Notable NBA Players Who Could Be Entering Their Final Season in 2013-14
The aughts are long past, but not all of the players who dominated during them are retired. A smattering of those who defined the decade remain, and many of them could be entering their final season in 2013-14.
Some of these guys will almost certainly be first-ballot Hall of Famers. Others will get in, but it will take longer for them to arrive. Some were significant names for extended periods of time or elite players for shorter periods.
They are ranked here in order of their career accomplishments. Their presence on this list doesn’t mean they are certain to retire at the conclusion of the year, but there is a significant chance they will.
Basketball-Reference was used extensively for this article. If not specifically linked, the data was obtained from original research using player pages or the Play Index. Where possible, links are provided.
Honorable Mentions
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These players aren’t considered “great” by most, but they have had lengthy NBA careers that should conclude at the end of this year.
Derek Fisher of the Oklahoma City Thunder and formerly of the Los Angeles Lakers, was never the champion of that team. However, he was present with Kobe Bryant for all five of his championship rings.
Antawn Jamison needs just 42 points to join the 20,000-point club. That much scoring makes the fact that he has taken better care of the ball than anyone in NBA history all the more remarkable. His turnover percentage is just 8.22. Currently, the best among players in the 20K-point club is Dirk Nowitzki at 11.
Free agent Jerry Stackhouse was briefly one of the elite scorers in the NBA. He actually scored the most points in the 2001 season, although Allen Iverson beat him out for the scoring title.
10. Marcus Camby, Houston Rockets
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Marcus Camby is one of the great defensive players of his time, which is a remarkable thing to say since his prime crosses over with Dwight Howard and Ben Wallace, who won a combined seven Defensive Player of the Year awards in 10 years.
Among active players, only Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett have more career rebounds than Camby, and only Duncan has more blocked shots. Camby’s 2,331 career deflections is 12th in NBA history.
He was most dominant with the New York Knicks, and with him leading the defensive charge, the Knicks held their opponents to fewer than 100 points for 33 consecutive games. That’s the fourth-longest such streak in the shot-clock era.
He'll play one year in Houston and then probably retire. He's already getting the feel of a player who has extended his career one year too long.
9. Andre Miller, Denver Nuggets
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Andre Miller is arguably the most underrated player in the history of the NBA. To give you an idea of how underrated he is, consider this mind-blowing fact: Miller will shortly join the very elite 15,000-point, 8,000-assist club.
It presently consists of just seven members. John Stockton, Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas and Gary Payton have already entered the Hall of Fame. Jason Kidd and Steve Nash, not yet eligible, will certainly be enshrined.
That’s it. That’s the company Miller keeps. And while the other seven members have been to a gargantuan total of 73 All-Star games, he has never made it to one. Not even in 2002, when he led the league in assists. The rest are Hall of Famers (or will be), and Miller’s not even an All-Star.
He is also the only player in the top 10 of one of the three major statistical categories (points, rebounds and assists) who has never been named to an All-Star team.
In fact, the only award Miller has ever received is being named to the All-Rookie team.
The gap between what he has accomplished and the accolades he’s received is the largest in the history of the game.
Miller has had a better career than most realize, but it’s drawing to an end. Don’t be surprised if he announces his retirement. Can we get the man a career-achievement All-Star Game nomination, though?
8. Vince Carter, Dallas Mavericks
4 of 11Vince Carter has had a great career. He’s 27th all-time in points scored. He’s 54th all-time in win shares. He’s been to eight All-Star games. That’s not too shabby, and it’s worthy of landing him in the Hall of Fame eventually.
However, what separated him from the field in his prime was his dunking ability. Carter had hops like a kangaroo on steroids.
In 2000, he won the Slam Dunk Contest, but that doesn’t really tell the whole story. In-game dunks, not exhibition ones, best revealed Carter’s magnificence.
What many consider the greatest dunk in basketball history came at the expense of 7’2” Frenchman Frederic Weis.
Carter famously hurdled the big man before hammering the ball through the cylinder.
Weis, understandably, was not accustomed to having people jump over him. He said after the game, per Sports Illustrated:
"I knew he could jump, but I didn't know he could jump over me. Everybody will know my face now, or my number at least. It's going to be on a poster for sure.
"
Little did he know that YouTube was going to come along in five years to make him even more recognizable than any poster ever could.
