40-SOMETHING! Knicks veteran Kurt Thomas, guarding Chris Copeland during an intrasquad scrimmage, had his 40th birthday yesterday, making him the oldest player on a Knicks team that could become the oldest in NBA history. (Anthony J. Causi)
The questions may be getting old, but the Knicks keep getting older.
One day after the team signed 38-year-old Rasheed Wallace following a two-year retirement, Kurt Thomas stole the faded spotlight yesterday, celebrating his 40th birthday — the oldest player on what may end up being the oldest team in NBA history.
“I never thought I would play at 40,” Thomas said after yesterday’s practice. “I used to tell Herb Williams when we were playing together back in the day that I can’t believe he was playing at 40. Now, look I’m playing at 40 years old.”
Fourteen years after joining the Knicks, the first of seven solid seasons, Thomas is back in New York after being traded, along with Raymond Felton, from Portland in July. Though Thomas said he never expected to play in New York again, the strong defensive presence expected to be playing somewhere this season.
“I never think about retiring,” said Thomas, wearing a No. 40 practice jersey. “Until no one wants my services anymore, then I’ll start thinking about that, but until then I’m always just focusing on the next season. I might’ve lost half a step, but not a full step. I definitely feel good out there. I feel like I can do everything all the other guys are doing out on the floor.
“I don’t think about [age]. I just go out there and play. I feel my game hasn’t changed in 10, 12 years. So [if] you think I’m old, that’s fine, but when I get out there on the floor, I don’t think you’ll see that.”
Mike Woodson hasn’t. Having rested much younger players in the beginning of training camp, the Knicks coach has been impressed with how active Thomas, and the next Knick to turn 40, have been during camp thus far.
“It’s kind of nice to see, and [39-year-old Jason Kidd’s] been the same way,” Woodson said of Thomas’ energy level. “For the most part, they’ve been hanging in there, doing everything I’ve asked them to do.”
With a deep but injury-prone frontcourt — including Amar’e Stoudemire, Tyson Chandler, Marcus Camby and Wallace — Thomas will come off the bench, but could be in line for decent playing time. Last season, he played more than 15 minutes per game in 53 games with Portland and played nearly 23 minutes a game with Chicago the previous season.
“That’s a nice position to be in,” Woodson said of the team’s frontcourt depth. “Last year, honestly, because of injuries, we weren’t deep enough and we got caught. As we went through the playoffs, I thought the injuries really took our team down.”
The Knicks may deflect questions about their collective age, but with this group, injuries may be unavoidable. Woodson acknowledged that he won’t be able to treat this team like the significantly younger core he coached in Atlanta for six seasons.
“They’re older guys, and I got to be a little more [careful] how I push them in terms of practice,” Woodson said. “They’re not 20- and 22-year-old guys, where I can run them into the ground and do things of that nature. This is a situation where I got guys that know how to play, and I just got to gauge them and pace them and put them in the right position to be successful.”