In a recent appearance on ‘Podcast P,’ former NBA point guard Gilbert Arenas fired back at the notion that he could still play in the NBA. Unlike his fellow retiree, Pual Pierce, Arenas says there’s “no chance” that he could keep up with the league today. In fact, he mocked Paul Pierce for even believing such an idea before tagging the whole exercise as “crazy.”
“No, no, no! Shut up man, we seen what you looked like at the end. We be acting like we finished averaging 30, no we finished averaging 4 and 5, ten years ago. Crazy as hell. Hell nah,” said Arenas.
It’s not uncommon for players to overestimate their basketball ability, but it’s a major stretch for a guy as old as Pierce (46 years old) to claim he can still hang with the players today. Clearly, Arenas wasn’t feeling the take at all despite being a former All-Star himself.
Ungraceful Ending For The Truth
Over 19 years in the NBA, Paul Pierce put together a pretty solid career. As a 10x All-Star, 4x All-NBA player, and 2008 NBA champion, “the truth” cemented his legacy in Celtics history and he remains the last player to lead the franchise to four wins in the Finals. Even so, Pierce didn’t end things on the best of terms in Boston. As his stats began to plummet in the mid-2010s, the Celtics felt they had no choice but to start over and wipe the slate clean.
While there was much buzz and excitement at the time regarding the mega trade that sent Piece to Brooklyn, he was never the same after leaving the Celtics and his impact faded drastically in the final years of his career. In his final season with the Clippers, he was relegated to a bench-warming role averaging just 3.2 points in 11.1 minutes per game. So, considering where he left off, it’s unlikely that Pierce could have played three years ago, much less anytime in more recent NBA history. The game has passed him by at this point, and only LeBron James has shown any ability to extend his career to indefinite lengths.
LeBron James Is The Exception
As LeBron James gets closer to his 40s, his continued longevity in the NBA only gets more impressive. This season, at 39, he’s making history with his play and setting a new standard for how athletes should age in the league. In 41 games for the Lakers, he’s averaging 24.8 points, 7.5 assists, and 7.1 rebounds per game on 52.0% shooting. With over 20 years of greatness under his belt, James is on an unprecedented track right now and it’s anyone’s guess how it will end.
But the fact that James is even still playing in the league when most of his peers have long been retired speaks volumes about his work ethic and the amazing natural durability of his body. Paul Pierce and Gilbert Arenas were not able to achieve this level of longevity but they shouldn’t feel too bad because we may never see it again…
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