LeBron James’ beard has quite a bit of gray in it these days. Chris Paul has been hearing questions for years about how much longer he wants to play. Kyle Lowry already has his retirement job lined up, for whenever that day comes.
Meet the NBA’s current 20-year club. It’s bigger than ever before.
There are no players currently in the league — and very few in the league’s 80-season history — with more seniority than the trio of James, Paul and Lowry. For the first time, the NBA has three players simultaneously entering their 20th seasons; James, when he makes his 2025-26 debut, will be the first 23-year player in league history, while Paul is going into his 21st season and Lowry is entering his 20th.
“The love of the game is still high. The love of the process is even higher,” James said. “So, that’s what continues to push me to play this game. I mean, it is really that simple.”
There’s nothing simple about it. To still be contributing at this level, at this point in their careers, is practically unheard of.
All three invest plenty of their own money (they’ve made a combined $1.2 billion in NBA salaries) in their own individualized programs that have helped them survive the rigors of NBA life for this long.
James’ workout regimen is legendary, yet still not invincible — he’ll miss the start of this season while dealing with sciatica and there’s no firm timetable for when he’ll actually take the floor with the Los Angeles Lakers to start Year 23.
Lowry, at least since the NBA began tracking such stats, is the NBA’s all-time leader in charges taken, which means he’s probably taken more hard falls than anybody. And last season with San Antonio, Paul became the first player in NBA history to play 82 games in a 20th year of a career — and he started all of them, too.
“I’ve always believed in ‘keep stacking days’ and that you just have to show up every single day, every single day,” said Paul, who rejoined the Los Angeles Clippers this summer. “So, that’s what I plan on bringing to this team. … My role on this team is obviously different than it’s been the past 20 years of being in the NBA, but showing up every day, if I can show some of the guys what it looks like every day to clock in and clock out, I’m excited for it.”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the first player in the 20-season club, getting there in 1988-89. Robert Parish followed in 1995-96 (and played a 21st season as well). Kevin Willis played 21 seasons, his career ending in 2006-07.
The rest of the entrants into the club have all come in the last decade: Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Vince Carter (the league’s first 22-year player before James tied that mark last year), Jamal Crawford, Udonis Haslem, James, Paul and soon, Lowry.
What the likes of James, Paul and Lowry have done, and how they’ve done it, has been noticed by everyone — veteran and younger players alike.
“I’m asking and taking advice from these guys and I want to take even more advice from them in the future,” said San Antonio center Victor Wembanyama, who is going into his third season. “They’re definitely examples.”
Milwaukee forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is entering his 13th season, pointed out that constant innovation in medicine, recovery, technology and more has made it possible for players to extend their careers if they choose to put in the effort.
“At this point, if you don’t follow the blueprint that guys like Vince Carter, Dirk, LeBron … if you don’t follow that blueprint, I don’t know what blueprint you should follow,” Antetokounmpo said. “Those guys have been playing at a high level for so many years, they’ve been taking such good care of their body. They have their own physio, they have their chef. You know how you sit down with your financial advisor four times a year and you go through your finances? I think you should sit down with your doctors and your physios four times a year, minimum, to talk about what you want from your body.”
Lowry is back with the Philadelphia 76ers this season, though he has signed with another team as well — Amazon Prime, which he’s joining as an analyst this season, even while still playing. It’s a multiyear deal with one of the NBA’s new broadcast partners, with the assumption that when he stops playing he’ll simply slide into a bigger analysis role.
He’ll debut on Amazon next week. But his mind is fully on Year 20 as a player, not Year 1 of TV.
“I love the game of basketball and I have had the ability to play professional basketball for 20 years and basketball my whole life,” Lowry said. “When you wake up every day you should still be motivated to play basketball. … And I have some unbelievable teammates, unbelievable teammates. That’s my motivation. I just want to continue to give what I’ve learned for as long as I can.”
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Basketball Writer
