green joked of Brooks with this new ammunition for banter. “He old as hell.”

Why is this now a thing?

Well, for one, the league is incredibly talented.

“It’s so competitive for spots in the league and that’s a testament to how the game is growing and some of these talented kids coming up,” Oso Ighodaro said. “The game is going to keep getting better and better so it’s harder to stay in the league longer I think.”

Ighodaro referenced how additional players not even on the 15-man roster via two-way contracts can even be difference-makers.

“The league is moving. It’s moving,” Ott said. “I don’t think I’m surprised to see the stat — the speed, intensity, athleticism kind of league is trending that way.”

“You seen it. It’s tough,” Booker added. “The league is as talented as can be. … I have a lot of respect for those guys and the journeymen of the league that always find a way and that’s the beauty of it.”

The only two types of players Booker is referencing that are still around are 38-year-old New Orleans Pelicans center DeAndre Jordan and 39-year-old Indiana Pacers forward James Johnson. Both are primarily on their teams just as additional leadership, a mix of vibes with sage advice in times of need when the coaches can’t cover that ground.

While Jordan got in 199 minutes across a dozen games last year, Johnson played just 37. The only reason he’s with Indiana is for his presence off the floor.

For those not familiar with Johnson, I should clarify that it is a capital-P Presence he brings. Johnson’s reputation is well established at this point, with even moderately casual NBA fans knowing he is part of a family of black belts in karate. In other words, do not mess with that dude, and expect his padawans to be just as much of a brute as he is.

For what it’s worth, you can always feel it, even if you’ve only been in the Pacers locker room one sole time like I have.

Johnson was holding court before a game in Phoenix two seasons ago, the year the Pacers made it to the Finals, by running the music blaring through a portable speaker for the half-dozen guys sitting at their lockers while the rest were on the court or getting treatment. Upon seeing me walk in ready to speak with a player, he kindly asked me if it needed to be turned down.

His tone was sincere, but I had the unavoidable internal crisis of, “Wait, if I answer yes, is that me telling him how to run his locker room?”

I settled for a casual nod and Johnson nonchalantly said, “You got it, boss.” After the brief interview, I thanked the subject T.J. McConnell for his time. As I walked out, I heard McConnell behind me imploring Johnson to “turn that [expletive] back up” and the vibes were instantaneously restored.

Another version of this we saw for a recent Finals run was former Suns center Bismack Biyombo with the San Antonio Spurs last year, who you saw all postseason long in Victor Wembanyama’s ear more than anyone.

I have no way of knowing this and I’m sure no one outside the Spurs locker room does, either, but I’d bet a decent amount of money that Biyombo was the source of motivation behind Wembanyama’s extra source of viciousness and physicality he brought to the playoffs. Wemby made sure no one was going to punk him in that regard, and you’ll recall how physical the absolute tank of a man Biyombo was across his 15-year career.

The Suns have their versions of this, but it just comes from 30-year-olds instead.

“You gotta want to do it, and do it the right way,” Brooks said, referring to himself as a “young-old guy.”

“Regardless of the age, regardless of how many years [you have], if you’re a leader and you want guys to get better on your team, you’re going to give them the right information to do that,” he added.

Ighodaro has benefitted firsthand from Brooks’ teachings.

“I guess growing up, you always hear about the old vets, and I guess we don’t really have that old of vets but I feel like our vets do a great job of impacting the young guys and helping us grow,” Ighodaro said.

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