Yahoo Sports The 10 greatest players over 40 in NBA history
With four-time league MVP LeBron James about to turn 40 years old, we thought it would be a fun time to rank the Top 10 players in NBA history who competed at age 40 or beyond.
James will likely top this list himself by the end of 2025-26 – if not sooner – but for now, this is how we rank the best players to play past the big 4-0.
1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Averages after turning 40: 12.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1.4 apg, 0.6 spg, 1.2 bpg, 50.9 FG% in 156 games
Accolades after turning 40: Two NBA championships, two All-Stars
The greatest player after turning 40, for now, remains 19-time All-Star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who won two NBA championships and made two All-Star appearances during his fifth decade.
Sure, that will likely be surpassed by James rather quickly, but that doesn't mean we can't give credit to the legendary Abdul-Jabbar, who was still quite the player in his last couple of seasons.
Kareem probably called it quits at the right time, as he averaged a career-low 10.1 points and 4.1 rebounds in his final season, but what many might not realize is the fact that Abdul-Jabbar actually turned 40 years old during his age-39 campaign, 1986-87, so for his entire playoff run that year with the Los Angles Lakers, Abdul-Jabbar was already 40. And he was still a fine player at that point, putting up 19.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks on 53.0 percent shooting in the 1987 playoffs (18 games) as a 40-year-old.
In the decisive Game 6 of the 1987 Finals that year, we even got a vintage Abdul-Jabbar performance, as the six-time league MVP put up 32 points, six rebounds and four blocks against the Boston Celtics to bring the title back to Los Angeles.
Once again, he did that as a 40-year-old.
In all, Abdul-Jabbar would average 21.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in the '87 Finals, and probably had a solid shout to be named Finals MVP that year if it weren't for Magic Johnson (26.2-point, 13.0-assist, 8.0-rebound, 2.3-steal stat line) and his utter brilliance in that series.
Abdul-Jabbar's play might have tapered off a good amount by his final season, 1988-89, but he was already 42 by the end of that campaign and had so many games played under his belt that it's understandable.
2. Karl Malone
Averages after turning 40: 13.2 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 3.9 apg, 1.2 spg, 0.5 bpg, 48.3 FG% in 42 games
One of the all-time great power forwards in league history, Karl Malone only played in 42 games after turning 40 due to a knee injury he suffered during his final season that forced him to miss nearly half of his last campaign.
Malone wasn't quite the same after the injury (the Mailman averaged 14.5 points and 9.9 rebounds on 50.9 percent shooting in 23 games before the injury in 2003-04 but just 12.1 points and 7.8 rebounds on 44.8 percent shooting in 18 games after the injury), which ultimately meant his bid to win a championship with the Lakers before retiring didn't come to fruition.
Still, Malone was pretty productive after turning 40 and probably could have put up even better numbers had he chosen to finish out his career with the Utah Jazz rather than ring chase on a loaded Laker team. Lest we forget, in Malone's final season in Utah, his age-39 campaign of 2002-03, the Hall-of-Famer put up 20.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.7 steals over 81 appearances, monstrous numbers for a 39-year-old in the NBA.
We did get one vintage Malone performance after he turned 40. It came in Game 4 of the Lakers' first-round matchup against the Houston Rockets with the series sitting at two games to one in favor of Los Angeles, and with the Rockets hosting Game 4.
Malone dropped 30 points (11-for-17 shooting) to lead Los Angeles in scoring that day to go with 13 rebounds and three steals in a 92-88 win that pretty much wrapped up the series for the Lakers.
Some of what went wrong in Malone's lone season with the Lakers was of his own doing. In December of that year, Malone is said to have made inappropriate comments to Bryant's wife, Vanessa Bryant, which Bryant, obviously, was none too happy about:
Not heavily dependent on elite athleticism, Stockton probably could have played another season or two at a high level had his heart still been fully in it.
4. Robert Parish
Averages after turning 40: 6.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 0.7 apg, 0.4 spg, 0.8 bpg, 47.6 FG% in 272 games
Accolades after turning 40: One NBA championship
Playing in 21 seasons in his career and reigning, for now, as the all-time leader in games played at 1,611, Hall-of-Fame big man Robert Parish had some serious longevity in his playing career. That was made all the more impressive by the era he played in, too, when medical treatment and pre-hab strategies for players weren't nearly as advanced as they are today.
Parish's career started in 1976-77 with the Seattle SuperSonics and ended in 1996-97 with the Chicago Bulls. That means when Parish was early on in his career, the NBA was still so unpopular that the NBA Finals were regularly shown on tape delay, and by the time he retired, Finals games were drawing up to over 25 million viewers, to this day some of the highest-viewed basketball games ever.
Parish played with the legendary Rick Barry and retired as a teammate of Toni Kukoc.
Talk about outrageous longevity.
He could still play a bit past 40, too, as in his age-40 campaign (1993-94, his final year with the Boston Celtics), Parish suited up in 74 games and averaged 11.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks, albeit on a very bad Boston team.
One final fun note: Parish is the oldest player in NBA history to appear in a playoff game, doing so at 43 years and 254 days old on May 11, 1997.
5. Michael Jordan
Averages after turning 40:22.4 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.3 spg, 0.5 bpg, 46.2 FG%, 22.2 3P% in 30 games
Technically, Jordan turned 40 years old 10 days after the 2002-03 All-Star Game, so we're not counting his All-Star appearance in his age-39 campaign for his accolades in this exercise.
