Point guard Jeremy Pargo is known by his Santa Cruz Warriors teammates as “The O.G.”

To most people, those letters stand for Original Gangster. Pargo, a native of Chicago, knows they have another meaning.

“The Old Guy,” the former NBAer said, laughing at his nickname.

Pargo turned 32 on Saturday. He isn’t the oldest basketball player in the NBA’s G League — that distinction belongs to 38-year-old Damien Wilkins of Greensboro — but he’s the oldest guy on the Warriors. And, still, he can flat-out ball.

Plucked off the league’s waiver wire late last month, he has five double-doubles in his past six games, including 22 points and a season-best 16 assists in a loss to host Rio Grande Valley in Texas on Thursday night. He has six straight games with 10-plus assists and three highest single-game totals this season for Santa Cruz despite playing just eight contests.

“It’s not a surprise,” Pargo said. “Part of the job is passing. I’ve been doing this for so long, especially since I’m the O.G. now, and some of these guys are very talented. They make me look good. I try put them in position to make me look great.”

A four-year starter at Gonzaga University from 2005-09 — he was the West Coast Conference Player of the Year as a junior in ’08 — he went undrafted out of college.

After several stints overseas and multiple tryouts in the Las Vegas and Orlando summer leagues, he finally landed in the NBA from 2011-13, appearing in a combined 83 games with Memphis, Cleveland and Philadelphia. Pargo played the past three seasons in the Chinese Basketball Association with Jiangsu (2017-18), Shenzhen (2016-17) and Zhejiang Guangsha (2015-16),

Warriors head coach Aaron Miles, a former standout at University of Kansas who competed against Pargo in Russia in 2013, believes Pargo could be in the NBA again.

“Of course. No doubt, no question,” Miles said. “I always say there are 100 guys playing overseas who could easily play in the NBA and 100 guys in the NBA that could easily be overseas. He’s one of those guys in this league. I’d like to see someone in the NBA give him an opportunity. There are some teams trying to make a playoff push who could use his help. You know what you’re going to get: professionalism and someone who can actually play. He’s been in the bright lights before.”

Pargo wouldn’t decline the opportunity, of course, but he said returning to the NBA isn’t his top priority. He just loves playing. That’s evident on the court when he looks like he’s auditioning for an AND1 video with his behind-the-back and no-look passes and pull-up jumpers from beyond the arc. He can drive through players like they’re giant redwoods planted in the key and finish with a finger-roll through their outstretched limbs for a jaw-dropping layup.

“I don’t have a set goal,” Pargo said. “Some of my friends are like, ‘NBA, NBA, NBA. I want to get called up.’ I don’t think like that. I just played five years overseas consecutively. I had the opportunity to come in here, be the old guy and try to teach and help them grow. I didn’t take this thinking I’m going back to the NBA.”

Pargo said he wants to be a coach or general manager down the road, following in the footsteps of his older brother Jannero, a former NBA and G League player who serves as assistant coach for the Windy City Bulls.

Miles likens the ever-changing rosters of the G League to that of a pick-up basketball game. Pargo’s penchant for playing streetball while growing up in Chicago helped his seamless immersion into the Warriors lineup.

The hardest part has been the generation gap.

“I sometimes make movie references or jokes that go over their heads,” he said.

When Pargo was acquired Feb. 26, the Warriors had six other players listed as guards on their roster, including Damion Lee, who signed a 10-day contract with Atlanta on Tuesday, and two-way players Quinn Cook (Golden State) and CJ Wilcox (Portland).

Playing time looked like it might be thin, but Pargo was thrust into the starting lineup. In his G League debut Feb. 27, he started and played 39 minutes. He hasn’t left the starting lineup since and is averaging 18 points and 11.3 assists.

He hasn’t played enough games to register among the league leaders, but his average assists per game is higher than leader Josh Magette (10.2) of Erie.

“If it’s visible, I’m not going to throw it,” Pargo said. “It comes naturally, something that developed over time. It’s magnified now because I have people around me making shots, making me look good.”

In just his third game with the team on March 2, Pargo set the mark for most assists by a Warrior this season, recording 15 against visiting Oklahoma. Eight of his assists went to center Damion Jones, who was on assignment from Golden State.

“It’s amazing,” Jones said. “For him to come in and help the team like he has is amazing.”

On Thursday night, Pargo bettered his season mark with 16 assists, three shy of the franchise mark set by Phil Pressey against Sioux Falls on March 1, 2017.

“I believe in myself,” Pargo said. “I came in here not knowing what to expect. I wanted to come in and be myself and let the chips fall where they may.”

The O.G., he’s done pretty well for himself thus far.

“He’s still pretty athletic,” Jones said. “Some guys have that factor where they don’t age as fast as others.”

Regardless of level or location, Pargo doesn’t plan to stop running the court anytime soon. And that’s a gift to the Warriors fans who marvel over his theatrics and to his teammates who are always expecting him to send the ball their way.

“I’m going to play until my legs fall off,” Pargo said.

Contact Jim Seimas at 831-706-3256.