The Aged Veteran: The Story of Nene
By Dylan Webber
I’m not generally a Vice fan, but Kelly Iko knocked this one out of the park. First of all, I’m a big fan of feature stories that are written slightly from the reporter’s point of view. I think it helps add more to the story.
The feature doesn’t cover the big name players — James Harden, Chris Paul, Clint Capela. Instead, it focuses on the little guy. Well, not so little. Nene is a tower of a man at 6-foot-11. And at 35-years-old, he’s still competing at a decently high level. Most people that size don’t last as long as Nene has. They especially don’t play as well as Nene has this season.
This story covers how he was able to preserve his body so he could continue to play as he aged. Nene talks about how listening to his veterans at a young age played a huge role in that.
Not only does the feature talk about how he has adapted his routines to help his body, it also talks about how he has adapted his game. In the feature, Nene talks about how he has seen “three different generations” of basketball during his time in the league. Nene has watched as his position of power forward has slowly become extinct.
I do wish they would have talked a little bit about how his game actually did evolve. The author talks a little bit about how Nene had to adjust his game but doesn’t use the specifics on how his game actually changed as the sport changed around him. This would have helped explain Nene’s history as a basketball player a little better and would have given the reader more insight.
