frica wrote:Gooner wrote:trex_8063 wrote:
To be precise: of the 605 players who played at least 1 game this season, only 22 of them [3.64%] were 35+ years of age this year (and only 12 [1.98%] were 36+ years of age [the category Paul falls into]).
Of the 22 players 35+ years old, only fifteen of them managed to play 40 games and/or 700 total minutes this season.
Only about FIVE of them are still managing to play at what might be called a high(ish) level at this age: Lebron, CP3, Al Horford, Kyle Lowry, +/- LaMarcus Aldridge???
Only two are still playing at a legitimately elite or near-elite level: Lebron and Chris Paul.
My point is that CP3 is the best example of how longevity has increased in basketball and throughout sports in general. There are many players in their 30's now that aren't showing any signs of decline. Curry is 34, and he is still doint his thing. KD is 33 coming off of achilles injury, and he still carried his team throughout the season without showing a visible decline. Jimmy Butler is 32 and he is as good as ever. But to do what CP does at the age of 37 is something that nobody else has done in a long time. Maybe we will see it in the future, but right now, CP stands out.
You shouldn't use a few outliers to support your argument, outliers will always be outliers.
The data doesn't support what you're saying about "increased longevity"
Modern NBA is a young man's game.
Also Curry is clearly declined.
KD... Dominique Wilkins also tore his achilles and came back very strong.
What CP3 is doing at 37 is pretty much unprecented, and looking at the data it's even more unprecedented relative to era.
Isn't the average age becoming younger due to there players joining the NBA at younger ages than in the 90s etc?
