Michael Jordan Age 32 To 40

At the age of 30, Michael Jordan retired after winning three titles. The next year he played for the Birmingham Barons, the White Sox affiliate, and led that league in stolen bases as a 31-year-old rookie. At 32 he wasn't playing either—until he came back.

What if Jordan's whole career started at age 32 and ended at age 40? He would have still been the greatest ever because he was so old, yet so good, and the leader of the team with an all-time NBA best 72-10 record and three straight titles. 

Pretend Jordan is a rookie at age 32.

 

Age 32

MJ started the season with only 17 games left. The Bulls were on the verge of missing the playoffs (34-31), but finished 13-4 with him in the lineup. They made the playoffs, barely, but lost in the second round to Orlando and Shaq. 

Regular season plus playoffs: 27 games, 772 points, 28.6 pts per game, which is more than what he actually averaged as a rookie (28.2). He also averaged 6.7 rpg, 5 apg, 2.0 spg, and 1.0 bpg.

 

Age 33

Mike completed an amazing season in 1995-96 by leading the Bulls to an all-time record 72-10, 25 wins more than the previous season. He also led the league in scoring for a record eighth time and was named NBA MVP. They won in the Finals over Seattle 4-2.

Regular season plus playoffs: 100 games played, 3,043 points, 30.4 ppg. He also averaged 6.3 rpg, 4.3 apg, and 2.1 spg.  

 

Age 34 

Jordan led the league in scoring for the ninth time and beat NBA MVP Karl Malone in the Finals 4-2 under Phil, and he was named Finals MVP for the fifth time in 1996-97. They went an amazing 69-13. Kobe averaged 7.6 points in this season as a rookie.

Regular season plus playoffs: 101 games, 3,910 minutes, 3,021 points, 29.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 4.4 apg, and 1.7 spg.

 

Age 35

Michael became a 10-time scoring champion, five-time MVP, and six-time Finals MVP in 1997-98. He was the oldest ever player to do any of that. The Bulls went 62-20 under Phil and beat the Jazz again 4-2. Jordan was 6-0 in the Finals.

Regular season plus playoffs: 103 games, 3,037 points, 29.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 3.5 apg, and 1.7 spg. 

 

Age 36

He retired again after second three-peat. The year was 1999.

 

Age 37 - retired

 

Age 38 - retired

 

Age 39  

Jordan came out of retirement again and amazingly led Washington in scoring at age 39. The year before, the Wizards were 19-63, and in 2001-02 they finished 37-45, an 18-game improvement. Jordan was the only new guy on the team.

Regular season: 22.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 5.2 apg, and 1.4 spg.

 

Age 40

He became the oldest player ever to score 40 points in a game and average over 20 points per game—an amazing feat for a guy who was the only player on the Wizards that year to play in all 82 games, and he was 40! They went 37-45 again, but the next year with Jordan gone they were back at 25-57. Wow, even at 40, MJ was a bad man, schooling little kids half his age.

Regular season: 20.0 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 3.8 apg, and 1.5 spg.

 

Summary

From age 32 to 40 Jordan played in 473 games. He scored 12,888 pts for an average of 27.2 points per game and won three NBA titles with three Finals MVPs, two regular season MVPs, and three scoring titles in only five full seasons. At an old age, Jordan shot 46.3% from the field.

This year, at age 31, Kobe averaged 27 pts (less than Jordan from age 32-40) and has shot for his career 45.5% from the field (less than Jordan from age 32-40)

Even if Jordan had ONLY played from age 32-40, he'd be the greatest single individual talent of all time.