On a Tuesday morning in late September, Jameer Nelson sits down at the scorer's table on an empty Nuggets practice court. In the background J.J. Hickson is randomly yelling things because, well, that's J.J. Hickson. It's a loose atmosphere, the calm before the storm of an NBA training camp and the subsequent slog of a six-month season -- the rigors of which Nelson knows all about. It doesn't necessarily feel like it, but Nelson has been in the league for 12 years now. He's a vet in every sense of the word.
Ask anyone around the Nuggets -- from GM Tim Connelly to coach Michael Malone to second-year guard Gary Harris to rookie Emmanuel Mudiay -- who the veteran leader of the team is, and the first name out of their mouth will be Jameer Nelson. Veteran leadership is one of those sports buzz terms like intangibles or chemistry -- an element that is impossible to quantify yet almost universally accepted as a key ingredient of any good team.
But what, exactly, does it mean?
Perhaps, more than anything, it means stability. Consistency. An ability to adapt to who and what is around you, both on and off the court, and get the best out of others. Nelson became this player for an Orlando team that won a lot of games, made one Finals and was repeatedly in contention for the Eastern Conference title. He was also this player for a rebuilding Orlando team. And when he arrived in Denver last season following trades from Dallas and Boston, he entered a fractured locker room playing for a coaching staff that was on its way out. It would have been very easy to just check out, collect the checks, and get through the year. But Nelson didn't do that.
Instead, he invited his new teammates and coaches to his home in Philadelphia to try to mend fences and get the team back on the same page. His mom even cooked for them.
"When I got here, I could see some kind of disconnection," Nelson says. "Was it basketball, was it outside of basketball, I don't know, I wasn't here long enough to see that. Who am I to judge? But me being who I am, a leader, to try and help other people out, I felt we all needed to get together and do some things, laugh and joke outside of basketball.
"When you're on the court, it's business. It should be. I just felt like it was a thing where we were going back to Philly, and I just happen to have a house there, and my mom can cook pretty well. So I just had everybody come over."
For a new player to come in and be that assertive in trying to fix a desperate situation, it says something. For Nelson, it's his identity, and something that's come natural to him from the very beginning.
Nelson entered the league as a college star, taken 20th overall in the 2004 draft after a senior year at St. Joseph's that came with its own trophy case. Nelson averaged 20.6 points and 5.3 assists that year, leading St. Joe's to the Elite 8 after a 27-0 regular season while winning the Naismith, Rupp, Oscar Robertson, Wooden and pretty much every conceivable player of the year award. But at 6-foot-zero without elite athleticism, he was the very model of the good college player who lacks NBA tangibles.
Maybe that was what prepared him for being a long-term vet from the get-go, though. He never relied on sheer athleticism. He was never a guy who could jump out of the gym and then had to reinvent himself when he no longer could. This, of course, is a big part of being a veteran player as you get older, understanding the evolution of your own abilities and figuring out how they fit in a largely young man's game, because it's harder to be a meaningful veteran leader if you're no longer effective enough to be a meaningful veteran player.
We've seen this with other players, and it often coincides with those who conduct themselves the right way. Vince Carter went from All-Star to role player, and now he's primarily a veteran presence, but he's still getting buckets for the Memphis Grizzlies. Chauncey Billups is still seen in Nuggets training camp, working with younger players, and everyone knows how much Chauncey meant to every team he played for even as his ability to impact an NBA game diminished.
What's interesting is how players talk of being a vet. There are perks that come with being the man, the star -- it's what every player dreams of. But there's a different kind of pride that comes with being that respected veteran, the guy who's been around the block, who's seen it all, endured it all, who plays and teaches the game and navigates the league with an understanding that can only be developed through experience. Having all this knowledge, knowing all the tricks, winning the mental game, this is what enables guys like Nelson, or Manu Ginobili, or Paul Pierce, to continue to compete with younger, more athletic players who are hungry to take on the world.
To this point, if Nelson entered the league with certain physical limitations, then playing at age 33 only exacerbates those challenges. Nelson doesn't hide from that fact. Nelson was an All-Star in Orlando, and for years was a major weapon on an Eastern Conference contender under Stan Van Gundy. As he's gotten older, though, the competition at point guard has only increased. That means he's had to make adjustments to his game. He wrote in the Players' Tribune this summer:
I’m now entering a veteran position in my career. Spending more than a decade in this league teaches you a lot. With the league shifting as it has, I’ve had to make adjustments to my own game as well. I still have my quickness and my speed, but I’ve learned I have to use both more wisely now. These younger point guards are extremely fast, and really strong and talented. So I have to use my veteran knowledge of the game and my strength to slow guys down.