Even so, His Airness had a fun, albeit brief, run as a 40-year-old in the NBA, one that lasted just 30 games but saw him put up over 22 points, seven rebounds and three assists nightly on 46-plus percent shooting. Had he kept up those numbers and played for another season, he would be No. 1 on this list. (The low sample size is a large reason why we ranked him so low).
Jordan, knowing those were going to be his final stretch of games in the NBA, went out more or less guns blazing, going off for 43 points on 18-for-30 shooting in just his second game as a 40-year-old...
...in what was a three-point win for his Washington Wizards over the New Jersey Nets, who were a very good team at the time. Jordan would also post scoring totals of 39 points, 35 points and 30 points after turning 40, proving he still had some scoring juice, even if it wasn't as efficient or athletic as in his prime.
Many say Jordan lost some of his aura with his poor – by his illustrious standards – Wizards stint but in the end, he was so beloved by so many fans that most probably appreciated getting to see him play one last time as a 40-year-old.
6. Vince Carter
Averages after turning 40: 6.3 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.2 apg, 0.6 spg, 0.4 bpg, 39.5 FG%, 36.3 3P% in 227 games
Accolades after turning 40: 11th-place in Sixth Man of the Year voting
It's somewhat ironic newly minted Hall-of-Famer Vince Carter played so deeply into his 40s, with the North Carolina legend suiting up for his final game when he was 43 years and 45 days old, when some critics actually questioned how much he loved basketball earlier on in his career.
Those questions were loudest when Carter chose to attend his UNC graduation on the same day as a vital Game 7 for his team at the time, the Toronto Raptors, against the Philadelphia 76ers back in 2001 (via ESPN):
Carter left himself open to intense scrutiny and heavy criticism by attending graduation ceremonies at North Carolina before Sunday's Game 7 of the Raptors' playoff series with the Philadelphia 76ers. He could've silenced the critics with another one of his stellar performances. Instead, Carter looked nothing like the player who torched the Sixers for 39 points in Game 6 Friday night. In the biggest game of his career, Carter had 20 points on just 6-of-18 shooting as Philadelphia eliminated the Raptors and advanced to the Eastern Conference finals with an 88-87 victory. "I survived, I was there, I played, did what I needed to do," Carter said. "It all came down to one shot. It could've been a great day or a terrible day. I don't let what people say, I don't let people's opinions hold me down. I don't let it bother me."
Carter answered questions about his love for the sport by playing nearly into his mid-40s – and playing pretty solidly until the day he retired. He even had a 17-point game in 2019-20, his final season, against the Charlotte Hornets, one in which he shot 7-for-11 when he was just a couple of months away from turning 43.
Very impressive longevity for a player whose game many thought would age poorly due to his dependence on otherworldly athleticism.
7. Dikembe Mutombo
Averages after turning 40: 3.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 0.1 apg, 0.3 spg, 1.1 bpg, 54.1 FG% in 123 games
The unforgettable Dikembe Mutombo had a long career after turning 40 during the 2006 offseason, playing another 123 games after that milestone, all for the Rockets, a stretch in which the Hall-of-Fame center still averaged over one block per contest.
Those were some very good Rockets teams Mutumbo would get some reserve minutes for, with all three Houston teams the big man played for after turning 40 winning at least 52 regular-season games.
Mutombo was still a shot-blocking master after turning 40, posting nine games with at least three blocks as a 41-year-old in 2007-08 before then averaging 1.8 blocks over six playoff games that same year.
8. Manu Ginobili
Averages after turning 40: 8.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.5 apg, 0.7 spg, 0.2 bpg, 43.4 FG%, 33.3 3P% in 65 games
Argentinian legend Manu Ginobili played one season past age 40, putting up nearly nine points on 43.4 percent shooting that year. Ginobili played an important role on a 47-35 Spurs team that took the eventual champion Golden State Warriors to five games in the first round of that season's playoffs.
We even got one more big-time playoff performance out of the four-time champion, one-time Olympic gold medalist that season, as Ginobili scored 16 points and had five assists in San Antonio's Game 4 victory while posting a plus-18 plus/minus.
9. Dirk Nowitzki
Averages after turning 40: 7.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.7 apg, 0.2 spg, 0.4 bpg, 35.9 FG%, 31.2 3P% in 51 games
Accolades after turning 40: One All-Star
Legendary sharpshooting big man Dirk Nowitzki didn't have a great run of things as a 40-year-old in the NBA due, in part, to injuries forcing him to miss a lot of his final campaign.
He did go out on a bright note, however, dropping 30 points in his final home game in front of Dallas Mavericks fans:
Nowitzki earned All-Star honors in his final season but it wasn't behind his play. It was as a special roster addition by commissioner Adam Silver, earning the great honor along with his former rival, Dwyane Wade, who was also set to retire at the end of 2018-19.
10. Kevin Willis
Averages after turning 40: 3.7 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 0.3 apg, 0.3 spg, 0.2 bpg, 45.7 FG% in 153 games
Accolades after turning 40: One NBA championship
When former Michigan State star Kevin Willis played his first NBA game on Oct. 26, 1984, the No. 1 movie in America was The Terminator. When he played his final NBA game on April 18, 2007, the No. 1 movie in America was Blades of Glory.
Willis holds the distinction of being the second-oldest player to ever appear in an NBA game, and the oldest since 1948, seeing the floor when he was 44 years and 224 days old.
Willis was a solid player after turning 40, too, seeing action as a role player for San Antonio during its 2002-03 championship run, even posting a six-point, five-rebound performance in Game 4 of the Finals that year when he was already 40 years old.
This article originally appeared on Hoops Hype: The 10 greatest players over 40 in NBA history
