The 19 Best Final Seasons of NBA Careers

Title-winning exits, farewell tours and seasons cut short sit side by side here. How a career ends can say as much as how it began.

1. 1
   Bill Russell 1968-69

   Russell won his 11th championship as Boston's player-coach, then retired.
   1000pts
2. 2
   Oscar Robertson 1973-74

   Robertson's final season ended with Milwaukee losing a seven-game Finals to Boston.
   592pts
3. 3
   Wilt Chamberlain 1972-73

   Chamberlain led the NBA in rebounding and set a field-goal percentage record of .727 in his last season with the Lakers.
   525pts
4. 4
   Dwyane Wade 2018-19

   Wade was added to the All-Star Game as a special selection during his farewell season with Miami.
   525pts
5. 5
   Sam Jones 1968-69

   Jones retired after the 1969 title, the tenth championship of his Celtics career.
   525pts
6. 6
   Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1988-89

   Abdul-Jabbar's 20th and last season ended with the Lakers in the 1989 Finals.
   444pts
7. 7
   Tim Duncan 2015-16

   Duncan's last season came on a Spurs team that won a franchise-record 67 games.
   444pts
8. 8
   Paul Arizin 1961-62

   Arizin made the All-Star team with Philadelphia in his last NBA season and retired from the league at 33.
   444pts
9. 9
   John Havlicek 1977-78

   Havlicek played all 82 games and made his 13th All-Star team at age 37 in his final Celtics season.
   444pts
10. 10
    John Stockton 2002-03

    Stockton played all 82 games for Utah at 40 and 41 in his 19th and final season.
    444pts
11. 11
    Dave DeBusschere 1973-74

    DeBusschere made his eighth All-Star team in his last season with the Knicks.
    345pts
12. 12
    Chris Bosh 2015-16

    Bosh was named an All-Star with Miami before blood clots ended his season in February 2016, and he never played again.
    345pts
13. 13
    Drazen Petrovic 1992-93

    Petrovic averaged 22.3 points for the Nets and made the All-NBA third team before his death in a car crash in June 1993.
    345pts
14. 14
    Bob Pettit 1964-65

    Pettit made the All-Star team in his final season with St. Louis, as he did in each of his 11 NBA seasons.
    0pts
15. 15
    Michael Jordan 2002-03

    Jordan played all 82 games for Washington at age 39 and 40, averaging 20.0 points, and made his 14th All-Star team.
    0pts
16. 16
    David Robinson 2002-03

    Robinson retired after winning the 2003 championship with San Antonio.
    0pts
17. 17
    Dirk Nowitzki 2018-19

    Nowitzki closed his 21st season with Dallas, a record for one franchise, after a special All-Star selection.
    0pts
18. 18
    Kobe Bryant 2015-16

    Bryant's farewell season with the Lakers ended with a 60-point game against Utah on April 13, 2016.
    0pts
19. 19
    Julius Erving 1986-87

    Erving made the All-Star team on his farewell tour and passed 30,000 combined ABA and NBA points.
    0pts

Comments