At 40 years old, Arizona great Jason Terry still has some fire entering 13th NBA playoff appearance

'He just looks like he’s a dad'

NEW YORK — Watch Jason Terry drain a 3-pointer during a Milwaukee Bucks shootaround at Madison Square Garden, and you begin to understand what keeps him motivated nearly two decades after he first put on an NBA jersey.

Watch him miss a shot — and hear the pointed expletive that follows — and you really learn what keeps him ticking on the eve of his 13th playoff appearance in 14 years.

It is hours before a 115-102 Bucks win over the hapless New York Knicks, a game in which Terry will have nine points on three 3s — numbers 2,280, 2,281 and 2,282 of his illustrious career — and Terry is steaming. After making three shots in a row, he misses two, and luckily it’s a closed practice and there are no kids around.

Then again, Terry is 40 years old, the third-oldest player in the NBA. Just about everybody in the league is a kid to Terry.

“He comes in the morning with his Ugg slippers on with no socks, his pants sagging, his big old sweater and he just looks like he’s a dad,” said Bucks teammate D.J. Wilson, who was born in 1996, 19 years after Terry. “He always calls me youngster, kid. That’s (on) a daily basis. He asks me to download music on his phone, and I’m like, ‘It’s right in front of your face! Press download!’”

What Terry lacks in technological proficiency, he makes up for in technical proficiency, at least on the basketball court.

One of the most illustrious players in Arizona basketball history — with a resume that includes one NBA championship (2011, with Dallas), a Sixth Man of the Year trophy (2009), an NCAA championship at Arizona (1997), first-team All-American and Pac-10 player of the year honors (1999) — Terry is more than just an elder statesmen for one of the league’s youngest, and brightest, cores. (The Bucks open the postseason Sunday at Boston.)

There’s still some pep in his pop, some fire in those veins. Watch him lock down a rookie defender in practice, it’s like 2004 again. MySpace is still a thing.

“I joke with him on the bench that the last time he dunked was at Arizona,” said Wilson, a first-round pick this year out of Michigan. “But in practice sometimes, when he’s running off screens or chasing people, and he’s locked in on defense, he looks like the best defender out there. It kind of catches everybody off-guard — a guy who’s 40, who’s been in the league 19 years, and he can still do this? It kind of gives us no excuse.”

It would be easy at this point in his career for Terry to earn figurehead status. But there is not a point guard emeritus position in basketball. When Terry is called upon, he delivers. A half-decade removed from his last season scoring in double-figures, Terry still gets about 16 minutes a game and connects on 35 percent of his 3-point attempts.

Soon enough, he’ll get a chance to coach, and he’ll make a good one.

But not yet.

“‘Jet’ has not only been able to maintain his body, but intuition, his intellect for the game, is still increasing,” said Milwaukee assistant coach Vin Baker, a 14-year NBA veteran and four-time all-star.

“That’s almost more impressive than physically being able to do it. The education he has via his experience is even more important. He’s an inspiration to these guys. If you’re 40 years old and doing the things the staff is asking you to do — I mean, we’re watching film sessions or going through practice, and he’s inspiring guys half his age by saying, ‘Hey, if I can do it, you can do it.’ … It’s one thing to have the information I have and be able to demonstrate it. I can’t demonstrate it. He has the same information I have, but he can go demonstrate it.”

But coaching is in the future, not the present.

Behind those sleepy eyes and that ever-so-cool demeanor lies the heart of a tiger.

“For any kid in America who ever had a dream, when you’re living your dream, why would you want to wake up? Terry said. “You stay asleep as long as you can, and one day, yeah, you’ll wake up. For me, it’s just not right now.”

The Star caught up with Terry, who discussed his long NBA career, his hopes of playing 20 years and his best defense as a dad.

Goal model

Twenty years in the NBA has become a major milestone for you, and a major goal. Was there a moment in your career when you switched mentally from those short-term or individual goals to long-term goals?

A: “Yeah, when we lost to Gary Payton in the NBA Finals in 2006. He was one of my heroes growing up — I always said I wanted to be like him and play as long as he played. I played with Jason Kidd, another guy I looked up to, and he played almost 20 years. Having those guys as role models, mentors — you kind of want to walk in their footsteps. I always thought if they could do it, I know I could do it. I’m not going to stop until I get there.”

First steps

Going on two decades in the NBA, has your routine changed? Is it hard to fight through the regular aches and pains?

A: “At this stage, I take little intricacies from guys I look up to. Tom Brady at this age, Floyd Mayweather at this age, ‘Papi’ Ortiz. The mental toughness side of just getting out of bed in the morning — it has to be in you. You’ve got to want to do it. Brandon Jennings asked me a few days ago, ‘Sometimes do you just feel like you don’t want to get out of bed?’ No. That day I feel like I don’t want to get out the bed, I got to walk away. My first step out of bed is huge for me.”

