For the last few years, Udonis Haslem held the title of the oldest active player in the NBA.
With his retirement after last season, though, it seems 38-year-old LeBron James thought he was the oldest man left standing in the league. When ESPN put out a post on Instagram stating he is the second-oldest active player now, LeBron was surprised by it.
“Who’s 1st? Thought I was the (oldest).”
Well, the oldest player in the league at this moment is Andre Iguodala, who is 39 years, and 172 days old. Iguodala could potentially retire before the start of the season, though, so LeBron might not have to settle for second for too long.
The remaining names on the top five oldest players list are PJ Tucker, Chris Paul, and Taj Gibson. None of those three or Iguodala played at an All-Star level last season, while LeBron averaged 28.9 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 6.8 APG, 0.9 SPG, and 0.6 BPG for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Rich Paul And Kendrick Perkins Believe LeBron James Could Keep Playing For Several More Years
LeBron had hinted after getting swept by the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Finals that he might retire, but there was really no way he was going to do that. He confirmed earlier this month that he indeed won’t be retiring.
As for how much longer he could play, his agent, Rich Paul, thinks he could until he’s 44 or 45 years old as long as his mind is in it and he’s excited to play the game. His former teammate Kendrick Perkins went even further, as he believes LeBron could play until he’s 50.
Perkins thinks LeBron could take on the kind of role Haslem had with the Miami Heat, being a veteran leader on the bench. James doesn’t seem like the type who’d be interested in that kind of a role, though, especially after being such a dominant force in the NBA for so long. He’ll probably walk away from the game after a couple of years and we should appreciate him while he’s still around.
