LILLE (France) - Marcelinho Huertas is showing no signs of slowing down as the oldest men's player in Olympics history entered the all-time top 10 leaderboard in assists in Brazil's win over Japan.
Depending on the results in the other groups, this could be Huertas' final game with Brazil. All the basketball fans in the world now hope that Brazil will best one of the two best-ranked teams, finishing third in their group, so the show can continue in Paris for the Quarter-Finals.
Huertas dished out 8 assists to go with 13 points, 1 rebound and 1 block as Brazil beat Japan 102-84 to finish third in Group B with a 1-2 record.
Huertas set the men's record for the oldest player when he played Brazil's opener against France at 41 years and 63 days. He is playing in his third Olympics after 2012 and 2016.
His longevity and retained excellence has allowed him to become the all-time assists leader in the Spanish Liga Endesa as well as the Basketball Champions League.
His eight assists moved him into 10th place in the all-time list, pulling even with Facundo Campazzo of Argentina.
Most assists all-time at the Olympics
*Active players The assist was introduced as a statistic for the Olympics in 1976.
Huertas can still add on to that total and maybe over take a spot (or two?) in the all-time list as Brazil won by a large enough victory to qualify for the Quarter-Finals as one of the two best third-placed teams from each Group.
FIBA