Traditionally, star players begin to age out of dominance in their late 30s. LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry have redefined the concept of longevity in the NBA, joining only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Vince Carter as players to continue their productivity late into their second decade of NBA play. Their ability to maintain high-level production at this stage of their careers is unheard of. Hall-of-Fame forward Paul Pierce reveals the one thing they needed to sustain this unprecedented durability.
Advertisement
Nobody has ever defeated ‘Father Time,’ but these players are putting up one heck of a fight. LeBron is the oldest active player at 40 years old and remains one of the best the league has to offer. His sustained dominance has dimmed the light on Curry and Durant of their impressive longevity.
Curry is 37 years old, and in many people’s eyes, remains at worst a top three point guard in the league. Durant is only a few months younger than Curry but still excelling. Aside from the Suns’ disappointing season, Durant tallied his 17th consecutive year averaging 25 or more points per game.
Many current and former players shower these three with endless praise for their resilient work ethic. Celtics legend Paul Pierce is one of those people. In a guest appearance on The Skip Bayless Show, he revealed just how impressed he is, while highlighting what made this incredible stretch possible for them.
“It’s just a testament of them taking care of their bodies,” Pierce said. “For the most part, you have to be lucky. You have to be lucky to not have any major injuries or surgeries.”
Pierce reveals that luck is a big reason for LeBron, Curry and Durant’s longevity. He doesn’t state it’s the only reason, which would undermine the work they put into their bodies. However, it would be illogical to ignore that luck is a big factor.
That isn’t to say these superstars haven’t suffered injuries throughout their careers. One bad injury could jeopardize someone’s entire career, which we have seen in many instances. Fortunately, these injuries haven’t derailed any of them.
LeBron, Curry and Durant’s biggest injuries
Out of the three, the one who has suffered the most severe injury is Durant. In the 2019 NBA Finals, he tore his Achilles tendon. At the time, many viewed a torn Achilles as a career-ending injury. It still is. However, that wasn’t the case for KD.
He sat out the entire 2019-20 season to recover from the injury. He returned in the 2020-21 season. Although he only played 35 games, he picked up where he left off, averaging 26.9 points per game.
Aside from a few nagging injuries, LeBron has been relatively healthy throughout his entire career. His worst injury came in the 2018-19 season, his first year with the Lakers. He tore his groin and missed 27 total games.
Curry may have the most extensive injury history of the three. His career nearly ended before it could get started as his ankles kept him out of many, many games early on. In the 2011-12 season, Curry played just 26 games before suffering an ankle injury. It was not his only year cut short from lower body ailments.
Another significant injury came in the 2019-20 season when Curry broke his left hand. That came in the fifth game of the season and ended the rest of that campaign for him. The Warriors would go on to pick second overall without him.
All three may not have clean bills of health, but all of them have faced different levels of injury issues. Their shared ability to continue to compete at the highest level is amazing.