Source: The Takeover | The Players' Tribune.
Let's first look at this strength factor to which Nelson alludes. Check out the video below:
See how Nelson fights right through a screen, overpowering a much bigger player to remain attached to his man, and ultimately force a turnover? That physicality is reminiscent of what former Lakers guard and current Knicks coach Derek Fisher would do. Fisher was a useful defensive player on championship teams in LA well past what should have been his expiration point because he would simply bump, harass and wear down opposing guards until he had eroded their energy to dust.
"It's funny you pointed out Fisher," Nelson says when I bring that up. "Defensively he was always a great defender, and it wasn't because he stayed in front of his man every time. It's because he stuck to his style of play. He was really physical. You're not going to stop anybody in this league one-on-one. But you can wear them down over the course of a game. Bump after bump, bruise after bruise, it wears on your body. If you're used to giving it out, it's not going to wear you down as much."
So, basically, don't jump to conclusions when you see Nelson get beat by his man. Often he's leading his opponent right into the teeth of the help, as he did with Afflalo in the clip above. And when he switches on the pick and roll, he does so seamlessly, aware of where he needs to be to defend the kick-out to the shooter. You hear people calling a player a "savvy vet" -- that's what they mean. Little things like this are the reason Nelson, somewhat surprisingly, had the fifth-best defensive rating while on court for the Nuggets.
"Defensively you want to play your defensive principles," he says. "You have to know if I'm closing out to a shooter, if he likes to go left. If the coach wants the big man to show, my positioning has to be different, even if I get hit with the pick. If the coach wants [the big] to drop, then my positioning is different. I don't look at it as if I'm playing Chris Paul and he runs 30 pick-and-rolls and he scores on 20 of them, I don't look at that as my fault, it's 'our fault.'
"There are so many things that have to go to the knowledge of the game. You don't just say 'we're going to go play basketball.' Sometimes the defense breaks down and you have to know those tendencies in different situations, in different times of the game, in different quarters. You're trying to get that knowledge to help you get any advantage you can."
These lessons are hard learned. Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley once said something that other point guards have echoed in the NBA, which is that it really takes between four and five seasons to fully grasp how to play point in the NBA. Nelson notes that often times, young point guards are asked to lead veterans who have a decade or more of experience, right out of the gate. That's the burden of being the man with the ball in his hands.
"It's tough," Nelson says with a shake of his head. "A lot of these guys are young. You have 10-year vets, 12-year vets, and when you're young, you have to lead those guys. You have to get out of your comfort zone to be a leader. A lot of point guards don't do that until their third or fourth year."
And that's just on the court. Often the other-worldly adjustment to an NBA life -- from the travel to the temptations to the money, all things that can easily corrupt your game and overwhelm a young player -- are the biggest challenge. Right off the bat, Nelson says he felt more prepared for NBA life, in part because by that point he was already a father. His son, Jameer Jr., was born while he was still in college.
"Every decision you make, you have to worry about how it's going to affect your child and yourself," Nelson says of the difference between where he was at in his life compared to most rookies. "You want to make every decision the right decision or close to the right decision. I don't want anyone saying negative things about me when my kids grow up, and for them to hear that. I want to be the greatest dad I can be, and greatest teammate and greatest player."
The league is full of great point guards at this point. The Nuggets have plans for molding their own, No. 7 overall pick Emmanuel Mudiay, and to do that they need a mentor, someone who knows the difference between a talented player and a truly great one.
"A lot of these point guards are extremely talented, fast, quick, they have every attribute to be a great player in this league," Nelson said. "But the leadership? That takes guys to a different level."
That different level is precisely why he's in Denver, which brought him back this summer to fill a big role, even if a 19-year-old will be starting at his spot. Denver needs a leader, someone to help repair the damage of the past two seasons and to set a positive example in the locker room. Connelly has stacked the roster with guys like Mike Miller, Randy Foye, players that understand how to be a professional, in the hopes that will help change the culture in Denver.
The Nuggets are so committed to this that they established themselves as an organization Nelson could trust. That was a large part of the reason Nelson decided to return as a free agent this summer.
"[When I was first traded to Denver], I didn't know if I wanted to come here," he admitted. "I wanted to stay on the East Coast with my family. I had conversations with the GM, my agent, but also with my wife. I was like 'I don't want to go.' I've never been in that situation. You don't know what you're going to do until you're in that situation. I gave myself about 10 minutes to think by myself and I'm like, 'Well, there's no reason for me not to go. I'm a professional. This is my job, and they're giving me an opportunity to play.'
