Juan Carlos Navarro retired too late
Juan Carlos Navarro retired too late
I was a Navarro fan. But who wasn’t? Anybody had to be and the truth is that he was one of the most impressive basketball players in Europe all-time. The only problem with these players, especially when they play in their hometown club is that they forget to retire. They think they are eternal. And they are! In our minds, in basketball history, in rankings! But on the court, the presence of Juan Carlos Navarro in the last 2 years of his career was pathetic.
I was in Barcelona to see more than 10 live games and I watched on TV almost all their games in Euroleague. And I saw an old body forcing to be what he was in the years before. I saw 20 players of F.C. Barcelona in better shape than him, playing fewer minutes because of Navarro. He was not able anymore to defend or score with a high percentage. He was just consuming the minutes on the court and consuming the nerves of the Barcelona fans who hoped every season that the Blaugrana team will reach again the Euroleague playoff. But it was no chance for Barca, Navarro had to play. The same situation happened with another legend, Dimitris Diamantidis from Panathinaikos (in the last years, he scored 0 from 7 from 3 points in a game, playing 22 useless minutes). Diamantidis too retired much too late.
In 2016, the body of Navarro was already tired, he played too many championships, cups and during the summer breaks almost every year, he participated with the national team of Spain in the Olympic games, Eurobasket or World Cup series. So the body was consumed, it’s normal. But unrealistic, the player was stubborn to play, to be the main player, to have many shots. Navarro was like a child who refuses to accept the truth of growing. Even these days he declared that in his opinion he could help Barcelona this season as a player. When the pure reality is that Barcelona has a chance to be back on the top of Euroleague, exactly because finally they get rid of Navarro.
But let’s take a look at 2016-2017 Euroleague stats: Navarro was on the 173rd place on efficiency. His index rate was a ridiculous 3.44 per game, meanwhile, he could do what he wanted with the ball. The entire team was subordinated to his shots and he had very low numbers for the minutes he played. It was embarrassing! And every single game he starred at the referees at every touch, claiming imaginary fouls with a disappointed face.
One of the reasons that I like Kobe Bryant is that he declared in an interview when asked if he missed basketball, he said clearly: NO! He played, he won, he retired before getting ridiculous! Another NBA great player Kevin Durant said that he will retire at 35 years old, no matter what. This is a good attitude. Don’t play till 40 just to be there on the court, making your team suffering for your lack of speed, poor defense and stupid shots. Be a man and face reality!
Gratian Cormos, info@brainbasketball.net
