CSKA striker Nikita Kurbanov explained why he doesn’t make plans for the duration of his career.
Kurbanov will turn 38 in October. He has 16 seasons for CSKA. As a member of the military team, the forward won the VTB United League 8 times and the Euroleague three times.
— You are already starting your 17th season at CSKA. What do you think about that? Can you believe that you are the “oldest” in the team?
— Somehow, I don’t even think about it. For me, every season is a new challenge. I don’t look at basketball from the perspective of those numbers. It doesn’t matter at this point. It just highlights a certain experience. That’s it. Yes, I’ve spent many seasons with the team. But you always have to remember that you have to match the pace, the philosophy and the speed of the current season. For me, that’s much more important than walking around and saying, well, I’m starting my 17th season here. Those are not things that you have to dwell on.
Of course, I understand that I am the most experienced and the oldest in the team, so I do everything I can to be useful in that respect. Both on the pitch and in the locker room.
— Despite your age, in every match on the field you demonstrate good playing form. From the outside, it seems that you can play until you are 45. According to your personal feelings, until what age are you ready to play?
— Again, every year there is a certain challenge for me. As long as you have health, as long as you have the desire to win, as long as you have the motivation to be a champion, you want to play. And maybe that delays the end of my career. But I only think about this season: I don’t think about how much longer I’m going to play.
The main thing here is to conform. If you are 45 years old, you do not want to be like that. You must fully meet the criteria set by modern basketball. I would like to play and make a significant contribution to victories, and not be on the bench and it is not known why. I want to be constantly in the process of playing and training. And in addition to having experience, you need to go out with motivation every time. Going out and winning is a huge motivation for me.
In general, I do not know yet at what age they will play. The age of an athlete is unpredictable and depends on many factors. I am happy to be in my native club and bring benefits there,” Kurbanov told .
Watch VTB United League matches on the channels of the Match holding company, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.
TV Match
More sports news in our telegram channel .
Source : MatchTV

My name is Adam Jackson and I am an author. I have been writing about Basketball games for over a decade now and am excited to share my knowledge with you all. Additionally, I am also interested in other sports and enjoy discussing them with others. Contact me if you want to discuss any Basketball-related topics!