The senior circle

In the NBA, there was only one player over 40 this season. Atlanta’s Vince Carter is 42 and hopes to see action one more year, his 22nd in the pros. Nat Hickey is listed as the oldest NBA player ever – the 5-11 guard was 45 when he played his last NBA game with the Providence Steamrollers in 1948. There have been 28 players over 40 to suit up in the NBA and the roster includes Tim Duncan, Jason Kidd, Michael Jordan, Steve Nash, Grant Hill, Manu Ginobili, Dirk Nowitzki, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Bob Cousy, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Dikembe Mutombo, Robert Parish and Kevin Willis.

In the PBA, Robert Jaworski was 52 when he played his last season in 1998. The Big J holds the record as the oldest pro basketball player in the world. Brazil’s Oscar Schmidt was 45 when he played his last season with C. R. Flamengo in the Brazilian league in 2003. Schmidt is the Olympics’ all-time leading scorer and was 38 when he scored 45 points at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta.

Today, in the PBA, four players are over 40. NLEX’ Asi Taulava is 46, Magnolia’s Rafi Reavis 41 (he turns 42 in July), Meralco’s Reynel Hugnatan 40 (he turns 41 in November) and TNT’s Harvey Carey 40.

Coming close to join the 40-year-old seniors club are San Miguel Beer’s Chico Lanete and Yancy de Ocampo, Magnolia’s P. J. Simon and Ginebra’s Mark Caguioa who are all 39. Lanete will turn 40 in August.

Lanete played 20 games for San Miguel last season, averaging 2.7 points with a single-game high of 10. In the recently-concluded Philippine Cup, he checked in for two games. Lanete, a Lyceum standout, was undrafted but has managed to stay in the PBA as a role player since turning pro with Purefoods in 2007. In 2014-15, he averaged 10 points for Barako Bull. His single-game career high is 24 points which he tallied in 2008-09 and 2011-12. Lanete has moved from Purefoods to Ginebra to Coca-Cola to Burger King to Powerade to Petron to Meralco to Barako Bull and finally, to San Miguel Beer in a career that not too experts thought would last this long.

Although his playing time has drastically gone down over the past few years, Lanete said he couldn’t be happier at San Miguel. He’s turning 40 in a few months and job security is a priority. As long as San Miguel keeps winning, Lanete can’t complain. He has a share in the bonus pool so his bank account is far from stagnant. There’s been interest from other teams to sign him up but Lanete is staying put at San Miguel for as long as there’s a spot for him. He’s happy where he is.

Lanete is the oldest of four sons. His father was a basketball player, too, in the pre-PBA league MICAA. The youngest Garvo, who is 10 years apart, now starts for NorthPort. Another brother Von saw action for Zamboanga in the MPBL. Still another brother Al plays in lower-level commercial leagues. Other brothers in the PBA are the Semerads Tony and David, the De Ocampos Ranidel and Yancy and the Faundos Bryan and Jeepy.

PBA players who are 38 are Blackwater’s Mike Cortez, NLEX’ Cyrus Baguio and San Miguel’s Billy Mamaril. Those who are 37 are TNT’s Kelly Williams and Jay Washington, Alaska’s Sonny Thoss, Meralco’s Ranidel de Ocampo, KG Canaleta and Gabby Espinas, Ginebra’s Joe Devance, Rain or Shine’s James Yap, San Miguel’s Arwind Santos and Ronald Tubid and Magnolia’s Marc Pingris.

Among the seniors in the 40-year-old club, Reavis seems to be sturdiest. In the last Philippine Cup Finals, the former Coppin State center held his own against San Miguel’s five-time MVP June Mar Fajardo. He started in every Magnolia game in the playoffs and came off the bench in only three of 28 contests in the conference. In the finals, Reavis averaged 10.1 points and 8.3 rebounds.

The secret to longevity in the PBA is self-discipline. It’s a matter of attitude. If you eat healthy, take care of your body, don’t overdo late nights, stay away from vices, commit to a positive lifestyle, work out regularly, stay coachable, play your heart out in every game and keep connected with teammates on and off the court, you’ll enjoy a long career in the PBA.