NBA stars who began their careers years ago, such as Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, and Russell Westbrook, are still making headlines and playing at a high level despite being very close to the end of their professional careers.
After the Los Angeles Clippers‘ 117-109 home win over the Charlotte Hornets, another league veteran, James Harden, reflected on the passage of time and praised these NBA stars, while also offering some great advice to fans.
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During the victory over the Hornets, Harden moved into ninth place and surpassed Shaquille O’Neal in the history of the NBA’s top scorers with 28,614 points in 1,188 games played over 17 seasons. Shaq scored 28,596 points in 1,207 games over 19 years.
In addition, Harden ranks as the second-best three-point shooter in NBA history (behind only Curry), is twelfth in assists, and currently averages 25.8 points, 8.0 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game.
This is just one example of the consistent, high-level performance that figures such as the Clippers star continue to deliver on the court today.
After the game, Harden himself shared a heartfelt message about the effort and dedication of NBA veterans like himself and his fellow professionals, LeBron, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and Russell Westbrook:
“I work my butt off,” he said. “You don’t understand how hard it is to work and the longevity of it. It’s a handful of guys who understand it and know it. A couple of them are still playing at a high level, which is a beautiful thing to see.”
“Cherish it. Embrace it. Love it. Because once it’s over, it’s over,” he added. “You watch guys like Bron, Steph, KD, Russ do their thing at the highest level still at our age. It’s a beautiful thing to see. It’s a testament to those guys and the work they put in, and we’ve put in, to be able to still be doing it this long.”
The truth is that, even though Durant, Westbrook, LeBron, Curry, and even Harden are in the latter stages of their careers, each continues to perform at an elite level and shows very few signs of slowing down.
But it’s also true that nothing lasts forever, so until the word “retirement” appears in the careers of these sports stars, it’s best to follow Harden’s advice: “Cherish it. Embrace it. Love it. Because once it’s over, it’s over.”
