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I got to thinking about Kyrie, and I find myself really wondering if he would indeed just retire if the Nets traded him. If he did that, he’d be walking away from the game with a LOT left in the tank, and I’m struggling to remember if I’ve ever seen that before in the NBA. I’ve seen guys walk away in the NFL while still being relatively young, but football is a whole different grind on the body than the NBA.

So are there any examples of NBA players still playing at a very high level retiring in the prime of their career despite being healthy?

MJ is the obvious one, even though he came back.

There was this guy named Mike.


But really, this is only something you ever see in the NFL: Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, Patrick Willis, Calvin Johnson, etc. Nobody in the NBA outside of Jordan has ever retired as a top 20 player in the league (let alone best). And even though MJ came back after the first retirement at his peak, he was still the league MVP and Finals MVP when he finally called it a day (with Chicago until he came back as player/owner at least).

Martell Webster. Actually, Brad Daugherty. Cole Aldrich? I'm actually sure there are plenty from early on, when you could have earned more money doing something else. I remember looking up a player profile, and it said that they retired to become a doctor or something.

chilluminati wrote:MJ is the obvious one, even though he came back.

Forgot about Mike, although he came back, and there are of course the conspiracy theories surrounding his first retirement, lol.

dk1115 wrote:Martell Webster. Actually, Brad Daugherty. Cole Aldrich?

Didn’t injuries force Daugherty out early?

Magic

I don't think Magic was in his prime when he retired because he had hiv. I remember Magic trying to comeback and play in the nba, but it was short lived.

Pythagoras wrote:

dk1115 wrote:Martell Webster. Actually, Brad Daugherty. Cole Aldrich?

Didn’t injuries force Daugherty out early?

I guess. So you're just talking about players that willingly retired in their prime? As in, they could still get a contract if they wanted, but just chose not to take it.

In that case, I just thought of one. Darren Collison.

stanch sabonis wrote:Magic

That's actually a good call, but that was due to treatment and ignorance of the disease (I'd compare it to retiring due to injury, where we could list 100 players). He did come back for a cup of coffee at least.

dk1115 wrote:

Pythagoras wrote:

dk1115 wrote:Martell Webster. Actually, Brad Daugherty. Cole Aldrich?

Didn’t injuries force Daugherty out early?

I guess. So you're just talking about players that willingly retired in their prime? As in, they could still get a contract if they wanted, but just chose not to take it.

In that case, I just thought of one. Darren Collison.

This actually might be the only other one outside of MJ that did it willingly. He definitely turned down a contract that would have doubled his career earnings to that point.

stanch sabonis wrote:Magic

Magic was not healthy. He would've played if he didn't have HIV.

Injuries are always a factor to some extent, but some players could have come back from them and chose not to. Andrew Bynum is a good example. He played his best season in 2011-12, then a knee injury happened. He missed 2012-13, came back for 2013-14, was as bad as it is expected from someone who missed a whole season, but then instead of improving, he retired after the end of the season.

Not technically retiring, but Rudy Fernandez was also a very serviceable player and just left to play for Real Madrid in his prime.

Pythagoras wrote:

chilluminati wrote:MJ is the obvious one, even though he came back.

Forgot about Mike, although he came back, and there are of course the conspiracy theories surrounding his first retirement, lol.

he was still in his prime when he retired the second time..

Basketball is not like football in that regard. The only guys in the NBA who tend to willingly retire early have mega injuries. Not including dudes who run afoul of the law either.

NBA players that come to mind are Andrew Bynum and Larry Sanders. The biggest name to walk away from their sport IMO is Barry Sanders. I have no doubt if he had continue to play he would be the all time leading rusher. I can't remember the name right now but there was a Detroit Lion WR that also walked away from the game, I want to say he was still in his prime but could be wrong about that seeing how I don't even remember his name.

PDX MM wrote:NBA players that come to mind are Andrew Bynum and Larry Sanders. The biggest name to walk away from their sport IMO is Barry Sanders. I have no doubt if he had continue to play he would be the all time leading rusher. I can't remember the name right now but there was a Detroit Lion WR that also walked away from the game, I want to say he was still in his prime but could be wrong about that seeing how I don't even remember his name.

Megatron Calvin Johnson

Jordan. Twice.

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Ben Simmons

Kyrie Irving

I don't really remember it and the player probably does not qualify (I just started watching basketball back then) but Clyde Drexler still put up really good numbers in his last season at the age of 35. Was he still in his his prime back then or were those stats at least in part "empty"? How good was he when he retired?

Larry Sanders

that pot smoking center from the bucks
Larry Sanders?