Career Minutes Catching Up to KG?

[Rocky5000]

SI has an article on a theory that HS to Pro players will peak sooner than College to NBA players because of the wear and tear of NBA seasons. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/w ... index.html
They mention that Kobe has now played as many games in LA as Jordan played in Chicago, that by comparing Lebron to Big O, Lebron may be now at his statistical peak in terms of games played, that T-Mac and J O'Neal are more worn out than any other player their age, and that KG is perhaps beginning to suffer from wear after an otherwise very healthy career.

KG has played the most minutes of the big 3, but most people expect Ray to decline faster, should we be more worried about KG? In the article, they list a few players who KG has played more minutes then and I'll add some more.
listing here:http://www.basketball-reference.com/leaders/mp_career.html

All-time ranking Career Minutes
23. Kevin Garnett 39569
24. Shaquille O'Neal 39414
25. Barkley 39330
28. Kevin Willis 38363
29. Dominique 38113
34. Drexler 37537
36. Mutombo 36715
54. Ray Allen 34601
55. Larry Bird 34443
108. Paul Pierce 29944

ACTIVE PLAYERS
1. Jason Kidd 40582
2. Kevin Garnett 39569
3. Shaquille O'Neal 39414
4. Dikembe Mutombo 36715
5. Michael Finley 36692
6. Allen Iverson 36662
7. Ray Allen 34601
8. Juwan Howard 34102
9. Rasheed Wallace 33947
10. Kobe Bryant 33895
11. Tim Duncan 32657
12. Stephon Marbury 31580
13. Dirk Nowitzki 30061
14. Paul Pierce 29944
15. Antawn Jamison 28767

4 of the top 15 active players in minutes played are on the Celtics. While this does makes us the most experienced team in the league, managing minutes is more important than it is to other teams.

[Fencer reregistered]

Wear and tear is a very imprecise concept.

I suspect that a large fraction of it is the accumulation of occasional small injuries that just don't heal perfectly. Cartilage excepted, I don't know of any relevant body parts that have been suggested might simply get used up or wear out.

[Avalanche]

why because he's having an issue with his knee? til now this would never have been questioned

KG is a physical freak of nature, regardless of his minutes he has been an ironman his whole career, and the way he plays lends himself to longevity with his jump shot.

Sure he will slow down, and has done.. but whatever he loses on the offensive end he finds more ways to be a spectacular defender

TMac and JO were always going to break down, college or not its just whether your body can hold up to the nba season, some peoples cant

[campybatman]

Yeah, Garnett and Pierce I'm not as concern about. They're both iron men in this league. But, with taller players, there's always that concern about later back or knee problems. If is isn't a chronic or arthritic issue for Garnet. Then I see no need to give it a second thought once he's healthy again.

[GreenDreamer]

It is a possibility, but the fact of the matter is that KG is getting older and is more likely to get hurt anyways.

[Avalanche]

he's always played through injuries too, which the coaching and medical staff here will not really allow him to do as much, any small thing will see extended rest to make sure its fully recovered

[Al-Haqq]

To me it's quite clear he's wearing down, and his injury, in my opinion is quite obvious of that.

I mean, he went up for an alley-oop and no one was around and the back of his knee gave way.

No one was around and it gave way. Not a good sign.

[MyInsatiableOne]

Years ago people would have been bemoaning how many minutes Hondo had logged by the time he retired, and when he did (at age 38) he himself has said he could have played longer (and would have, had he known Bird would show up the next season)...

Some guys are just built better than others, both durability-wise and endurance-wise, and I think Paul and KG fit into that mold...