In a golden era of older NBA talent, LeBron James remains one of one
TThe second-youngest team in the NBA, the Oklahoma City Thunder, just clinched the top seed in a feverishly competitive Western Conference. A Minnesota Timberwolves team, led by 22-year-old phenom Anthony Edwards, is hot on their heels. But at the lower end of the spectrum, and at the other end of the age spectrum, surefire Hall of Famers await on the first ballot, such as Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and LeBron James.
Yes, their respective teams had up-and-down seasons, leaving them with unfavorable seedings entering the NBA postseason, which gets off to a soft start on Tuesday night with the play-in tournament. And no one would argue that the future isn’t bright in the association with stars like Edwards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in full bloom. But the kids in Oklahoma and Minnesota will be the first to tell you: The NBA’s old guard is still waiting in the wings, cleaver in hand.
Heading into the playoffs, and consistently throughout the regular season, there has been a lot of buzz about which stars from a very impressive younger NBA class will be the next face (or faces) of the league. Sure, it’s partly bad faith to boost ratings. But it’s also an understandable exercise considering that supernovas like Curry and James, who have supported the league for longer than some fans were aware of, are in their second (or even third, in James’ case) decades of NBA stardom.
But the whole thought exercise could prove not only premature, but robbing the sheer pleasure of witnessing some truly special years in the careers of special athletes by preemptively throwing proverbial dirt on them. These older players may not be reaching the heights of their absolute statistical peaks, but the data is clear: they are still very, very good.
“Older” NBA players (whom we’ve categorized as players over 33 for contextual reasons, as demeaning as that distinction is to the rest of us) are putting on nothing short of remarkable performances this season. There are numerous factors that contribute to this, one of the most important being advances in training, nutrition, and sports medicine toward extending the career of a professional athlete, if he chooses to do so. The Guardian spoke to several NBA players and coaches about what might be driving this increase in productivity among the league’s elder statesmen.
“I think the difference is players have the tools to take care of their bodies all year round,” Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said. “Players have become smarter and take better care of their bodies, and we are trying to be smarter about helping them extend their careers.” He notes that other sports have also benefited from this. “In tennis, Björn Borg played until he was almost done [26 years old]. And now Nadal and Djokovic are all continuing. We simply know a lot more now and, thanks to economic conditions, players have the means to keep their bodies in top shape for as long as possible.’
Chris Paul, who is often cited as one of the very best point guards to grace the hardwood and is famous credited with a plant-based lifestyle helping him expand his own career echoed Kerr’s sentiments. “I mean, so much has changed in the recovery,” says Paul, who turns 39 next month. “Just the people who came before us and taught us how to take care of your body, constantly trained, [the focus on] food, nutrition.”
Interestingly, despite measurable advances in performance science, the continued greatness of this particular class of superstars seems to represent a peak rather than a steady trend. It indicates that instead of a natural progression of where the league is going, we may be living in some kind of golden age of aging NBA talent. This group in particular could be setting the map for potential future copycats rather than existing as points on a pre-existing upward trajectory.
Warriors power forward Draymond Green, a 12-year NBA veteran who has played against and alongside all of these path forgers, credits them for the potential big change.
“You look at a guy like Bron, who has taken it to another level, and you know it’s possible. Then there is a blueprint. When you look at a guy like Steph, who has now also taken it to another level, there is a blueprint,” he told the Guardian. “You start to get to 33, 34 earlier and you think, ‘Okay, I’ve got another year or two.’ That is no longer the idea. The thought is that I can now continue for much longer. And that’s thanks to guys like Steph and LeBron, who are playing at this crazy level.”
The problem with blueprints, however, is that those who line up next to build something have no direct obligation to follow them. It has yet to be determined what the next generation of superstars will look like as they age under the bright lights, or how long they will stay there. The fact that they have more tools at their disposal to enable longevity than some players of the past in no way guarantees that they will choose to use them.
