In 1985-86, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar broke the previous NBA record of 16 seasons held by Dolph Schayes, John Havlicek, Paul Silas and Elvin Hayes; he ended his own. As we said, LeBron James is in the 21st season of the NBA and is the oldest player in the league. Four-time champion, Finals MVP and regular season MVP, James is also the all-time leading scorer. The veteran point guard has played 1086 games in 18 years in the NBA, averaging 14.5 points per game, 6.3 points per game and 4.4 points per game.
Only one player in NBA history has played in four different decades, and that honor belongs to Vince Carter. He played the same number of seasons (2) as other players, but his number of games played (1,611, the most in NBA history) breaks the tie with them. After the “21 Club”, we have four other basketball greats who played for 20 seasons: Los Angeles Lakers legends, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the late Kobe Bryant, Jamal Crawford, three-time winner of the NBA's sixth man of the year award, and Udonis Haslem, of the Miami Heat. But despite that, the average length of an NBA player's career, of the 4,500 players who have played on their courts, is only 4.5 years. And in that time, approximately 4,500 athletes have had the opportunity to play basketball in the NBA.
Robert Parish was an essential NBA player from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s, and one of the best centers in the league during that time. Only ten players in NBA history have remained active players in the league for more than two decades. That would be the most in NBA history, but he missed two seasons due to injury and thus played a total of 21 seasons. Although he didn't win a title with them, he went on to play for the Boston Celtics from 1980 to 1994, during which he won three of his four NBA titles with Larry Bird and company. In such a vertiginous and physically demanding game, not many are able to endure two decades in the NBA, since this sport seriously affects an athlete's body.
Three other great basketball players played for 20 seasons: Los Angeles Lakers legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kobe Bryant, and Jamal Crawford, a three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year award winner. The eight-time All-Star first played with the Toronto Raptors in 1998 and was named NBA Rookie of the Year in 1999. He will also grace the court with his son Bronny James next season, marking the first time in NBA history that a father and son play together. In 1985-86, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar broke the previous record of 16 NBA seasons held by Dolph Schayes, John Havlicek, Paul Silas and Elvin Hayes; he ended his career in 1988-89 with a record of 20 seasons played.
