Clyde Drexler: A member of the 50 greatest players to have ever played in the NBA, and the go to guy on probably one of the best teams not to win a championship. Clyde was 32 when starting the 94-95 season with Portland. While Clyde was not quite the explosive scorer he was in the hey-days of the Blazers in the late 80s, he was still a very productive scorer. The problem coming into this season was that the Blazers were a team in transition and felt they needed to make move to get younger.
The Blazers traded their all-time leading scorer to the Houston Rockets in-season. Clyde teamed up with his former Phi Slama Jamma teammate Hakeem Olajuwon and helped the Rockets get their 2nd straight Championship. Clyde wasn’t just along for the ride, he was a major contributor. He averaged over 20 points per game, 7 rebounds and 6 assists in the playoffs and finals combined; these numbers only show a slight drop off in production from his peak years. Clyde’s production did, however, begin to slip considerably the following season.
Bernard King: One of the best at putting the ball in the basket in NBA history entered the 88-89 season with the Washington Bullets. At 32 years old, it was quite a feat that Bernard was even on a NBA roster considering that he had just returned one season ago from a terrible knee injury that had cost him more than 2 years of his career. Bernard did not experience team success with the Bullets that season, being that the team had a sub .500 record and missed the playoffs.
However, Bernard was able to put together a strong season for himself by improving his scoring production from the previous year. He actually continued to raise his scoring average the following two seasons, peaking at 28.4 points per game in the 90-91 when he was 34 years old. This is a good sign for Kobe considering Bernard was able to remain at an All Star level despite his age and injuries.
Allen Iverson: At one time AI was the most explosive scorer in the league and a fan favorite. Nowadays AI cant even find work within the US borders. When the 07-08 season started AI was still in the United states, 32 years old and was starting his first full season with the Denver Nuggets after having been traded mid-season from Philadelphia the previous year.
It was a great statistical season for AI; he shot a career high .458 from the field and formed the most prolific scoring duo in the NBA that season with Carmelo Anthony. If AI lost a step at this age it was very hard to tell. AI showed his durability that season by playing in all 82 regular season games. AI didn’t prove to be the missing piece to get the Nuggets over the hump in the playoffs, though, as they lost in the first round for the 5th straight season.
