Why Some NBA Players get Forgotten, Even While Still in the NBA
Every NBA season, roughly 500 players hold down a roster spot in the NBA. Between fully rostered players, two-way players, and 10-day contracts, it is impossible for the average fan to know everyone. With that being said, some players become very well known in the NBA for part of their careers and then seem to be forgotten as newer and newer players enter the league and rise to stardom. This could be due to old age, injuries, or pure irrelevancy, but now the moment us fans see them step on the court or linger on the sidelines, we all think the same thing… “I thought he retired”. Without further ado, here is the 2022-2023 edition of the “This guy is still in the NBA?” Team.
Point Guard: Matthew Dellavedova
Running the point for our “what year did I just wake up in?” team is none other than Matthew Dellavedova. The 6’2” guard’s presence in the NBA this season is enough to confuse everyone who will be tuning into Sacramento Kings games. Delly helped the Cleveland Cavaliers win the NBA Championship in 2016, but fell out of the NBA following the 2020 season. After spending two seasons playing back in his home country of Australia, the Kings offered him a one-year contract to be their third-string PG this year. Dellavedova’s reemergence means that he is now the last non-big-3 Cavs player still rostered in the NBA from their title run six years ago.
Shooting Guard: Garrett Temple
Slotting in at shooting guard for our “I vaguely remember him” team is 36-year-old, Garrett Temple. One of the mainstays in our All-NBA Journeyman team as well, Temple is entering his 13th season in the league and has suited up for 11 different NBA teams. Averaging 5.0+ PPG in 9 seasons throughout his career also means that he has been a legit rotation player for one-third of NBA franchises. This makes him just good enough for fans to recognize Temple if he was on their favorite team at any point, but mediocre enough that you never knew he stuck around in the league so long. He will suit up as the Pelicans 12th man in 2022-2023.
Small Forward: Jonathan Isaac
Coming in at our small forward spot is the youngest player on this “I forgot he existed” team, Jonathan Isaac. Once drafted 6th overall in the 2017 NBA draft and regarded as an elite-upside player both offensively and defensively, Isaac’s career was derailed by a traumatic ACL injury in the NBA Bubble. This injury has caused him to miss two full seasons in a row, leaving most fans outside of Orlando wondering what ever happened to the young forward who garnered comparisons to Kevin Durant. Still in Orlando, Jonathan Isaac is on track to step back onto the court this year but if he suffers another setback it might be impossible to ever reach his full potential.
Power Forward: Udonis Haslem
At PF in our “How is he not retired?” team is old man Udonis Haslem. Jalen Duren is entering the NBA in 2022-2023 as the youngest player in the NBA. How is this related to Udonis Haslem? Well, Udonis Haslem played his first NBA game in 2003, a couple months before Jalen Duren was even born. The lifetime Heat player was a key role player in all three of their NBA championship runs (2006, 2012, and 2013). He now enters this season as the oldest player in the NBA at age 42 and is really more of an assistant coach for Miami than an actual player. In the last six seasons, Haslem has only appeared in 9.7 games per season.
Center: Serge Ibaka
Rounding out our “This Guy is Still in the NBA?” Team is Serge Ibaka at the center position. Previously known as Iblaka in his OKC Thunder days, Serge has probably had the best career of everyone on this team, but the former 2-time block champ and 3-time all-defensive big has had a strange last few seasons. After his time in Toronto, Ibaka could not seem to stay healthy on the Clippers and even when he did play, it appeared that he had lost a step. LAC eventually traded him to the Milwaukee Bucks, where he saw just 3.7 minutes per game in the playoffs, fading into irrelevance. He enters this new season as merely just an emergency big man behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, Brook Lopez, and Bobby Portis.
