Ranking the 30 best NBA seasons from players over 35 years old
PG. Utah Jazz. John Stockton. 19. player. 118.
The 30 best NBA seasons from players over 35 years old — 19. John Stockton, 1999-00 (37)
After years of a league dominated by Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls from the Eastern Conference, the pendulum swung sharply in the other direction during the late 1990s and throughout the 2000s. The Western Conference became filled with giants, a combination of the old contenders such as the Utah Jazz and Portland Trail Blazers surrounded by young up-and-comers like the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs.
The 1999-00 Utah Jazz were a dominant force in the Western Conference, winning 55 games in a year where the league’s five best teams were all in the West. They were led by the same core that battled Jordan in the NBA Finals, with four of their top-six players all 35 or older.
John Stockton played in all 82 games at 37 years old, averaging 11.5 points and 8.7 assists per game. He once again led the league in assist percentage, was fourth in total assists (his old Western Conference nemesis Gary “The Glove” Payton led the league), and seventh in total steals.
Advanced metrics highlight his impact even further. He once again led the league in offensive rating, was ninth in win shares (fourth in win shares per 48 minutes) and third in box plus/minus. He totaled 11.2 win shares, tied for 10th-most all-time for a player 35 or older.
In the postseason that year, he upped his game even further, leading the postseason in assists per game and hitting 38.9 percent of his 3-pointers. The Jazz took down the Seattle SuperSonics in a hard-fought five-game series in the first round before falling in five to the Portland Trail Blazers. It would be Stockton’s last playoff series win for his career.