The Joventut guard has seven teammates who are 30+ to serve as inspiration
Devon Dotson inspired by longevity of vets like Tomic and Ribas
Player Spotlight
4 Mins read
Devon Dotson is still very early in his basketball career, but the 25-year-old Joventut Badalona guard only has to look at some of his veteran teammates to realize just how long he can play this game – something he does in inspiring fashion.
Dotson works out and plays with seven players who are 30 years old or older. Ante Tomic and Pau Ribas are both 37, Adam Hanga is 35, Artem Pustovyi 32, Guillem Vives 31, and Kassius Robertson and Sam Dekker are both 30 years old.
“It's funny because I talk about it with Kaiser Gates almost every day, just seeing they're 37 and seeing them give 100 percent effort in practice. It's motivation – if those guys can do it at their age, we definitely can give way more,” said Dotson, who joined Joventut this offseason after playing the last two months of last season with Obradoiro.
“Seeing how much they take care of their bodies and the matureness of how to handle things is why they had a long career. So just talking with them and really gaining knowledge from their long careers it's really motivation – just seeing them go at it every day.”
Being a guard like Ribas, it’s hard not to see how the 18-year professional takes care of his body.
“He's had a long career. I feel like every basketball player wants that long longevity and seeing how long they last is special,” said Dotson.
The Chicago native joined Obradoiro in March 2024 after three and a half years trying to establish himself in the NBA. He jumped back and forth between the G League and the NBA, appearing in 11 NBA games in both 2020-21 and 2021-22 and six games in 2022-23, playing for the Chicago Bulls the first two years and then the Washington Wizards in 2022-23.
“It's definitely a journey,” said Dotson, who went undrafted in the COVID-affected 2020 NBA Draft. "Every day was a fight to try to prove that you can belong on the NBA court… Sometimes it works out and sometimes it happens where you never really get the opportunity. You just got to keep going and keep having the faith and staying confident in your abilities.”
After games with 14 and 15 assists in his final two weeks in the G League last season but still not getting a call from the NBA, Dotson figured a change of scenery would help. He jumped at a chance to play in Spain and also got a good taste of the level as he faced teams like FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Zaragoza and Joventut.
Now wearing Joventut's jersey, playing alongside the likes of Tomic and Ribas helps Dotson remember even better one of his favorite quotes.
Listed on his Instagram is Galatians 6:9 – a Bible verse which says: 'Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.'
“That's my quote. That's my Bible verse. I wake up and hang my hat on that every day," said Dotson. "That's just the testimonies of this profession and just life. You can't just look at the next guy or the next situation and say why isn't that me. Everybody has their own story. Everybody has their own trials and their own path. This really just locks me in and makes me keep that faith and make sure I'm laying down the bricks, laying down the foundation every day. My time will come and it'll pay off."
Another of his life mottos he has on social media is #lfof.
“Live free of fear – in life, if you want anything, you have to be fearless. You got to be confident and nobody's just going to give it to you,” he said. “That helped me just having a mindset of fearlessness. Just not being tentative, timid. You always just got to go out there and give 100 percent and just compete. That's my mindset, just be a competitor.”
And if he takes care of his body like Tomic and Ribas, Devon Dotson could be a threat in the competition for a long time.