He is “only” 33 years old but, at the dawn of what will already be his fifteenth season in the NBA, Jrue Holiday is aware that he is slowly, but surely, approaching the end of his career. Especially since his current contract is supposed to bind him to Bucks until the summer of 2025, when he will then be 35 years old.
In May 2022, he also confided on the Andre Iguodala and Evan Turner podcast that he was seriously considering retiring at the end of his current lease. A position far from being anchored in stone, the All-Star point guard being on the other hand determined to end his career with the Bucks.
“ I would love “, he answers about it. “ Before I even won a title here, I think I already said I was a Buck for life and I mean it from the bottom of my heart. I don’t want to play for any other team. I think we have a chance to continue to accomplish great things collectively, so I want to be in Milwaukee and nowhere else. »
Maximum fulfillment in Milwaukee
Arriving in Wisconsin in the middle of fall 2020, Jrue Holiday has excelled there since, winning his first title in 2021 and averaging 18.5 points, 6.8 assists and 1.5 interceptions in three seasons (49% shooting, including 40% 3-point shooting). , and 80% on throws) while returning to the All-Star Game in 2023, ten years after his first selection.
Proof that he is particularly fulfilled in this environment, both individually and collectively.
“ It’s being with the Bucks and having three of the best seasons of my career, while having a positive record and being the best or one of the three best teams in the league. I don’t think I’ve ever been on the top three teams in the league before coming to the Bucks. », Details the former UCLA student, regarding his well-being. “ I grew up in the 1990s and I always heard that you were one of the best if you won. So there, I tell myself that this is the case because we won and because we are a victorious team. I knew I was a really good basketball player, but I didn’t really give myself credit for it until I was on a winning team. »
So, obviously don’t count on Jrue Holiday to relax any time soon because, even if the Bucks remain in a bitter failure in the first round of the last playoffs, he was back in action this summer.
“ That’s the challenge: the challenge is knowing what’s next. It starts with summer work, since it’s about giving your all physically, pushing your limits and using other players as a source of motivation. As well Giannis [Antetokounmpo] than Stephen Curry, or any other guy that I’m going to face who gets better in order to beat me. I want to be able to do the same. »
Lessons to be learned from its recent failure
A premature exit against the Heat by Jimmy Butler which caused him misery, but which made Jrue Holiday question himself to better understand this unexpected collapse.
“ At first, when I fail or when I’m disappointed, I first look in the mirror and see what I could have done better or I see why I didn’t do this or that. Then I look at the team as a whole and say, ‘Here’s what we could have done better or what I could have done to help the team be better.’ », Firstly says the former Sixers and Pelicans player.
Then Jrue Holiday added, about what he considers to be the miracle recipe to shine not only in the regular season but also in the playoffs…
“ I know that Giannis [Antetokounmpo] talks all the time about being regular, consistent. We have been throughout the regular season, so I think having this consistency, this consistency, this cohesion and this rhythm on the sidelines of the playoffs is something incredible. I have the feeling that our rhythm was perhaps different from that of the first half of the season for whatever reason, but I think that if we have the feeling of being regular, consistent, then our team will be in a pace that will prepare us for the playoffs. But the intensity and the will to win, that kind of thing, comes from being competitive and competitive. I don’t think you can prepare for that, it just happens. », concludes the double All-Star.
| Jrue Holiday | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2009-10 | PHL | 73 | 24 | 44.2 | 39.0 | 75.6 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 2.6 | 3.8 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 8.0 |
| 2010-11 | PHL | 82 | 35 | 44.6 | 36.5 | 82.3 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 6.5 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 14.0 |
| 2011-12 | PHL | 65 | 34 | 43.2 | 38.0 | 78.3 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 3.3 | 4.5 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 0.3 | 13.5 |
| 2012-13 | PHL | 78 | 38 | 43.1 | 36.8 | 75.2 | 1.1 | 3.1 | 4.2 | 8.0 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 3.7 | 0.4 | 17.7 |
| 2013-14 | NOP | 34 | 34 | 44.7 | 39.0 | 81.0 | 0.8 | 3.4 | 4.2 | 7.9 | 2.7 | 1.7 | 3.1 | 0.4 | 14.3 |
| 2014-15 | NOP | 40 | 33 | 44.6 | 37.8 | 85.5 | 0.8 | 2.6 | 3.4 | 6.9 | 2.8 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 14.8 |
| 2015-16 | NOP | 65 | 28 | 43.9 | 33.6 | 84.3 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 3.0 | 6.0 | 2.3 | 1.4 | 2.6 | 0.3 | 16.8 |
| 2016-17 | NOP | 67 | 33 | 45.4 | 35.6 | 70.8 | 0.7 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 7.3 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 2.9 | 0.7 | 15.4 |
| 2017-18 | NOP | 81 | 36 | 49.4 | 33.7 | 78.6 | 0.8 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 6.0 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 2.6 | 0.8 | 19.0 |
| 2018-19 | NOP | 67 | 36 | 47.2 | 32.5 | 76.8 | 1.1 | 3.9 | 5.0 | 7.7 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 3.1 | 0.8 | 21.2 |
| 2019-20 | NOP | 61 | 35 | 45.5 | 35.3 | 70.9 | 1.3 | 3.5 | 4.8 | 6.7 | 2.4 | 1.6 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 19.1 |
| 2020-21 | MIL | 59 | 32 | 50.3 | 39.2 | 78.7 | 1.2 | 3.3 | 4.5 | 6.1 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 17.7 |
| 2021-22 | MIL | 67 | 33 | 50.1 | 41.1 | 76.1 | 1.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 6.8 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 2.7 | 0.4 | 18.3 |
| 2022-23 | MIL | 67 | 33 | 47.9 | 38.4 | 85.9 | 1.2 | 3.9 | 5.1 | 7.4 | 1.7 | 1.2 | 2.9 | 0.4 | 19.3 |
| Total | 906 | 33 | 46.2 | 36.6 | 78.3 | 0.9 | 3.2 | 4.1 | 6.5 | 2.2 | 1.5 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 16.4 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