"I'm a man of loyalty. [The Nuggets] were loyal to me. Everything has come true. We want you here, this is going to be your role. You're going to do this, you're going to do that, and everything has come true. Even things like 'We're going to change the locker room.' They're changing the locker room."
(Denver is literally in the middle of a total renovation of its locker room space, by the way, which is part of the reason the team is holed up at Team USA headquarters in Colorado Springs for training camp.)
"That means a lot to the player, because along the way there's been a couple of people who have lied to me," Nelson continued. "So when you get back to someone telling you the truth, and when they first tell you, maybe you look at them sideways like, 'Maybe they're going to lie to me,' but the organization has been good to me. They're moving in the right direction."
As mentioned, Nelson will be counted on first and foremost to mentor Mudiay, who is already being set up as the face of the franchise for the foreseeable future. Nelson said openly this summer he has no problem coming off the bench behind the rookie and understands how much guidance he'll have to give the kid. Coach Michael Malone said on media day there would be a fair amount of time with both on the court, as Nelson's shooting would complement Mudiay's playmaking and vice-versa.
Nelson sees no issue here, unlike some point guards who bristle at the idea of not having the ball in their hands.
"I don't see why that would be a problem nowadays because odds are one of those point guards is going to be 6-3, and he's going to be a scorer. There's not too many 2-guards who are going to post up nowadays. It's mostly pick-and-roll or spot-up. It's different than it was when I first came into the league. There's not even as many point guards posting up. You can play two point guards and a shooting guard. It depends on the situation.
"For me, if I'm out there with Emmanuel, I'm not the guy who's going to say 'I need to bring the ball up every play.' Or I'm not going to say 'He needs to bring the ball up.' It's feel for the game. Matchups, who's got it going. I may have a defender who struggles with team defense, so maybe it's better for him to handle the ball then."
What Nelson is looking to provide Mudiay goes far beyond the court, though. It's about life in the NBA, and about perspective.
"You're going to be young. You have to go through things," Nelson said. "The best judge of character is someone going through things. I can't tell Emmanuel, 'This is going to happen, that's going to happen.' It's not going to happen that way. His life is going to be different from the next guy. My life is different from your life.
"You have to face those challenges and that adversity when it happens and see how you react. A good judge of a good person is when they come upon adversity, how do they handle it, how do they come out of it. That's for a lot of young guys, they're going to struggle at some point during the season. What are you going to do to get through that. "
Even though Nelson is expected to mentor Mudiay and Gary Harris and all the young Nuggets players, and even though the organization is preaching patience and long-term development, Denver also extended veterans Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler. So the idea is to compete this season, at least at a level higher than the last two years, which would have been a train wreck.
"We're building, but not rebuilding, in my eyes," Nelson said. "It's not going to happen overnight, but as long as we're working together, that's what made me want to sign back. They're doing everything right. I can be part of something special."
For veterans, that's a big theme. It's not always just about chasing a championship; it's about being a part of an organization you can be proud of, in a role you can be proud of.
Nelson started putting in the work long before training camp. Earlier this summer, he organized an entire week of events for his Nuggets teammates in his hometown of Philadelphia. No coaches. No media. Just teammates, working out, hanging out, getting to know one another. Nelson paid for the whole thing.
"Fifteen years in the NBA, been around some great players, that's the first time that I've been around a player that has done that," Malone remarked at media day. "Team bonding. Jameer's kind of taken that on him. He's a guy who can back that up with an All-Star appearance."
Nelson took the players to a Phillies game, had them play dodgeball at a trampoline park ("We were all terrible," Nelson says), and even had a paintball match. Wilson Chandler is apparently really good at paintball. When I comment that Tim Duncan is also really good at paintball, Nelson deadpans, "I think it's just weird dudes," referencing his friend Chandler. But for Nelson, the most important part was a workout session with a Navy SEAL trainer, who taught them about the anaerobic threshold, and how much fatigue only exists in the mind.
"The cool part was he made everybody shut their eyes, which made you not see what the other guy was going to do, it made you only look at yourself and think about yourself and tell yourself you can keep going. A lot of guys didn't get that but I got it."
So here he is. Jameer Nelson. An 11-year NBA vet who's been playing basketball for 24 years. He's been the country's best college player, the overwhelmed rookie, the rising star, the All-Star, the veteran rock, and now a mentor. Beyond everything else, there's an element that may have helped him carve out a long, successful career in a league that has chewed up so many point guards over time. Not only does he still love the game, he still loves the work that goes with it.
"I love it. I love the grind. If I can't continue to do the things I do offseason-wise in terms of getting ready for a season, that's when I know I'm done. I love waking up and working out. I love the part of my kids seeing what I do before I have to go to my real job. I still love the game, for sure."