Carter’s prime is a dot in the rearview mirror by now. If he’s not planning on finishing his career when his current contract ends this year, he should be.
7. Paul Pierce, Brooklyn Nets
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Paul Pierce isn’t one of the smoothest players ever, but if you were to write up a new top 50 all-time, he would have to garner serious consideration. The bottom line is Pierce just gets the job done.
He is one of just 10 players who have 24,000 points, 6,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists.
And then there’s that little thing about the finals MVP he won, too.
Surprisingly, his reputation as being a clutch player is overrated. During the course of his career, he has hit just 27 shots to tie or take the lead in last-shot situations (24 seconds or less left in the game). It wasn’t for lack of trying, though. He’s attempted 113 shots in those situations.
Ironically, the perception seems to be that Pierce will get into the Hall of Fame because of his clutch play, his overall play lacking a little bit.
In actuality, it’s the other way around. Pierce, overall, has been a better player than given credit for, and that should earn him his pass. After all, the first 47 minutes and 36 seconds of the game count, too.
Pierce isn’t expected to retire right now, but he’s turning 36 on October 13. If his game regresses this season and the Brooklyn experiment disappoints, he may very well retire. Those chances grow if his good friend, Kevin Garnett, also hangs up the sneakers.
6. Ray Allen, Miami Heat
6 of 11Ray Allen, using a basketball as a scalpel, could give a vasectomy to a flea riding on the back of a mosquito from a hundred yards away without knocking the flea off the mosquito.
He is, simply put, the greatest sharpshooter in NBA history. Only two players, Allen and Reggie Miller, have topped 2,000 three-point makes in their careers. Miller has 2,560. Allen has 2,857. If he can slightly better last year’s total of 139, he can hit 3,000.
Allen also has the most three-pointers in postseason history with 352. That’s 20 percent more than anyone other than Miller.
And then, he has the most memorable three-point shot in NBA history, burying the three that tied Game 6 and saved the championship for the Miami Heat in the 2012-13 NBA Finals against the Spurs.
It shouldn’t be surprising. Allen has a storied history of making clutch shots. In the course of his career, he’s hit a total of 33 shots to tie or take the lead with the shot clock off in regular or postseason games. Of those, 22 were from deep.
During those situations in the playoffs, Allen has a career effective field-goal percentage of .772, which is ridiculously ridiculous.
Ray Allen has one year left on his contract. It’s unlikely at his age, 38, he’ll keep pursuing an NBA career after it’s done.
5. Steve Nash, Los Angeles Lakers
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Steve Nash has had a legendary career made all the more legendary by the obscurity from which he came. He was taken 15th in the NBA draft. Of the 14 players taken ahead of him, only one, Kobe Bryant (taken 13th), has had the greater career.
Yes, Todd Fuller was taken ahead of Nash. If you’re asking, “Who’s that?” the answer is, “Precisely!”
Once drafted, he didn’t even get a full-time starting gig until he was 26.
That makes it pretty impressive that now Nash is one of the greatest traditional point guards in the history of the game (as long as you’re not concerned with defense).
When it comes to running an offense, Nash has been phenomenal. He’s fourth all-time in total dishes and still climbing. He needs just 85 more dimes to surpass Mark Jackson.
He’s also one of the great pure shooters in history. No one has a higher free-throw, field-goal and three-point percentage over his career. From 10 feet to the three-point line, Nash has a career .483 field-goal percentage, which is preposterously efficient.
It’s that kind of ability that won him two MVP awards. They were actually earned, not stolen. He received real votes and everything. People forget that in 2006 he lost three of his top four scorers from 2005 and still led the Phoenix Suns to being the league's second-most efficient offense.
Nash is the second-oldest player in the league. He technically has two years left on his contract, but nobody would be shocked if he retired before his contract ended, particularly if this season is a disappointing one.
4. Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks
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Dirk Nowitzki had already carved out a legacy as arguably the greatest European player in history before the 2011 NBA Finals. After that postseason, though, the conversation was sealed.
That playoff run was a remarkably dominant performance, as Nowitzki picked up the Dallas Mavericks and carried them to an upset over the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. He led the NBA in both points (582) and defensive rebounds (159).
Over the course of his career, Nowitzki has more points than any Euro, and it’s not even close. He has 25,051 points. Kiki Vandeweghe is second-best with 15,980 points.
