Goodbye NBA! 35-year-old giant Boban, can he still find his next home?
Boban's name, presumably fans have heard it, right?
His NBA career may be over.
On August 15, Beijing time, Boban celebrated his 35th birthday, and NBA officials and FIBA officials posted pictures to celebrate his birthday, of which FIBA officials wrote: "Boban is not only a star, but also a great teammate and artist. ”
Brushing this news by chance, our first reaction was: Boban is actually 35 years old; The second reaction began to think: Is Boban signed now? So I opened the information and looked at it, sure enough, since the opening of the free market, Boban has been in a state of no interest, and even a rumor cannot be seen.
Honestly, not particularly unexpected.
Boban played for the Rockets last season, he didn't get many opportunities, played only 31 games in total, and basically played garbage time, averaging only 5.5 minutes per game, 3.3 points and 1.9 rebounds while shooting 68.3 percent from the field.
The year before, Boban played for the Lone Ranger, where he had few opportunities, averaging only 5.6 minutes per game, 4.3 points and 1.7 rebounds while shooting 60.0 percent from the field.
Objectively speaking, Boban's personal performance is actually not very bad, he is 2.24 meters tall, with an arm span of 2.34 meters, he was the tallest player in the league last season, and Boban also has a pair of giant palms, in terms of static talent, Boban is almost a must-have on the active inside.
It is also with his excellent static talent that Boban can make some contributions in limited opportunities, and often can send famous scenes, the most famous of which is the thick eyebrows when he "teased" the Pelicans.
If it was placed in the 90s and 00s, Boban may be more reused, but in today's era of small balls that pay more and more attention to speed, efficiency, projection, space, and defense change, Boban's shortcomings have outweighed his advantages: he is too slow, both the offensive and defensive ends will suffer, and there is no way to open up space, and the attack has no skills, can only eat cake and secondary attacks.
Today's centers have become more and more functional, and there are some advantages to survive, and big centers like Boban who have little skill, slow speed, no shooting, and can't change defenses are almost "extinct" - before him, Tuckerfall, who is taller and 8 years younger than him, has been out of the NBA for a year, and Farr's performance in the CBA last season can hardly be said to be very good.
In fact, Boban was already a marginal character as early as the 2019-20 season, when he played only 44 games and played less than 10 minutes per game, but after that, he still survived in the NBA for a few years, relying on his "giant" attributes as well as "teammate attributes".
On the one hand, Boban and Doncic have a very good relationship, the two often interact in training, on the bench, on the court, off the court, and during a training session, Boban even stood up for Doncic, and Doncic is still smiling.
After the Rockets visited the Mavericks home last season, the two went out to dinner alone, and then Doncic added: "I miss him a lot here, he's a great guy and hopefully we can be together again soon." ”
On the other hand, Boban is also a well-known good old man, last season the Rockets away against the Clippers (Boban's old club), after the game Clippers reporter tweeted: "Boban specially said hello to every Clippers staff, I like that guy. ”
Even some players who have not partnered with him speak highly of him, such as DeRozan's clash with Grayson Allen last season, DeRozan said after the game: "Because he is Grayson Allen, we all know his record, if it was Boban Marianovic, I probably wouldn't have reacted." ”
It is worth mentioning that Boban was also nominated for last season's Sportsmanship Award, which recognizes the player who can best represent sportsmanship on the field, but unfortunately Boban lost to Conley in the end.
In terms of ability, the 35-year-old Giant Boban may no longer be able to continue playing in the NBA, after all, he has only played 5 minutes in the past two years; However, it cannot be ruled out that some teams may sign Boban for the dressing room atmosphere, he is a really good teammate with a great character and can inject some joy into the team.
Every year, there are always players who will silently disappear from the league, these players do not necessarily have outstanding career resumes, and no one may even know when they retire, Boban is likely to be the next such player, his NBA career is a total of 8 years, not many achievements, but in any case, to be remembered by fans of an era, it is already very successful.