Proper preparation

Do you have something you do to get ready for the day? For a game?

A: “(UA) coach (Lute) Olson gave us shirts that said, ‘Proper Preparation Prevents Poor Performance.’ I’ve been thinking about that mantra my whole life, and for me, now, practice and shootarounds are like games. I need that muscle memory, being down in that stance, being alert. It was coach who gave me that routine — ‘Kid, get down, be in that stance.’ You play so many games, you go through the motions, you get bad habits. So I stay in that stance.”

Wake-up calls

Was there one moment in your career when that switch flipped for you? Like an aha moment? A wake-up call?

A: “Yep, there were two. The first, I was traded from Atlanta to Dallas, and Avery Johnson was like a player/coach. He took me under his wing, watched film with me, film of my days in Atlanta. He said, ‘Son, look at you. Your body language, your defense — this is not professional. Look at how you’re acting on the basketball court. You think this is a pickup game? This is NBA basketball at the highest level. You have to conduct yourself.’

“And there was no more skipping up and down the court, showboating. We weren’t winning games, and I was the point guard, and with him telling me that, and showing me, and working with me every single day to work out those bad habits, that helped me a lot. That took me to another level.

“The second time, it was just watching Jason Kidd, at age 37 with the Dallas Mavericks, coming in every morning to lift weights, taking an hour and a half to get a massage, to get stretched, to get treatment, and then going to practice as hard as he possibly could for as long as he could, and knowing how to rest. That routine he had was something that inspired me every single day. When he was in the gym, I was in the gym, he was at the training table, I was at the training table, he was lifting weights, I was lifting weights. It was something that stuck with me. It was like, ‘this is what I’ve got to do if I want to play as long as I can.’”

Training ground

Is there anyone in particular on this team whom you have taken under your wing like Johnson and Kidd did for you?

A: “Right now my guy is Tony Snell. I’ve given him a shooting routine, he comes in at night and shoots, post-practice he shoots, shoot-around, another little routine. The routine I’ve carried with me, I’ve now passed along to him. I’ve seen his confidence go throughout the roof. For a guy like him, early in his career, he didn’t have someone to show him. You need someone to show you. And then it’s on you to see if you want to implement that into your routine.”

The elder statesman

How do you walk that line of being a trusted voice for players to count on and being that guy who never shuts up and gets tuned out?

A: “The biggest thing you have to do is you have to be mindful of each individual’s stories — how they were raised, where they grew up at. Once you understand their story, you can better help them along their path. And you have to allow them to talk and open up. I’ve been through a lot of situations, but not the exact same they have. All I can do sometimes is be a good listener. Once I hear their story, then I may interact. Sometimes they just want someone to listen to them, and I think that as an elder statesman, you always want to say, ‘I did it like this, we did it like that.’ Yeah, that’s cool, but this is a different era.”

An evolving game

You played at the tail end of Michael Jordan’s career, and you saw first-hand the change in the game since that era. AAU basketball introduces young stars to each other and they become friends at a very young age and maybe they lose that competitive fire to take down the other guy. Is there a difference in how the game is played, or at least how players get along?

A: “I don’t know what to attribute it to, but it’s definitely different. Maybe it’s an age thing, a lot more one-and-dones now. When I came in, Darrell Armstrong, his rookie year, he was 28 years old. You’re talking about grown men fighting for their lives out there, fighting for their families. These kids, a lot of them, haven’t had to fight. Literally. In training camp, fistfights would break out. He had your position and you wanted his job. That’s not how it is now. Not even close. Not that there is anything wrong with it, but it’s different.”

Once in a generation

Do you feel like part of one generation or the other?

A: “Being here 20 years, I’ve really been a part of both generations I feel. I have that connection. I think that’s why I’m still out here. I’m still in it with them. I grew up with them in this new era of social media. I’ve seen both sides of it. I get in that argument about back in the day, but I see their point of view because I have daughters who are the same age. I’m going through it with them.”

Defensive dad of the year

Jason Terry the point guard, is one of the best defenders of the last 20 years; what’s Jason Terry the father of five daughters like? Pretty tough defense?

A: “Oh, I’m aggressive. Hey look, my thing is, before you try anything, you might want to come talk to me first. I’m not going to talk you out of it. But look, daddy’s been there. Done it all, seen it all. Tried every trick in the book. So just ask me. I’m cool if you ask. Open lines of communication. Don’t need to be trying stuff on your own. With my girls, I always put the onus back on them.

“That’s something Lute did for me. He taught me to be accountable for my actions, and be responsible. I always let them make their decisions but let them know there’s a consequence or reaction to that decision.”