LeBron enters year 20: What other NBA players have played 20 seasons or more?
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James is entering his 20th year in the NBA this season, a milestone that very few players have achieved in the league.
Performance is one thing, longevity is another; an elite few in the NBA are blessed with both.
This year, Los Angeles Lakers star forward LeBron James will be joining the ranks of an exclusive club as he heads into his 20th season in the league. In such a fast-paced and physically challenging game, not many are able to last two decades in the NBA as the sport takes a big toll on an athlete’s body.
Nonetheless, a handful have managed to hold off the ravages of time as well as evade career-ending injuries to be able to stay on the court for 20 years. Coming into the 2022-23 season, only eight have managed to play for this long.
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Vince Carter, the most seasons of them all
The person who has had the longest career in the NBA is Vince Carter, who played for 22 seasons. The eight-time All-Star first played with the Toronto Raptors in 1998, and was named the 1999 NBA Rookie of the Year. He last played with the Atlanta Hawks, and announced his retirement in June of 2020.
Following Carter are four men who played for 21 years in the NBA.
The 21-year club
Kevin Garnett, known as one of the best power forwards in league history, was drafted straight out of high school by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1995. After a few years playing with the Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets, he closed out his career back with Minnesota.
Dirk Nowitzki was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks as the ninth pick overall in the 1998 draft, and was immediately traded to the Dallas Mavericks, with whom he played his entire NBA career from 1998 to 2019.
Center Robert Parish was drafted by Golden State Warriors in the 1976 draft, moved to the Boston Celtics, then the Charlotte Hornets, before playing his last season for the Chicago Bulls and wining the championship with them in 1997, making him the oldest player to win a title at 43.
Kevin Willis was drafted by the Atlanta Hawks in 1984 and stayed with them for ten years. He then played for various teams until he retired in 2007 with the Dallas Mavericks.
Two decades of greatness
Three other basketball greats played for 20 seasons- Los Angeles Lakers legends Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kobe Bryant, and three-time NBA Sixth Man of the Year awardee Jamal Crawford.
Aside from LeBron, there are two other players who are set to record their 20th year in the NBA this season. There’s Udonis Haslem of the Miami Heat, who re-signed with the team in August, and free agent Carmelo Anthony, who has yet to find a franchise to play for this year.