LeBron James recently turned 40 while playing in his 22nd NBA season. In May, Chris Paul will turn 40, having spent two decades in the league. Longevity is slowly becoming a norm in the league, and Vince Carter has a unique take on it. On a recent episode of The Hoop Collective, he said that playing in the NBA at 40 isn’t too different from usual.
Advertisement
Carter was asked by Brian Windhorst, “What is it like to play in the NBA, past your 40th birthday? Even when you’re in a phenomenal shape like those two guys (LeBron and CP3) are and you were.”
With 22 seasons under his belt, Carter is tied with LeBron James for the most seasons played in the NBA. However, he believes that LBJ is going to surpass him. He said, “LeBron [James] for 22 plus years, I know he will shatter that record coming up for sure.” Carter thinks that playing at the age of 40 only gets hyped up in the media because players don’t really give it a lot of thought.
He said, “We don’t think, ‘Yeah, I’m 40, I’m old.’ I mean, we throw it around in the interviews, but when we’re playing, it’s just like, I’m still doing it.” The Hall of Famer said that the realization truly sets in when they share the court with someone whose father used to be their teammate or rival. Other than that, it’s business as usual.
He said, “When you hear younger guys say they look up to you or you played against their fathers, then it’s like, ‘Man, I’m old.” The 47-year-old did acknowledge that certain limitations have to be put on the athlete’s game due to their aging body, but LBJ is defying the odds there as well.
There is no limit to how well James can play at any age. At times it feels as though ‘Father Time’ may actually start creeping up to him and the very next game he puts a reputed center on a poster after jumping from the dotted line in the paint. The absurdity of what he’s been able to achieve will truly be appreciated once he leaves the NBA for good.
Referring to how his career panned out toward the end, Carter said that players start adapting to changes and understand that their bodies have a low ceiling at that age. In his case, he understood he wasn’t going to have ball possession all the time, so he shifted his game toward being a facilitator and focused on ball movement. Improving his shooting accuracy also helped Carter hold his position on the team.
The eight-time All-Star said that players like LeBron and CP3 don’t need to deal with such things because they’re still the key players for their respective teams.
