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

The 30 best NBA seasons from players over 35 years old — 23. Tim Duncan, 2010-11 (35)

Players don’t win titles or have sustained success alone. Tim Duncan started his career alongside another former MVP in David Robinson. Tony Parker made four All-NBA teams, Manu Ginobili and Kawhi Leonard two apiece. Even LaMarcus Aldridge was named to a team during the twilight of Duncan’s career in 2015-16. Duncan is the best player to ever play for the Spurs, but he never did it alone.

That reality was made very clear in 2010-11, when Manu Ginobili had a career year, moving back into the starting lineup for a season and excelling. Duncan and Parker were both left off the All-NBA teams, but strangely as they put together incredibly strong campaigns that boosted the Spurs to 61 wins and the top seed in the Western Conference.

At 35, Tim Duncan was still a two-way force inside, bringing in 8.9 rebounds per game alongside 13.4 points per game. He finished tied for sixth in the NBA in defensive box plus/minus, a difficult feat given the offensive collection of players around him. This was the season the Spurs realized they needed perimeter defense to pair with Duncan’s presence inside; this year he held down the fort alone, and still propelled the Spurs to 61 wins, barely outside the top-10 in defense alongside their 2nd-ranked offense.

The Spurs did not have that level of success in the postseason, with the upstart Grit-N-Grind Memphis Grizzlies upsetting the Spurs in the first round. Head coach Gregg Popovich’s plan to manage Duncan’s minutes worked, however, as he would get three years even better than this one later into his 30s.