List Of Oldest And Youngest NBA Players
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This is a list of oldest and youngest National Basketball Association players. The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a men's professional basketball league in North America. The NBA was founded in 1946 as the
Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Ba ...
(BAA). The league adopted its current name at the start of the when it merged with the National Basketball League (NBL). The oldest person ever to play in the NBA was Nat Hickey, a coach who activated himself as a player for a game two days before his 46th birthday. The youngest player ever to play in the NBA was Andrew Bynum, who played his first game only six days after his 18th birthday. The oldest active player is Miami Heat power forward Udonis Haslem, who is currently 42 years old. The youngest active player in the NBA is Detroit Pistons center
Jalen Duren Jalen Montez Duren (born November 18, 2003) is an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Memphis Tigers. A center, he stands and weighs ...
, the 13th overall pick in the
2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The ...
, who is currently 19 years old and was born on November 18, 2003.


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Oldest players

The oldest player ever to play in the NBA was Nat Hickey who played one game in the 1947–48 season when he was 45 years and 363 days old. Hickey, who was coaching the Providence Steamrollers at the time, decided to activate himself and played in a game for the Steamrollers. In his first game as a player for the Steamrollers, he missed all six of his shot attempts and only scored two points from three free throw attempts; he only played in one more game before retiring as a player two days shy of his 46th birthday. The second-oldest player is Kevin Willis, who played 20 seasons (excluding the 1988–89 season he missed due to injury) in the league before he sat out the 2005–06 season and earned a contract with the
Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference (NBA), Western Conferenc ...
on April 2, 2007. Willis then played five games for the Mavericks at the age of 44. The third-oldest player is Hall of Famer
Robert Parish Robert Lee Parish (born August 30, 1953) is an American former professional basketball player who played 21 seasons as a center in the National Basketball Association (NBA), tied for second most in league history. He played an NBA-record 1,61 ...
. Parish, who played with the
Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...
in the 1980s, played his last season with the Chicago Bulls at the age of 43. He played in 1,611 regular season games during his 21-year career, more than any other player in NBA history. When the Bulls won the 1997 Finals, Parish became the oldest player ever to win the NBA championship. There are 31 players who played in the NBA after they turned 40.The oldest active player is Udonis Haslem, who is now 42 years old. Haslem played his first game in the
2003–04 NBA season The 2003–04 NBA season was the 58th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Detroit Pistons defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 4–1 in the 2004 NBA Finals. Events This was the last season for the original two-div ...
and has played for 19 seasons. He is the only player born before 1984 who is still active and under contract with an NBA team.


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Youngest players

NBA players usually come from U.S. college basketball. In the past, a college player had to complete his four-year college eligibility before he could enter the league through the NBA draft or as a free agent. In the 1970s, the league began to allow college underclassmen and high school players to enter the league. However, the trend of drafting high school players only began in the mid 1990s. This has led to more younger players entering the league directly after high school graduation. In 2005, the league and the players' union agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement that includes a minimum age limit which requires that players who wish to enter the league must be at least 19 years old on December 31 of the year of the draft, and at least one year removed from high school. International players who did not play college basketball also have to be at least 19 years old on the same date to be able to play in the NBA. Despite a trend toward drafting younger players, the NBA has a higher average age than it had in the 1980s. However, since the NBA introduced the minimum age limit in 2005, the league's average age has decreased in the past few seasons. The youngest player to ever play in the NBA was Andrew Bynum who played his first game at the age of 18 years and 6 days old. Bynum, who was also the youngest player ever selected in the NBA Draft, went into the NBA straight out of high school. Jermaine O'Neal and
Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely r ...
, both drafted in
1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
, were the second- and third-youngest players. Serbian
Darko Miličić Darko Miličić ( sr-cyrl, Дарко Миличић, ; born June 20, 1985) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. He is , and played the center position. Miličić played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2003 to 2013 ...
was the youngest player ever to play in an
NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...
game. He played for the Detroit Pistons in Game 3 of the 2004 Finals at the age of 18 years and 356 days old. The Pistons won the 2004 Finals and Miličić became the youngest player ever to win the NBA championship, being only five days away from his 19th birthday at the time. There are currently 29 players who played in the NBA before they turned 19. Nineteen of them came to the league straight out of high school, while 7 of them are international players who never played basketball in the U.S. high schools or colleges before they entered the NBA, and three players, Devin Booker,
Joshua Primo Joshua Lincoln Alexander Primo (born December 24, 2002) is a Canadian professional basketball player who last played for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Alabama Crimson Tide. ...
and
Jalen Duren Jalen Montez Duren (born November 18, 2003) is an American professional basketball player for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Memphis Tigers. A center, he stands and weighs ...
played one year of college before entering the NBA all while remaining 18 years old throughout the process.


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See also

* List of National Basketball Association career games played leaders * List of National Basketball Association seasons played leaders * List of oldest professional athletes by sport *
List of oldest Major League Baseball players This is a list of oldest Major League Baseball players. Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization in North America. The oldest person ever to play in the MLB was Satchel Paige, who, at the age of 59, made one token major ...
*
List of oldest National Hockey League players Below is the List of oldest National Hockey League (NHL) players, with their last year in parentheses. Only hockey players who played at least one game in the regular season or playoffs when they were 40 or older are included on the list. Oldest ...
* *


References

;General * * * * ;Specific {{NBA statistical leaders Oldest National Basketball Association players National Basketball Association players