“Got mad and said, ‘Don’t want to hear nothing about my age,’”: Chris Duarte goes off on NBA teams drafting teenagers instead of more developed players amidst stellar play for Pacers

Chris Duarte calls out the NBA for drafting younger talent and says if they want to win in 4 years then they should do that, instead of drafting him. 

Seems as though nearly every single NBA Draft has a couple teams go against the grain and try their luck on a player who’s in his early 20s, instead of in his late teens. Chris Duarte and Davion Mitchell seem to be this year’s ‘diamonds in the rough’ as they have both shown flashes of what they can develop into once they enter their prime. 

Chris Duarte is currently 24 years old, an age that is unfortunately quite rare for a rookie in the NBA. As time has passed in the league, teams have trended towards drafting talent that is preferably in their teens so by the time they reach their early to mid 20s, they can start to enter their prime. 

This of course, is a greats strategy as it’s worked out for the Phoenix Suns with Devin Booker, most recently. The Suns guard turned merely 25 yesterday and he’s yet to enter the ‘traditional’ age for what is considered to be his prime.

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However, with teams going in this direction, developed talent like Duarte might get left behind; talent that can contribute to a winning team the moment they enter the league. 

Chris Duarte goes off on people constantly asking about his age. 

The Indiana Pacers are currently 1-6 after suffering a loss to the middling Toronto Raptors earlier tonight. This however, shouldn’t be reflective of the way Chris Duarte has been playing as the Dominican Republic native has been putting up solid averages to start the season off. 

After seven games, it seems as though Duarte’s shooting from beyond the arc is legit as he’s shooting the trey-ball at a 39.1% clip while attempting nearly 7 a game. He’s putting up 17.7 points a game and has shown flashes of being an able passer in the half-court. 

In regards to his age, Chris Duarte didn’t hold back as he claimed he gets mad when people ask him about it and calls out NBA teams for drafting younger talent. “If you want to win games, get me. If you want to win in four years, go ahead and draft a 19 year old kid,” said Chris.

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