PARIS (France) - He still had on the cap with CHAMPS emblazoned on it, sitting on the scorers table at the Bilbao Arena an hour after the Final had finished.
His teammates, the coaching staff, and front office executives from La Laguna Tenerife were celebrating winning the 2022 Basketball Champions League in Bilbao, Spain, taking photos and enjoying the moment after an exhausting season, coming over to give him one more hug after he led the team to the title and picked up the MVP of the Final Four award, too.
Just two weeks before his 39th birthday, it seemed like a perfect scenario to face the final curtain and leave the game he loves as a champion.
"No, man. The idea is to reach Paris 2024."
When Marcelinho Huertas said those words two years ago, they sounded like a stretch. Firstly, he was 39. Professional athletes usually don't make two-year plans at 39.
Secondly, he is from Brazil, and they haven't exactly been a regular at the Olympics, qualifying for the event only once until that point, in 2012, and playing as a host in 2016.
Thirdly, Brazil are loaded with younger guards, and national teams strive for youth, to build their programs on longevity.
And now, after witnessing 12,364 send him off with a standing ovation at Bercy on Tuesday, we can only stand with the others, put our hands together and say something like: "He really did it."
Brazil's point guard, so good and so creative with his decision making you can call him a point god, played his last game as a member of Brazil. He was really good, too, with the way he handled business in the first half with 9 points and 4 assists against the United States, casual fans had a hard time believing this guy is 41.
"You feel like a part of you is being ripped apart when such a captain, such a player calls it a day," Brazil's head coach Aco Petrovic said and continued:
"He helped us so much this summer. With Yago Santos and Raul Neto fighting off injuries, he came in ready to go, and without him, reaching the Olympics in Paris would've been much, much harder."
With the 41-year-old running the point, Brazil stunned the hosts Latvia at the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in July. Huertas averaged 11.5 points, 5.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game during that run, checking Paris 2024 off his to-do list.
That's Marcelinho for you. He set a goal to play in Europe one day, he achieved it in 2004. He set a goal to play at the highest european level, he got there in 2006. He set a goal of reaching the NBA, he got signed by the LA Lakers in 2015.
Not just any team. The Kobe Bryant era LA Lakers. In fact, Huertas is the last player who ever assisted Kobe, finding him as a trailer in transition, Bryant hitting a catch-and-shoot three from the left 45 early in the fourth quarter.
He made it a mission to break records, here he is, as the all-time leader in assists in both the Spanish Liga Endesa and the Basketball Champions League.
Elite athletes do that, set a goal and dedicate everything to achieving it. Even at 41.
"The feeling is the same as being here at 25," Marcelinho laughed.
Being here representing my country is just a privilege
"Being at the Olympics is just amazing, the experience of playing the hardest competition to get in. Competition level is so high, being here representing my country is just a privilege."
Two other words come to mind for him when talking about Brazil: honor and priority.
"It's always been an honor and a priority for me in my career, being with the national team. Having the end at the Olympics is something indescribable. I'm just blessed to be here, man."
You would think that final curtain from the start of this story is more appropriate here, leaving the game he loves as an Olympian, right? Wrong.
Being the reigning Basketball Champions League MVP of the Season, he signed a new contract with his club, La Laguna Tenerife in Spain. A two-year contract, because... Well, because why not!?
His next goal? Probably winning another Spanish League, Spanish Cup or the BCL trophy with the club.
"We're just lucky to be able to play in such competitions. The progress is clear, not only for us as players, we feel like the level is harder and harder to reach success each year. Hopefully it's still increasing, you know the great players love competition, and the harder it is, the better it tastes," he said.
The timers are set again. In 2026, it seems, he'll finally face that final curtain. And we already know he'll leave the game he loves as a true legend, no matter what.
FIBA