Vince Carter, who began his career with the Raptors, is the only player in NBA history to have played in 22 seasons. In the NBA, big men tend to have more time. Only ten players in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA) have played 20 or more seasons in their respective careers. After the “21 Club”, we have four other great basketball players 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.
The last player to average double digits in a season as the oldest player in the NBA was John Stockton, who averaged 10.8 points for Utah in 2002-03. The boy from Akron, as James still calls himself, is no longer a boy, and the 38-year-old enters this season as the most senior player in the NBA. The eight-time All-Star first played with the Toronto Raptors in 1998 and was named NBA Rookie of the Year in 1999. 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 finished his career in 1988-89 with a record of 20 seasons played. In such a fast and physically challenging game, not many can last two decades in the NBA, as the sport seriously affects an athlete's body.
