Well, according to research done by the RBC Pro Sports Group, NBA players have a median retirement age of 28, and their average career is five years. While the average retirement age for players in the NBA is 33, according to Basketball Prospectus, many played longer than average.
NBA players retire either in their late 20 or early 30s. The average retirement age hovers around 33 years. On average, basketball players retire later than football and baseball players. The typical career length of an athlete in the NBA is 5 years. The oldest basketball player in modern NBA history, Kevin Willis, retired at the age of 44.
In the NBA, players’ retirement age differs depending on their skills, their ability to obtain new contracts, their health, and their consistency. After an NBA player’s NBA career ends on the court, retired players usually go down another career path, similar to other professionals whose careers end with sports or entertainment.
Retired players typically cease playing in the NBA, but are still involved with coaching, officiating, and other activities. Retiring gives players the opportunity to heal and rest, as well as leaving a lasting mark on their basketball careers. Rather than risk injuries, many players leave the NBA after 4 1/2 years to take up careers in other areas, like coaching basketball. Some pro players are physical enough to play another year or two after retiring from the NBA.
Typical Retirement Expectations in the NBA
Most NBA players retire at around age 30 and many will spend the years following their retirement coaching or playing elsewhere. Many players leave the NBA after a much longer career, but those are usually players who were truly great at what they did, and did not fit into the middle. For the NBAs highest-profile players, however, retirement is a chance to embark on new endeavors they may not have experienced during their playing years. Players will opt to play abroad, but others will opt to pursue different professional paths post-retirement.
Most players will not retire voluntarily, only players that adjust their moves in order to remain with the changing leagues have a shot at retiring voluntarily. Players are allowed to enjoy a lengthy, complete retirement, starting in their late 20s to early 30s.
Compared with a retirement age of 65 for the average nine-to-five employee, NBA players who enter the league as teenagers or early twenties and play through the peaks athletic years at 27 generally will not need to lift a finger the rest of their lives. While that is generally true of most athletes, there are several that have played decades and retired at ages considered unusually old for athletes.
The Physical Deterioration of NBA Players
This means the average pro athlete is likely to retire before reaching their mid-30s; according to research from RBC, the median age of retirement is 29.5 years for Major League Baseball players, followed by 28.2 years for NHL players, 28 years old for NBA players, and 27.6 years old for NFL players.
Their mid-30s are typically when the average NBA player begins to physically deteriorate and falls below the standard athleticism required for playing in the NBA. Even though the drive and passion to play is still there, as soon as an NBA player hits a certain age, his or her body simply cannot keep up with the demands of playing basketball. Playing in the NBA is an incredible strain on the body, and older players have trouble matching up to the speed of their younger opponents.
A player who chooses to retire from playing once they have reached their physical limits is not likely to be playing in the NBA another year or two. Many other players make similar decisions, because the injury risk is simply too great to keep playing past the age of 40. A player that plays at a high level and can contend in the NBA is going to have a shorter shelf life than one that can only compete in lower leagues.
Second Jobs Are Rare for Retired Players
Given the nature of a career, players retiring in the NBA should not be measured against the average journeyman. With many players making millions in yearly salary within the NBA, it is hard to see why they would want to stay on in the labor force once they retire. Thanks to the millions players make during their NBA careers, and generous pensions depending on how long they are employed, they have plenty of options. The amount of money they get every year depends on how long they spent in the NBA, and also on what age they choose to start the retirement.
For example, a player who spent three years in the NBA and chooses to start his retirement at 62 years of age would get $56,998 annually. The annual pension depends both on how long the player spent in the NBA and on what age he chose to begin receiving benefits. This structure could result in a player receiving over $200,000 a month in benefits from NBAs 401k plan if he is older than age 62 and has played over 10 years in NBA.
The payout means a retired NBA former player with five years of championship experience will qualify for $4,000 a month as soon as the former reaches 50 years old. The NBA has had a retirement program in place since 1965 for former and retired players who played for at least three years in the NBA. Generally, retired players are advised to begin receiving their pensions at a late date, around age 60.
As long as an NBA player has a solid 3-6 years of playing in the NBA, chances are that he has earned more than enough money to retire comfortably – and this is provided he has saved up and invested a portion of his salary. While we always hear about career-ending injuries or those NBA superstars who go on a farewell tour, the sad reality is most players retire quietly because the league simply is not interested.