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Ranking the 30 best NBA seasons from players over 35 years old

By Josh Cornelissen

Utah Jazz, Karl Malone(Photo by JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images)
Utah Jazz, Karl Malone(Photo by JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers (Photo by Ross Lewis/Getty Images). /

Los Angeles Lakers. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 7. player. 20. . C

The 30 best NBA seasons from players over 35 years old — 7. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1984-85 (37)

It is rare that a player can be both past his prime and the best in the league at the same time. It takes such an incredible peak to start, it can only possibly apply to a select few. “Father Time is undefeated,” the saying goes, and no matter how talented and dominant the player they eventually fade into the sunset.

That is why the year-after-year excellence of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is so special. He was a positive NBA player into his 40s, and significantly so through even his 39th birthday. Throughout the 1084-85 season, Kareem was widely acknowledged as still one of the very best in the league, and he went out and proved it in the Lakers’ postseason run.

During the regular season, he scored 22.0 points on an elite 59.9 percent shooting, on top of 7.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game. The Lakers that season won 62 games, against the best in the Western Conference, and Kareem was a driving force in the team’s top-ranked offense.

Abdul-Jabbar finished top-5 in PER, effective field goal percentage, win shares and box plus/minus. He was named to the All-NBA second team and finished fourth in MVP voting. All while turning 38 before the end of the season.

In the playoffs, Abdul-Jabbar and the Lakers dominated, sweeping the Phoenix Suns and beating the Portland Trail Blazers and Denver Nuggets in five games each. That set up a rematch with Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics, and Kareem was magnificent. He averaged 25.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 5.2 assists in the six-game series, shooting over 60 percent from the field. His counterpart, Robert Parish, was held to just 48.1 percent shooting and 17.2 points per game. He dropped 36 points in the pivotal Game 5, putting the Lakers up for good in the series.

Abdul won Finals MVP at the age of 38, the oldest player to ever take home the award. It was the capstone to the best late-career postseason player in NBA history to this point. After turning 35 Abdul-Jabbar scored 2,536 postseason points, pulled down 838 rebounds, swiped 106 steals and blocked 243 shots, all the most all-time. He won three titles and one Finals MVP all after the age of 35, a playoff resume that most players would be happy to have for their entire career.