There actually were more players in their late 30s during certain periods of the 1990s (when statistical outliers like Karl Malone and John Stockton played at a high level for longer than expected) than there are today, perhaps due in part to the fact that the accumulation of generational wealth took considerably longer then than it does now. And some of the league’s brightest young stars have shown a strong desire for a life outside the spotlight, outside of basketball, in the not-too-distant future. The Nuggets’ Nikola Jokić, a 29-year-old two-time NBA MVP who is almost certainly in line for a third-place finish next month, is on record happiest with his horses. And the Mavericks’ 25-year-old Luka Dončić, one of the brightest young stars in the league and likely a close second in that same MVP race, recently seemed incredulous at JJ Redick’s suggestion that he might try to break LeBron. James’ seemingly insurmountable all-time record in one appearance on Redick’s The Old Man and the Three podcast. “No, I won’t play that long, no chance,” Dončić said with a grin. “I’m going to have my own farm in Slovenia.”
It’s been a recurring topic in countless episodes of sports debate roundtables for years, and it appears in almost every Lakers post-game presser this year: When will LeBron retire? It’s an understandable question considering James turns 40 later this year. But while the oldest player in the NBA today is aware – as he said in his own words – that he does not “still have a lot of time leftBefore his legendary career inevitably ended – he still averaged 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists this year: remarkably, this was his twentieth year in a row average of more than 25 points. And his 2023-2024 campaign was also a highlight the best three-point shooting season of his career, twenty years after his NBA debut. The level he is playing at for his age is literally unprecedented, and still well above average even by the standards of his All-Star, All-NBA caliber.
Los Angeles Clippers head coach Ty Lue, who coached James to a historic championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, told the Guardian that he attributes James’ remarkable longevity and unparalleled ability to sustain his own excellence to his dazzling commitment.
“Hard work, dedication to the game,” Lue said. “When I saw LeBron, when I was in Cleveland, we landed at two in the morning and he came at 6:30 to do his correction: activation, whatever you want to call it, every day. And he always eats clean, eats well. If you take care of your body, you can play for a long time, and I think he showed that.”
So if James and his peers are still playing at such an elite level, are the funerals already being organized for them in the media premature? “One hundred percent, because that’s what they’re used to,” Green said. “So you even see a guy like LeBron at 39 years old [Chris Paul] at 38 you see Steph [at 36]When you see these guys you’re like, ‘Aw man, I can see the clock ticking,’ because they’re getting older. But if you look at their game, they play better than some 23, 24, 25 year olds. So I don’t think the basketball world has caught up to that aspect, to where they expect guys to play that long. But don’t just play that long, be as good as they are at that age and still play at an insanely high level.”
In an effective must-win game for his Lakers last Friday in Memphis, their penultimate game of the regular season and one that would determine the team’s chance at a much more promising eighth seed or send them plummeting to tenth place, James got the win with a late game steal, a fast break and double pump reverse dunk exclamation mark. On the other side of the court, 19-year-old GG Jackson, a lifelong James fan and Grizzlies newcomer, could only watch in awe.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin asked James after the game how it felt to take part in a play where an audience member might not be able to guess which of the two was the teenager and which was almost 40. I probably know I’m a lot older than they think,” James said wryly. “But to be able to be on the floor and play at a high level, keep up with the young guys, keep up with the youngest guy, that’s something I’m proud of. It is an honor to be able to play this game that I love to play and play at a high level. And I can share the floor with my teammates, share the field with rookies who have probably been watching me my entire career, or they’ve been watching me in bits and pieces throughout my career, and I hope I can give them was able to inspire. along my journey.
“And if not, hopefully I can inspire them when we play against each other, or show them something, whatever. So it’s just really cool. It’s just an honor to be able to play this game. This game has obviously given me so much. I just try to give everything back and the people who come to watch me play.”
Perhaps more than the meal planning, early morning workouts, research and highly qualified training staff, the true secret to player longevity is as simple as the will to hit the hardwood and the true passion to play the game. to play. and play it well. As salaries rise, the need for a long career ebbs in the opposite direction. But for some, the motivation will always lie much deeper.
Everything comes to an end, for better or for worse, and this age and its brightest stars will not last forever. But the numbers don’t lie, and they tell a pretty succinct story: They’re not dead yet.