If you do a Google search for Buddy Hield — which would make sense, because he’s been awesome this season for the upstart Sacramento Kings — you’d see that his birthday is Dec. 17, 1993, meaning that he just turned 25. If you look on the NBA’s official website, Hield is listed as being 25, too.
There’s just one problem: Buddy Hield is not 25. While his birthday is Dec. 17, he was born in 1992, not 1993. For one reason or another, Hield has been listed as one year younger than he actually is, and as he told James Ham of NBC Sports, he isn’t sure why this is the case.
“That’s their fault, not my fault,” Hield told NBC Sports. “The first time I saw it on Wikipedia, my mom said, ‘Why do they have your age wrong?’ I said, ‘I have no idea.’
“I came over with a passport,” Hield continued. “My passport has 1992 on it. My driver’s license has 1992 on it. I just think people got their information from Wikipedia or wherever, and they just went with it. They just got it wrong.”
It seems like this is more of an honest misunderstanding than something malicious, as Hield said that the Sacramento Kings know his real age, something that general manager Vlade Divac confirmed. As for how this happened, Hield said he thinks the University of Oklahoma had his correct age, but it was mistakenly put in the NBA’s system incorrectly somewhere along the line.
Hield was considered an old rookie when he came into the league, as he spent four years in college before heading to the pros. This will, naturally, lead to some questions about whether that extra year would have impacted his positioning in the draft, as he was selected sixth overall by the New Orleans Pelicans. Both sides of the argument make sense — his best skill is his shooting, which tends to age well, but also, being a 24-year-old during your rookie season isn’t exactly ideal.
Regardless, as long as the Kings know and are cool with this, it’s more of a quirk than anything, even if it may end up being something that makes his potential restricted free agency in 2020 a little more interesting.
