Barry Bonds is old, but he’s still the best player in baseball.
NFL players are lucky if they can survive seven seasons.
Basketball, on the other hand, seems to be somewhere in the middle of things.
You’ve got guys entering the NBA who are younger than most of you students reading this. However, they don’t learn how to “play” the game until they get older. Once they’re too old, they know all the tricks, but their bodies can’t hold up physically.
This month has seen the retirements of both Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing.two of the greatest centers to ever play the game. They’re also two of the best examples of players staying in the game one year too long.
While being old can sometimes be used as a misguided excuse for a player’s poor performance , there is no doubt that the physical abuse these guys take on a nightly basis will eventually catch up with them down the road.no matter how unstoppable they seem.
However, when one loves the game as much as a superstar, you can imagine how tough it is to have somebody tell you that it’s time to hang it up. In some cases, old players are remarkably effective.
This prompted me to explore how some of the recent superstars fared (or how they’re currently faring) in their final seasons in the NBA. Now, we all knew that their best days were behind them, but the numbers they put up still kind of surprised me. Here are a few examples of current and ex-players performances at their “old” age.
1.) Larry Bird – His final season was 1991-1992, but during that injury-marred year, he had one of the best games of his career, with 49 points, 14 rebounds, 12 assists, and four steals in a regular season game against the Portland Trailblazers. He would retire the following summer, due to back ailments, after playing for the original Dream Team.
2.) Michael Jordan – His retirement could have been the ultimate way to leave the game, had he stayed retired. Getting the steal, hitting the game-winning shot to win the championship… if it was a TV-movie, we’d chalk it up to unrealistic writing. His body has now started to break down after years of pounding.
His legacy, however, won’t be tarnished by what he does currently with the Wizards. If anything, I wouldn’t be surprised to see at least a couple more “classic” performances in his upcoming final year.
3.) Magic Johnson – While he definitely was forced to leave early (being HIV+ in 1991), there is no doubt he could have excelled way beyond his years had he continued to play. The Lakers had made the finals in his last full year of basketball, where they lost to the Chicago Bulls. Upon returning to the game in 1996, he had some fairly decent games, but his body was no longer the machine it once was.
4.) Clyde Drexler – In his final season as a player, he led the Houston Rockets in scoring and assists. Having already won the elusive ring, and still playing at a high level, “the Glide” gracefully retired into a career of coaching.
5.) Charles Barkley – While his last year was cut short to injury in 1999, there were a few games at the beginning of the year which he flat-out dominated. He had a 24 rebound effort against the Pacers, and he had a classic double-overtime game where he scored 28 and grabbed 17 rebounds against his former team, the Suns.
Had he not gotten injured, I’m positive the Chuckster would have had a few more of his vintage games in that final season.
6.) Patrick Ewing – He had a great career with the Knicks, but went elsewhere to try and seek his first championship. I had actually forgotten about him playing in Seattle, and he just concluded his career last year with the Orlando Magic coming off the bench, or did he?
Just one day after being named assistant coach of the Wizards, he said he’d gladly suit up again if requested. How’s that for a retirement on his “own terms.”
7.) Hakeem Olajuwon – Had a great career with the Rockets, but went elsewhere to do what? He had already won his championships, so I guess he just wanted some more money.
Unfortunately, the Raptors didn’t really like the old Dream, and after failing his physical this summer, he was forced to retire. Truly a sad story, for a guy who should have retired in Houston after the 2001 season, where he seemed to play with a renewed spirit on a up and coming team. Maybe he was just playing for a bigger pay day.
8.) John Stockton and Karl Malone – Sure, their numbers have gone down, but these guys don’t look to be physically hampered in any way by their old age. Malone is still a beast, and Stockton, while dirty, remanis one of the most productive point guards in the league.
With the exception of Ewing, all of the players mentioned above were either forced out due to injury or decided to retire while knowing that they could still play at a high level.
The debate will continue as to whether or not these guys should play until their forced out, but I have to say.we should in no way be making those decisions for them. They’ve entertained us throughout the years with last-second heroics, amazing performances, and championships.
They’ll never be what they once were, but unless they succumb to injury, I’m sure they’ll dazzle you at least one last time.