(The original article was published on August 18, the author is Cooper Halpern of SB Nation, and the content of the article does not represent the translator's opinion)
If the new season opens on October 18, James can stay healthy, then he will officially become the 10th player in the league history to compete for 20 seasons at this point in time. Over the past 20 years, James has not only been a highly productive NBA player, he has always been one of the best players in the entire league, and he can continue to be the star of one of the big NBA teams, helping Lakers to chase the 18th championship trophy in team history.
NBA history only 9 other players have played their 20th season. Although there are not many people, considering the lofty achievements these players have achieved in their early years, the legendary color of this list is quite significant. However, when they entered their 20th season of their career, they lacked the special ability to perform efficiently. Back to the topic, is the 9 players who have been effective in NBA history for 20 seasons, ranking according to their respective 20 season win contribution values (WS: Win Share).
ninth place: Kobe Bryant (-0.4WS)
It is undeniable that Kobe 's retirement battle is the greatest performance in NBA history. That night, I even used real money to bet that Kobe's score would not exceed 27.5 points. Despite this, Kobe's overall performance in his 20th season of his career was indeed very bad. Kobe had just finished repairing a ruptured Achilles tendon a few years ago, and his footsteps lost almost all of his elasticity, which was what helped him move gracefully on the field. Kobe's jump shot lost its lethality and was not able to avoid young and athletic defensive players. Kobe's data in the last season of his career did not even reach the level of a substitute player.
Most of the Lakers' games were bad that season, but who cares? Giving the ball to Kobe at the last moment of his career not only strengthened the relationship between the team and one of the most dazzling stars in the team's history, but at worst he could also win a high pick in next year's draft. Kobe's uncompetitive Lakers averaged 17.6 points per game in the midfield, with a poor shooting percentage of 36%/29%/83% respectively. The poor record of 17 wins and 65 losses was finally won the second draw in the 2017 draft, and the Lakers used this draw to select Ingram . However, Kobe's retirement battle left all fans with the most glorious image of Mamba .
8th place: Kevin Willis (0.0WS)
The second-last season of his career, Willis is very old and has no influence in the Hawks of the 2004-05 season. Because the Hawks need trustworthy players, Willis came to the worst team in the league, playing 29 games and starting five games. The Hawks' final record was 13 wins and 69 losses, ranking last in the league, losing 5 more games than the second-to-last team. After a year of rest, Willis returned to the NBA at the age of 44, conquered the last season of his career, and signed a 10-day short contract with Mavericks in the 2006-07 season, playing five games. Then the Mavericks were staged by the "We Believe" Warriors led by Baron Davis in the first round.
No. 7: Jamal Crawford (0.1WS)
Although he only played for 6 minutes, Crawford did play for 20 seasons in the NBA. During the 2020 rematch park, Crawford played a game for Nets . His 6 minutes of playing time made him qualified for this list, but it also ruined a precious record of 50+ in his career retirement battle.
No. 6: Moses Malone (1.0WS)
Although Moses Malone is probably one of the most underrated great players, after the age of 33, a series of injuries in the lower limbs limited his efficiency. When Malone was 39 years old, she played 19 games for the Spurs in the 1994-95 season, and averaged 2.9 points per game at 8.8 minutes, and almost failed to stick with it.
No. 5: Vince Carter (1.2WS)
As the last outside player on this list, Carter reshaped itself into a 3D player after ruling the Atlantic division for ten years. In the 20th season of his career, Carter played 57 games, averaging 17.7 minutes of playing time, playing a suitable substitute in the Kings' rotation. Surprisingly, Carter played for two more seasons afterwards and eventually retired as an Eagles player at the age of 43.
fourth place: Robert Parrish (1.7WS)
Parrish spent 14 fantasy seasons in Celtic , during which time he was selected for All-Star 9 times and won 4 championship trophys, but it was the last time he spent his career in other teams. In his second season with Hornets , before playing for Bulls in the last season, Parrish, like most players on this list, can only play a small substitute role in the rotation of a professional team. In the Hornets, which had 41 wins and 41 losses, Paris averaged less than 15 minutes per game and scored less than 4 points per game. However, the 1995-96 season was Parish's 20th consecutive season, and it is unlikely that anyone would replicate this record, especially with modern basketball, which emphasizes speed and injury prevention.
third place: Kevin Garnett (1.9WS)
After experiencing the worst deal in modern NBA history, the Nets found that they lost everything, and the Celtics packed the veteran core back to their unprecedented generous draft assets and made a fortune. The lineup has high salary and poor performance, and the Nets have no choice. The idea of rebuilding after being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs is even more firm. In the 2014-15 season, the Nets' record was 21 wins and 31 losses, and Garnett gave up the veto of the transaction and was sent back to Timberwolves by the Nets. Although after returning to the Timberwolves, Garnett was forced to withdraw from the rest of the season due to a knee injury after playing a few games. Garnett began his 21st season of his career in 2015-16, and this was his last season.
second place: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (2.9WS)
As the Lakers became the team of Magic Johnson and James Worthy , Jabbar elegantly transformed into an assistant role in such a dominant "Showtime" team. In the 1989 Finals, the Lakers were finally swept by the Pistons . In his 20th season of his career, Jabbar was the fifth highest scorer in the Lakers, and this was his last season. Jabbar is still a productive scorer at the end of his career, but compared to his peak state, his ability to both offense and defense is severely limited.
No. 1: Dec Nowitzki (4.8WS)
It is a bit surprising that the veteran driver is the most productive of all players in NBA history in the 20th season. In the season before this retirement season, Nowitzki averaged 25 minutes per game and scored 12 points, with three shooting percentages (45.6%/40.9%/89.8%) just a little bit away from "180 Club ". Although Nowitzki didn't help much at the defensive end at that time, and the era of killing opponents in the middle distance is gone forever, he can still open up the space well and provide help to the team.
Can James surpass Nowitzki in his 20th season?
win contribution value is an indicator to measure the player's influence and can roughly estimate the player's contribution throughout the season. If James' form does not decline much in the new season, even if he has performed worse than his past 19 seasons, his winning contribution value will be enough to completely defeat all the players on this list.
In the 19 seasons so far, James' victory contribution has never been lower than 5.1, which is the lowest he set in his rookie season. James has only played 56 games this season, and his winning contributions are 7.5. If the recent performance can roughly predict James' performance in the 20th season, then James can rank first on this list as long as he plays half of the game in the new season.Even if James is lucky enough to be healthier than the past two years, it is possible that his victory contribution will be twice as high as Nowitzki's data.
James and the Lakers signed a new contract renewal of 2 years, which can guarantee that James will play for two more seasons with the Lakers. The third season (the second year of the contract) is James' player option. Both physically and emotionally, James did not show that he was ready to leave the Lakers in the short term. But no matter how long he can play in the Lakers, he will soon play an unrivaled victory contribution record in the new season, and it won't take long to surpass Jabbar's regular season scoring record.
Original text: Cooper Halpern
Compilation: Li Taibai
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-