5 oldest rookies to ever play in the NBA

Marcelo Huertas (R) with Kobe Bryant (L)
Kobe Bryant (L) with Marcelo Huertas (R)

The NBA franchises prefer young rookies because the ceiling and potential of older players is lower, and their careers tend to be shorter. This does not prevent older players from trying to achieve their NBA dreams. While the youngest NBA debutant was Andrew Bynum at 18 years and 6 days, here's a list of the 5 oldest NBA rookies ever:

#5 Antoine Rigaudeau

Antoine Rigaudeau shoots a jump shot
Antoine Rigaudeau, Dallas Mavericks.

After going undrafted in the 1993 NBA Draft, he returned to France and played in the French league and later, the Euro league. Antoine made his NBA debut for the Dallas Mavericks on January 19th, 2003 at 31 years.

He featured in just 11 games for the Mavericks averaging 1.5 points, 0.7 rebounds, and 0.5 assists. He had a decorated European professional basketball career and was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2015.

He is currently the head coach of the French League club Paris-Levallois (now called Levallois Metropolitans).

#4 Pero Antic

Brooklyn Nets v Atlanta Hawks
Pero Antic, Atlanta Hawks

Pero Anti? is a Macedonian national that plays professional basketball for Crvena zvezda of the ABA League and EuroLeague. He went undrafted in the 2004 NBA Draft and returned to Europe to play professional basketball.

On July 25, 2013, Anti? signed a two-year contract with the Atlanta Hawks making him an NBA rookie at 31 years. He featured for the Hawks for two seasons averaging 6.3 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in 17.4 mins on the court.

He returned to Europe after the two-year stint in the league.

#3 Arvydas Sabonis

Arvydas Sabonis
Arvydas Sabonis

Sabonis was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 1986 NBA draft.He was drafted with the 24th pick in the 1986 draft, but he declined to come over to play in the United States. He did not play his first NBA game until the age of 31 in 1995.

By the time he came to the NBA, he was a fully-fledged professional basketball star. Until Ralph Sampson’s induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Sabonis was the tallest inductee at 7ft 3”

Although his NBA career was marred by debilitating injuries, his impact on the court was considered Jordanesque by his peers.

Sabonis averaged 12 points and 7.3 rebounds in his seven NBA seasons. He is the father of second-year Indiana Pacers power forward Domantas Sabonis.

#2 Marcelo Huertas

Los Angeles Lakers v Denver Nuggets
Marcelo Huertas, Los Angeles Lakers

Born on 25th May 1983, Huertas went undrafted and was not signed by any team in the 2005 NBA Draft. He became an unrestricted free agent and chose to go back to Europe.

On September 9th, 2015, Huertas signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2015 making him an NBA rookie at 32 years. After signing a multi-year contract with the Lakers in 2016, he was acquired by the Houston Rockets, along with a Traded Player Exception, from the Lakers in exchange for Tyler Ennis and the draft rights to Brad Newley. The Houston Rockets later placed the contract of Marcelo Huertas on waivers. His NBA career lasted only 2 years.

#1 Pablo Prigioni

Portland Trail Blazers v New York Knicks
Pablo Prigioni, New York Knicks

Born on May 17th, 1977, Prigioni is by far the oldest rookie to ever play in the NBA. He made his NBA debut on November 2nd, 2012 at 35 years. He played his rookie season with the Knicks and averaged 3.5 points, 3 assists, 0.9 steal and 1.8 rebounds in 16 minutes. He was a decent minimum budget off-the-bench player in the NBA.

His experience in Europe meant that he didn’t necessarily need to prove that he could play. The New York Knicks made him a very lucrative proposal that was hard to turn down. He had played at the highest level in Europe and had developed into one of the best point guards in Europe.

It took the convincing from his friends from the senior Argentine national team- Manu Ginobili and Luis Scola, for him to agree to a one-year contract with the New York Knicks for the rookie minimum.

Despite his 15 years of overseas experience, he was still considered a rookie in the NBA.

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Edited by Yash Matange