How the greats leave the game...

After becoming rather nostalgic recently for the NBA days of old, I started exploring how other superstars fared in their twilight days.
Granted, I have been deeply disturbed about Hakeem and what we now expect from him, or believe he can do. This prompted me to find out if other superstars in the past ever had to go through anything similar to this. Now, we all knew they weren't what they once were anymore, but the numbers they put up still kind of suprised me. Here are a few examples of current and ex-players performances at their "old" age.

1.) Larry Bird - His final season was 1991-1992, but during that injury marred year, he still capped a "classic" performance of 49pts, 14reb, 12 assists, and 4 steals in a regular season game against Portland.

2.) Micheal Jordan - don't have to say much.

3.) Magic Johnson - While he definitly was forced to leave early, there is no doubt he could have excelled way beyond his years had he continued to play. The Lakers had made the finals in his last full year of basketball. He did have some fairly decent games when he made his comeback, but his body was no longer the machine it once was.

4.) Clyde Drexler - In his final season as a player, he led the Rockets in scoring and assists.

5.) Charles Barkley - While his last year was cut short, there were a few games at the beggining of the year which he flat-out dominated. He had some 24 rebounds against the Pacers, and he had a classic double-overtime game against Phoenix. Had he not gotten injured, I'm positive the Chuckster would have had a few more of his vintage games.

6.) Kevin McHale - While he only averaged 10.7 pts in his final regular season, he came alive in the playoffs, averaging 19 ppg, while scoring 30 in game 2 against the Hornets in the 1993 playoffs first round.

7.) Karl Malone - The man will never slow down...period. He sets out to prove that being old is just a mindset...just see his 50 pts vs. Seattle.

8.) John Stockton - His numbers have gone down, but he is still a deadly player. He is dirty, but he also knows how to play the game. He too is an ageless wonder.

As you can see, all of these guys have accomplished many feats throughout their careers, but they always continued to bring it to the floor till they were forced off. Based on this, I have decided that I want to see what Hakeem Olajuwon can do in this upcoming final year. We've all left him out to dry, expecting him to pant and wheeze himself into retirement, but if he's a true competitor (which nobody can doubt), there's always gonna be something left in the tank.

So, get excited for this young team, perhaps expect a winning season, but most importantly, stay high on Hakeem...he may please you once more, and thus, you will give him the farewell he deserves.

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--Nick

 

I reluctantly left off Isiah's final year because he had an injury plagued year, tearing his achilles in his final game (ouch). In his last full year, however, he averaged 17.6 pts and 8.5 assists per game.

Julius Erving averaged 16.8 points at the end of a VERY long career (in 86-87), spanning two leagues.

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--Nick