eventually HGH stops working
That must be what Dirk is using, too. It can't just be great genetics and fundamental basketball skills.
Interesting.
Well let's look at the evidence for a minute.
Duncan....When he was 35 he averaged 13.5 ppg in 76 games in 28 minutes a night. The next year he performed a little better but played in 18 less games. At the age of 36 his career had been trending down hill for two years. He was performing worse in less games. Then at the age of 37....wow. Bounce back year. He played an extra 2 minutes a game over the year before and played 11 games more and played more effectively. Then the year after that he played 5 more games, and the year after that he was back up to 77 games. Is that typical?
So let's look at Dirk now.
He's 37. At the age of 33 he had a tough year. He played 62 games. The next year he played even less. He played 53 and 2 less minutes per game. His play was less good too. He went from 21.6 ppg to 17.3. Then...wow. 80 games at 21.7 ppg. And now at 37 he's still at 75 games for 18ppg
Bounce back years at the ages of 35 for Dirk and 37 for Duncan.
Now let's look at some other good players with good genetics and fundamentals. Take a look at Paul Pierce. Then Kevin Garnett. Then Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Tell me if you find the bounce back years in their late or mid 30s. I'm not seeing it.
So Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett (Pierce in particular is known for keeping himself in impeccable shape) are absolute shells of their former selves. Even Tony Parker is a shell of himself now and he's 33.
So either Tim Duncan and Dirk are just really blessed genetically ....or something else. It could be that they are just blessed genetically. Or bounce back years at 35 and 37 is something else. I don't believe genetics can give you bounce back years at that age in a physical game.