Memphis’ Thaddeus Young credits health for longevity
The initial explanation Thaddeus Younggave for his longevity in the NBA was likely as accurate as it was boring, and so it’s also probably the reason why his longevity in the NBA sometimes gets overlooked, even here in Memphis where he grew up.
“I would just say health. I think the longevity has come from just me being healthy,” Young said earlier this week. “But I put a lot of time in in the off-season, so I don’t have to play catch up in the regular season. When people are going to clubs and hanging out, I’m literally in the gym all day working out.”
Young, the 32-year-old former Mcdonald’s All-american from Mitchell High School, will face the Memphis Grizzlies for the second time in five nights Friday in Chicago, and it’s another chance for the city that groomed Young to savor what he became, and what he’s still doing.
Because what we’re watching, unbeknownst to many, is perhaps the greatest NBA career of any Memphis-area basketball product. At the very least, if you haven’t considered the possibility of that, then Young is among the more under-appreciated stars to come through Memphis.
That statement might surprise you. Young? In the same conversation as Memphis native Penny Hardaway, or Memphis transplant Marc Gasol, or even Memphis one-anddone Derrick Rose and Memphis State transfer Larry Kenon?
There’s no argument here that Hardaway reached the greatest heights in the NBA among Shelby County basketball players, and Rose, Gasol and Kenon had more no
table primes than Young as well.
Hardaway was first team ALL-NBA twice and got his own signature shoe line. Rose was a league MVP. Gasol has been NBA defensive player of the year. Kenon averaged more than 20 points per game in four straight seasons. All four played in NBA All-star games. Young hasn’t done any of that.
But go check out Pro Basketball Reference’s database detailing all of the NBA and ABA players that attended a high school in Tennessee. Then add in the ABA and NBA players who attended Memphis over the years.
Young has played more games and more minutes, scored more points (13,310), and hit more shots than all of them.
That’s why career is an important distinction.
“I’ve played over 1,000 games in the NBA. Over 1,000. I’m still making over $10 million a year in the NBA in year 14,” Young said with emphasis, “so obviously I’m doing something right.”
Consider this: Young has scored 2,626 more points than Hardaway did in 15 seasons in the NBA.
In year 14 of Hardaway’s career, he appeared in 16 games for the New York Knicks and averaged 3.8 points, 2.2 assists and 2.2 rebounds. It was his last season in the NBA.
In year 13 of Gasol’s career — this season — he’s averaging career lows in points (5.1) and rebounds (4) with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Kenon, meanwhile, only played 11 seasons in the ABA and NBA.
In year 14 of Young’s career, he has played in 50 of Chicago’s 54 games while averaging 12.2 points, 6.3 rebounds and a career-best 4.2 assists. His player efficiency rating of 20.6 is higher than it’s ever been. He just had 20 points in the Grizzlies’ win over the Bulls last Sunday.
The only time he hasn’t averaged at least 10 points and 4.9 rebounds per game is his rookie year. He’s entering what’s traditionally the twilight of a NBA player’s career playing as well as he has in years.
“My biggest thing when I first got to the league was, I would tell people all the time, they’d be like, ‘You ain’t playing that many minutes,’ ” Young said, “and I’m like, ‘Man, look, I’m going to do whatever it takes to get on the court,’ and then I’d tell people all the time, ‘I’ve been broke too long to go back broke. So I’m going to do whatever it takes to stay here.’ ”
“I feel like I’m a really good player at several different things,” Young added, “but I’m not overly great at all those things.”
Whether judged by accomplishment or influence, it’s time Young is more often included in the conversation about this city’s all-time great basketball products.
His Nike-sponsored Team Thad grassroots basketball program, based out of the Cordova gym he opened two years ago, consistently churns out Division I recruits under the guidance of Young’s best friend, Norton Hurd IV. And Young recently bought a minority stake in the Brisbane Bullets, a professional basketball team in Australia’s NBL.
Part of his exclusion likely stems from Young, who was born in New Orleans and moved to Memphis as a 10year-old, going to Georgia Tech for a year rather than staying home to play for the Tigers. Memphis basketball’s hold on the city, and its historic significance within the community, will sometimes do that to the locals who don’t become Tigers.
There’s also the natural tendency, in the NBA and all different facets of life, to focus on the spectacular rather than the persistent. It’s why everyone was talking Thursday morning about Luka Doncic’s ridiculous buzzer-beater in Memphis, and not how the Grizzlies’ loss to Dallas felt less heartbreaking than it could have because of how resilient they’ve been all season.
But let’s change that, at least for however long Young plays.
He’s a former top-10 recruit who became an NBA lottery pick, started out as the potential centerpiece of a franchise, and then morphed into one of the league’s premier role players.
He entered the NBA as a 6-foot-8 tweener in 2007, during an era when teams were still being built around traditional big men. He stuck around long enough for tweeners to become commodities known as positionless players.
Young was ahead of his time, and then had the wherewithal to wait for his time to come.
You can reach Commercial Appeal columnist Mark Giannotto via email at mgiannotto@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter: @mgiannotto