By Jeph Duarte | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-08-19 19:00:00
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
前几天，当我在为一篇关于德文·布克 (Devin Booker) 是2025届NBA选秀中唯一一位仍效力于选中他的球队的球员的文章做研究时，我查看了太阳队的球员名单。我原以为布克会是队里年龄最大的球员之一，并且也会拥有最长的职业生涯履历。
经过核实，他的NBA经验确实比太阳队名单上的其他任何成员都多，但他并非年龄最长者。
比布克年长八个月的狄龙·布鲁克斯 (Dillon Brooks)，在联盟中只打了八个赛季。格雷森·阿伦 (Grayson Allen) 比布克大一岁，但在联盟中只有七个赛季的经验。而比布克年长三岁的罗伊斯·奥尼尔 (Royce O’Neale)，也同样拥有八个赛季的NBA履历。
而年届30岁的奈吉尔·海耶斯-戴维斯 (Nigel Hayes-Davis)，即将开启他个人的第二个NBA赛季。
这激起了我的兴趣。一个三十岁的球员是如何能够重返这个顶级联赛的？
海耶斯-戴维斯来自俄亥俄州的韦斯特维尔，大学时期为威斯康星大学效力，并在大三赛季入选了十大联盟（All-Big Ten）最佳阵容一阵。进入大四赛季时，他更是被评为十大联盟季前赛年度最佳球员。
他在2017年选秀中落选，但受邀代表纽约尼克斯队参加夏季联赛，随后签下了自己的新秀年合同。在被裁掉后，他为其G联盟下属球队效力。
三个月后，他与洛杉矶湖人队签下一份10天短合同，出战了两场比赛。又过了两个月，他与多伦多猛龙队签下一份10天短合同，为球队打了两场比赛。再过两个月，萨克拉门托国王队签下海耶斯-戴维斯，合同直至赛季结束。他在为国王队出战五场比赛后，于夏天被裁掉。
自2018年以来，海耶斯-戴维斯一直在海外打球，并取得了巨大成功。他先后斩获2020年和2021年的立陶宛联赛冠军、2022年的西班牙杯冠军、2024年和2025年的土耳其杯冠军（并在后一次赛事中荣膺总决赛MVP），以及2025年的欧洲篮球联赛（EuroLeague）冠军，并成为当届赛事的总决赛得分王。
凭借持续的成功，他重新获得了NBA的关注。凯尔特人队主教练乔·马祖拉 (Joe Mazulla) 甚至亲自飞往伊斯坦布尔对他进行考察。最终，他与太阳队签下了一份为期一年的合同。
这恰恰提醒了我们，下一个重大机遇或许就近在眼前。
回到2019年的夏天，我曾前往犹他州报道马刺队在盐湖城夏季联赛的比赛。当时与新秀三人组卢卡·萨马尼奇 (Luka Samanic)、凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 和昆德里·韦瑟斯庞 (Quinndary Weatherspoon) 同队的，还有二十八岁的托马斯·罗宾逊 (Thomas Robinson)。我记得记者贾巴里·杨 (Jabari Young) 走上前去，罗宾逊问他为何想采访自己。杨评论说，他很想知道罗宾逊是如何吸引到马刺队的注意，从而赢得了这次机会。
海耶斯-戴维斯将如何把握住他的机会，这无疑将是人们关注的焦点。
点击查看原文：At the age of 30, Nigel Hayes-Davis is entering his second NBA season
At the age of 30, Nigel Hayes-Davis is entering his second NBA season
The other day when I was researching the piece on Devin Booker being the only member of the 2025 NBA Draft class to still be on the same team that drafted him, I was checking the roster for the Suns. I figured that Booker was going to be one of the older members of the team and that he’d also have more years of experience.
For verification, he does have more years of NBA experience than the other members of the Suns roster, but he is not the eldest.
Dillon Brooks, who is eight months older than Booker, has only been in the league for eight seasons. Grayson Allen has a year on Booker, but just seven season in the league. Royce O’Neale, three years Booker’s senior, also has eight NBA seasons under his belt.
And at age 30, Nigel Hayes-Davis will be entering his second NBA season.
This piqued my interest. How was a thirty-year-old able to make a return into the big league?
Hayes-Davis, originally from Westerville, Ohio, played collegiate ball for Wisconsin making first team All-Big Ten in his junior year. Entering his senior season, he was named Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year.
He went undrafted in 2017, but was invited to join the New York Knicks in Summer League before signing on for his rookie year. After being waived, he player in their G-League affiliate.
Three months later he signed a 10-day contract with the Los Angeles Lakers, playing in two games. Two months later he signed a 10-day contract with Toronto, playing in two games with the Raptors. After another two months, the Sacramento Kings signed Hayes-Davis for the remainder of the season. He played in five games before being waived during the summer.
Since 2018, Hayes-Davis has played overseas where he has amassed success. Lithuanian League Championships in 2020 and 2021, the Spanish Cup in 2022, Turkish Cup in 2024 and 2025 taking Finals MVP in the latter competition, EuroLeague Championship in 2025 where was the Finals top scorer.
With content success, he garnered attention from the NBA. Celtics head coach Joe Mazulla even made a trip to Istanbul to check him out. In the end, he signed a one-year deal with the Suns.
Just a reminder that the next big opportunity might be right around the corner.
Back in the summer of 2019, I made a trip to Utah to cover the Spurs at the Salt Lake City Summer League. Among the newly drafted trio of Luka Samanic, Keldon Johnson, and Quinndary Weatherspoon was twenty-eight-year-old Thomas Robinson. I recall Jabari Young walking up to him and Robinson asking why he wanted to talk to him. Young commented that he was interested in how Robinson had gotten the Spurs attention to earn this shot.
It will be interesting to see how Hayes-Davis embraces his opportunity.
By Jeph Duarte, via Pounding The Rock