Nowitzki is on a very short list of players born anywhere who have 25,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, an MVP and a Finals MVP. The other players are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wilt Chamberlain, Shaquille O’Neal, Moses Malone and Hakeem Olajuwon.
Nowitzki was one of the original stretch 4s. (You can make an argument for Rashard Lewis as well, but the bulk of his treys came while playing the 3.)
He has 1,340 career three-point makes, knocking them down at a .381 rate. Andrea Bargnani is second among 7-footers with 539. No one else has topped 140. Changing the game is a big part of his legacy.
He is on the last year of his contract, and it’s generally believed he’ll continue to play, but last season, he had to take time off to get in shape. That suggests he might be getting burnt out on the game.
He may just not have the heart to go on beyond this season when his contract ends, particularly if the Dallas Mavericks are in rebuilding mode.
3. Kevin Garnett, Brooklyn Nets
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Kevin Garnett has put up some overwhelming numbers over the course of his career. In fact, you can make the argument he’s the greatest all-around player of all time. Before the chagrin, let me elaborate.
Currently, Garnett is 51st in NBA history in assists. Deron Williams and Tony Parker are both ahead of him, and he’s not catching them. However, Karl Malone, currently 47th, has only 24 more than Garnett, meaning Garnett should easily pass him within the first 10 games of the season.
When he does, he will be the only player in the top 50 of every one of the five major statistical categories. He is 10th in rebounds, 15th in points, 18th in blocks and 18th in steals.
In terms of defense, he’s a former Defensive Player of the Year and has been named to 12 All-Defensive teams. So, it’s safe to say he’s pretty solid on that end, too.
Ergo, greatest all-around player in history.
Is there another player who is top-50 all-time in every aspect of the game? Perhaps one day, LeBron James will enter that discussion, but for now, Garnett stands alone.
Garnett hinted he was close to retiring last year, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Don’t be shocked if his tenure with the Nets nets them only one year, particularly if that year is a discouraging one.
T1. Kobe Bryant
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How long does it take for a Black Mamba’s heel to heal? And how does a snake have feet? These are questions Kobe Bryant fans want to know. The Achilles’ heel for Bryant may have actually turned out to be his Achilles tendon.
He may or may not retire at the end of the season, but there’s almost no doubt that if Bryant is not able to return to being the great scorer he’s been his entire career, he will retire. He has too much pride to mock himself by playing as a ghost of what he once was.
Regardless of what happens, he’s one of the 10 greatest players of all time. The accolades are there. He’s a former MVP and a two-time Finals MVP. He’s the fourth-leading scorer of all time. With 113 more assists, he’ll be the first player in history to reach 30,000 points, 6,000 rebounds and 6,000 assists.
Bryant’s legacy is unquestioned. His place in history secured. It would be a sad thing if the last we saw from him was sinking a pair of free throws with a blown tendon. Hopefully, he’ll be back this year.
T1. Tim Duncan
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Tim Duncan is in the conversation for the greatest player of his generation and one of the 10 greatest players in the history of the game. He is, without question, the greatest positionally ambiguous big man ever.
He’s been named to 14 All-NBA teams, 14 All-Defensive teams and 14 All-Star teams. He, along with Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, LeBron James, Larry Bird and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, are the only six players to win both multiple MVPs and Finals MVPs.
The five retired players are often mentioned among the top five players of all time. LeBron James is rapidly joining that company. Tim Duncan has certainly earned a place in the conversation.
Duncan is second among active players in rebounds, first in blocks and sixth in points. Only Kevin Garnett, who has 150 more games, has more win shares. Duncan leads active players in postseason win shares, blocks and rebounds. Only Kobe Bryant has more postseason points.
He has the most blocks in playoff history, and he’s third in rebounds. No player has ever started in more postseason wins.
The bottom line is simple. Duncan's case is just as strong as Bryant's for the greatest player of his generation. Those who feel this is disrespectful to Bryant are being disrespectful to Duncan.
I call it a draw. They are two historically great players, and we are privileged as fans to have watched them both.
Duncan’s contract ends this year, and frankly, it would be a shock if he played beyond it. If he does decide to retire, I hope he announces it before the season ends. He deserves a farewell tour. He has been one of the greatest players in history, but even more, he’s been one of the classiest as well.
