For basketball players, who are chasing better competitive performances in their careers, and to overcome the negative effects of age, "time" has left its mark on everyone.
In the NBA, a top league that attracts outstanding basketball talents from all over the world, 35 years old is not the age when you can't find a "job", but there are supergiants who can achieve great achievements, the American media "fadeaway world" has counted the greatest seasons of NBA stars over 35 years old, let's take a look at who the top 5 are (each star only chooses one season of his career aged 35 and above).
Fifth: Curry
2023-24 (age 35)
Season stats: 26.4 points, 4.5 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game
Season honors: All-Star, All-Team Second Team, Best Key Player Award
At the age of 35, Curry is still making a breakthrough in career honors, winning the best key player award, leading the league in as many as 10 key stats in the 2023-24 season, and shooting as many as 32 three-pointers in key moments in the regular season in a single season, breaking the previous record held by Reggie Miller, directly raising the record by 10 goals.
As players get older, they tend to fall into disadvantage under high-intensity confrontations, especially in the game tie-breaker, but Curry's shooting percentage, three-point shooting percentage, and free throw percentage in key moments of the 2023-24 regular season are all higher than in the regular period, which also argues why Curry ranked first in the league in the NBA's general manager survey report on which active player will be selected to make the final shot.
Even Curry, who is 35 years old or older, seems to have a championship hope, and it remains to be seen how they will improve the roster and help Curry under the new collective bargaining agreement.
Fourth: Durant
2023-24 (age 35)
Season stats: 27.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5 assists and 1.3 blocks per game
Honors of the season: All-Star, All-Star Second Team
Durant, known to many in the basketball world as a "unicorn player", is a bit surprising when combined with his size and accurate shooting, and on top of that, Durant can easily get rid of the ball in the NBA's top basketball league through his guard skills, or shoot the basketball, or finish with a breakaway shot.
The young Durant seemed unstoppable in the game, but if the time is set to 35 years old, this is still a version of Durant who has experienced major injuries such as a fracture of the metatarsal of his right foot and a ruptured Achilles tendon.
In the 2023-24 season, Durant's 27.1 points per game average performance ranked 5th in the league, and his true shooting rate was as high as 62.6%, the fourth highest among NBA players who played at least 35 minutes per game in the regular season that season, and is still one of the NBA's most trusted top scorers.
At the age of 35, Durant also continues to play in the Olympics, with a chance to win the fourth gold medal of his career, and then he will still write more legends in the NBA, perhaps aiming for 40,000 points.
Third: Carl Malone
1998-99 (age 35)
Stats for the season: 23.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.3 steals
Season honors: MVP, All-Star, All-Team First Team, All-Defensive First Team
Karl Malone has been stable like a "machine" in his NBA career, and he can still play an impact in the game for more than ten years, which is of course inseparable from Karl Malone's extreme self-discipline, and the 1998-99 season is a very representative proof.
Before the start of the 1998-99 season, many players in the NBA ate and drank heavily during the long vacation, leaving training behind, and at the beginning of the new season, I saw that the former "brutalist" power forward Sean Camp lost his strong muscles, his body was bloated, and he had an unknown amount of fat on his body, and then he looked at Karl Malone, who was still a "bodybuilder" muscle.
In the 1998-99 regular season, Karl Malone averaged 23.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game, with a victory contribution value of 9.6, the highest in the league, leading the team to a record of 37 wins and 13 losses, ranking second in the league, and he was selected for the double team, and defeated Alonzo Mourning, Duncan, Iverson and other young talents at the time in the final vote of the MVP selection.
Second: James
2019-20 season (age 35)
Stats for the season: 25.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 10.2 assists and 1.2 steals
Honors of the season: Championship, FMVP, All-Star, All-Star Team
In the 20 years from the 2004-05 season to the 2023-24 season, James averaged at least 25 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game in the regular season every season, which is undoubtedly the first in NBA history, except for James, no other NBA player has averaged at least 25 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists per game in his career for more than 10 seasons.
In the 2019-20 season, James continued to interpret what it means to be all-round in the 17th season of his career, trying to be the team's point guard, and under his threading the needle, the Lakers burst out with strong energy, winning 52-19 in the regular season (the 2019-20 regular season ended early), and entered the playoffs as the first in the West, James won the assist king at the age of 35, leading the league in 10.2 assists per game and 684 total assists in the regular season.
Entering the playoffs, James handed over an average triple-double in the first round, averaging 27.4 points, 10.2 rebounds and 10.2 assists per game, and still played an excellent competitive state in the following games, so the Lakers were able to go all the way to the Finals, and the Heat in the Finals showdown, James was outstanding, shooting 59.1% from the field, and 41.7% from three-point range. He averaged 29.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game, the highest points per game and rebounds per game.
The Lakers defeated the Heat 4-2 in the 2020 Finals, and the Purple and Gold returned to the top of the league after 10 years with the help of James, who won the fourth championship of his career and the fourth FMVP, creating the first time in the NBA that a player has won the FMVP on behalf of three different teams.
In addition, James also became the only player other than "Magic" Johnson to win the assist title and FMVP in a single season, unlike the former, James did it at the age of 35, and "Magic" Johnson achieved this achievement at the age of 27, which is widely regarded as the peak age of basketball players.
After the age of 35, James's performance on the court is still strong, and the championship in the 2019-20 season is certainly special, but when it comes to the great season performance of NBA stars above 35, James may be on the list in other seasons, after all, he still averaged 25.7 points and 8.3 assists per game in the 21st season of his career, and averaged 41% three-point shooting per game, which is one of the only 5 players in the league who can average at least 25 points and 5 assists per game and at least 40% three-point shooting rate in the same period, of course, Only he is 39 years old.
First: Jordan
1997-98 (age 35)
Season stats: 38.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.7 steals
Season honors: Championship, MVP, FMVP, All-Star, All-Star MVP, All-Team First Team, All-Defensive First Team, Scoring Champion
There is never a shortage of scorers in the NBA, and there are often various types, but at the age of 35, Jordan can still win the scoring title, Jordan is only seen in history, and it is quite difficult to defend the title in the NBA, but Jordan has led the team to three consecutive championships twice, and the Bulls won 5 championships in the 6 seasons from 1990-91 to 1996-97 Jordan, and by the 1997-98 season, Jordan can be said to have perfectly performed the "final dance" in the Bulls.
In the 1997-98 season, Jordan first averaged 28.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game, won the tenth scoring title of his career, and led the team to take the first record in the East with 62 wins and 20 losses.
In the first two rounds of the playoffs, Jordan led the team to a 7-1 overall record to easily advance, the Eastern Conference finals and the Pacers led by Reggie Miller won seven games, and the finals faced the Jazz led by Carl Malone and Stockton, a group of "Utah twins", Jordan helped the Bulls end the series with 6 games, and G6 used a "Jordan-style" method to help the team lock up the victory at the last moment, completing the steal from Karl Malone, and then transporting it to the front court, pulling back the mid-range shot to complete "the last shot".
So, what do you think is the greatest season performance from a player over the age of 35?