When Legends Age: The NBA’s Struggle to Move On

LeBron James was drafted in 2003 — a long time ago. To put that into perspective, I’m a 19-year-old college freshman who was born in 2006. Kevin Durant was drafted in 2007, and Stephen Curry followed in 2009. What do these three legends have in common? They are all still playing. James is 40, and both Durant and Curry are nearing 38. This raises the question: Is it finally time for this trio to hang it up?

Saying that it’s time for a professional athlete to call it quits doesn’t discredit their accomplishments and legacy. I still believe that James is the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) — which is a debate for another day. But the average age of retirement for an NBA player is 28, and while James, Durant, and Curry are defying and rewriting the rules of longevity in the league, everything comes to an end. And for this trio, it might be now.

Before the season even started, James was diagnosed with sciatica, an age-related nerve injury, and is expected to miss at least the first four weeks of the season. Right off the bat, this leaves the Los Angeles Lakers without their All-Star for a whole month. Last season, James averaged 20.9 points per game, his lowest points per game since his rookie year. And while that is still a strong stat line, it signifies a clear drop from his prime, where he averaged 30 points per game. A consistent decline in points per game is often a sign that a player’s career may be nearing its end. Since James is frequently in the GOAT conversation, it makes sense to compare him to another Hall of Famer — Wilt Chamberlain. For example, Chamberlain averaged just 13.2 points in his final season, a significant drop from his career average of 30 points per game. Unlike Chamberlain, though, James has struggled with injuries. Right before the 2025 All-Star Game, James decided he’d be sitting out due to ongoing foot and ankle issues, making it only his second missed All-Star appearance in over two decades.

Meanwhile, the Houston Rockets just signed Durant to a $90 million, two-year extension with a player option. This would have been a huge signing if he were in his prime, giving the Rockets an elite scorer with unmatched versatility. But, we’re talking about a 37-year-old Durant, who hasn’t played more than 62 games in the past five years. His injury history is extensive and repetitive: He fractured his foot in 2014, ruptured his Achilles tendon in 2019, and has experienced recurring ankle, foot, and knee injuries ever since. Yes, he is still efficient, shooting a career-second-best .430 clip from three and .527 from the field last season. But what is the point of those stats when an All-Star player is missing one-third of each season? The real question we should be asking, then, is whether his numbers are misleading when he’s playing so few games? There’s a reason why statistics have a minimum number of games played: If a player plays one or two games, their statistics will look extreme. On top of that, small sample sizes are impacted by luck, matchups, and outliers. Perhaps this is the case with Durant as well, but only time will tell. 

Then, there is Curry, who has been hinting at retirement for a while. While he is the greatest 3-point shooter of all time, his numbers have shifted from historic to just merely “great.” Last season, he shot nearly a career-worst .397 from three — still elite, but nearly a career low. In the second round of the 2025 playoffs, a hamstring strain kept him on the bench for the series, and he missed time throughout the regular season with smaller injuries. His durability continues to decline with age, as these minor injuries leave him sidelined for extended periods of time. Yes, you can argue that injuries aren’t indicative of whether a player should retire. But we’re talking about 40-year-old players, not the rookie who just got drafted. In 2012, 23-year-old Derrik Rose tore his Achilles tendon, healed well, and reinvented his play style to accommodate his newfound lack of explosiveness. His youth was a key factor in his bounce-back. In contrast, in 2013, 34-year-old legend Kobe Bryant tore his Achilles tendon, and when he returned, he wasn’t the same player he once was. Younger players can heal faster and train harder, while older players heal more slowly and lack stamina. These players are regular people, not superheroes. Hall of Famer Charles Barkley once said that “you don’t choose retirement, your body chooses for you.” 

None of this is to say any of the three are now unplayable, but it shows why they should feel content with retiring now. James is the NBA all-time leader in points made with 42,184; Curry is the NBA all-time leader in 3 pointers made; and Durant is eighth all-time with 30,571 points made. All have at least one Olympic gold medal, Most Valuable Player award, and NBA championship win. Athletes on the rise have the potential to keep going up, but once recurring injuries nag, there’s rarely a way back to prime form. For example, Shaquille O’Neal averaged almost 30 points per game in his prime, but dropped 13 points per game in his final four seasons. In his final NBA season, he managed to score only in the single digits. These three climbed the mountain and proved everything they needed to; they earned the right to feel at peace, and should walk away with their legacies intact as they near 40. 

More importantly, the league needs new faces. For my entire life, I’ve been watching these three dominate the game. It’s time for them to give up their thrones and make space for the next generation: players like Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and even promising young superstars such as Victor Wembanyama. Yet the NBA continues to revolve around the same names. The Lakers (with James) and Warriors (with Curry) alone have a combined 68 prime-time games this season (34 each, tied for the league high), and last year, I was forced to watch the Lakers (39) and Warriors (36) play 75 prime-time games. That is airtime that could have gone to young teams and helped elevate their stars’ profiles. Season after season, the NBA keeps handing these aging superstars nationally televised games, rather than giving the spotlight to the next superstars.    

The downside of this trio refusing to let go is that we risk missing the greatness happening right now. Jokic is averaging a triple-double for his career, a feat accomplished by only two other players in NBA history (Oscar Robertson and Russel Westbrook). Joel Embiid, despite injuries, had a 70-point game in 2024, joining the exclusive nine-player club to do so. Antetokounmpo shot over 60% last season as a power forward, while the league average is .465; Wembanyama led the league in blocks for his first two seasons; Trae Young achieved 880 assists, setting a franchise record. These are historic performances, yet are being overlooked because the NBA is highlighting aging stars, rather than the ones shaping our future. 

James, Durant, and Curry are living legends who we got to watch change the way the game is played. But even legends have to pass the torch. The next generation of stars is ready, and it’s time to give them the spotlight.