Marcelino Huertas made his debut in the NBA when he was 32, but it was the last season of the Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. Bryant was 37 at that point and yet scored 60 points in his last game against the Jazz. One of those assists came from the Brazilian Huertas. Currently, the oldest men’s basketball player to play at the Paris Olympics (41), after LeBron James, aged 39.

Another former player of the Lakers and teammate of LeBron made a cheeky comparison on X. “Bron who?! Marcelo Huertas is 41 out here ballin,” said Alex Caruso. The Brazilian was in action in the opening match and scored 11 points, with 5 assists and 3 rebounds. Let’s look back at his career, which started in 2001, 23 years ago.

Huertas’ career before the Lakers

The Brazilian-born was a skinny, 5’11” Brazilian exchange student, back in 2000 when he enrolled in the US for high school. Then head coach Brad Chasteen of the school in Coppell met Huertas with no expectations. After graduating the next year, he returned home and played 2 more years in Brazil before moving to Europe.

Representing the Club Joventut Badalona at the age of 21, he had 7.1 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. He was the 3rd best on the team in terms of assists for the first 2 seasons. In his next year, he scored similarly with an average of 7 points 1.2 rebounds, and 2.4 dime. However, incurring an underwhelming third season, he would move to Bilbao for his next adventure.

In 2007/08, he played for the Bilbao Basket. With the Basque team, he played a total of 36 ACB games, 14.5 points, and 4 assists (34 in the regular season and 2 in the playoffs). Next season he moved to Bologna with averages of 10.4 points and 2.5 assists in 29 matches.

He returned to Spain after one season in Italy and represented Baskonia. Playing with national teammate Tiago Splitter, this time Huertas was the top assist player for the season averaging 4.9. A year later, Slitter moved to the NBA with the Spurs, while Huertas continued his performance, increasing his scoring output to 9.7 and toping assist chart once again with 5.9.

His final chapter before the Lakers was with the esteemed club of Barcelona, where he remained consistent. He ended his 4-year spell, winning the Spanish Super Cup, National Cup, and even making his Olympic debut at the London 2012 games. Only then did he believe it to be “the right time” to make it to the most-competitive basketball league.

Huertas Laker’s career and beyond

If people were unaware of him, Huertas explained it perfectly in 2015. “I’m a point guard that will play for the team,” Huertas told Lakers.com. ” A guy that won’t play selfishly. I’m a good pick-and-roll player. I think my game is based on pick-and-roll and my ability to control the game and organize the team on the court.”

In his first season, and Kobe’s last, the team managed a franchise-worst 17–65 record. However, Huertas led the team in FT% with 93% and 3.4 assists per game. He would eventually sign a 2-year contract the next season but was traded after just 23 games to the Rockets. But they waived him and that was the last time he would feature in the NBA.

During his time with Purple and Gold, he wore the #9 shirt, which interestingly LeBron James’ son Bronny has chosen. “Playing for the Lakers and wearing this jersey … I really get speechless at the opportunity they gave me,” said Huertas when he first joined the team.

Recently he signed a 2-year contract extension with La Laguna Tenerife. Thus the 41-year-old veteran guard Marcelinho Huertas could play until the end of the 2025-26 season. But first, he has the Olympics to concentrate on. After the first game loss against France, he said, “They changed their defense, they put big man to defend me and switched ball screens, and that left us stuck for a moment in creation. We kind of let emotions take over and it resulted in a lot of turnovers.”

The 13th-ranked Brazilian team would face the 3rd-ranked German team next. Die Mannschaft have already begun their campaign on a winning note against Japan (97-77).

Stay tuned for more such updates and join us for the exciting pilot episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and SEC All-Freshman Team Selection, Silas Demary Jr.”