LeBron James\u2019 beard has quite a bit of gray in it these days. Chris Paul has been hearing questions for years about how much longer he wants to play. Kyle Lowry already has his retirement job lined up, for whenever that day comes.<\/p>\n
Meet the NBA\u2019s<\/a> current 20-year club. It\u2019s bigger than ever before.<\/p>\n There are no players currently in the league \u2014 and very few in the league\u2019s 80-season history \u2014 with more seniority than the trio of James, Paul and Lowry. For the first time, the NBA has three players simultaneously entering their 20th seasons; James, when he makes his 2025-26 debut, will be the first 23-year player in league history, while Paul is going into his 21st season and Lowry is entering his 20th.<\/p>\n \u201cThe love of the game is still high. The love of the process is even higher,\u201d James said. \u201cSo, that\u2019s what continues to push me to play this game. I mean, it is really that simple.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s nothing simple about it. To still be contributing at this level, at this point in their careers, is practically unheard of.<\/p>\n All three invest plenty of their own money (they\u2019ve made a combined $1.2 billion in NBA salaries) in their own individualized programs that have helped them survive the rigors of NBA life for this long.<\/p>\n James\u2019 workout regimen is legendary, yet still not invincible \u2014 he\u2019ll miss the start of this season while dealing with sciatica<\/a> and there\u2019s no firm timetable for when he\u2019ll actually take the floor with the Los Angeles Lakers to start Year 23.<\/p>\n Lowry, at least since the NBA began tracking such stats, is the NBA\u2019s all-time leader in charges taken, which means he\u2019s probably taken more hard falls than anybody. And last season with San Antonio, Paul became the first player in NBA history to play 82 games in a 20th year of a career \u2014 and he started all of them, too.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve always believed in \u2018keep stacking days\u2019 and that you just have to show up every single day, every single day,\u201d said Paul, who rejoined the Los Angeles Clippers<\/a> this summer. \u201cSo, that\u2019s what I plan on bringing to this team. \u2026 My role on this team is obviously different than it\u2019s been the past 20 years of being in the NBA, but showing up every day, if I can show some of the guys what it looks like every day to clock in and clock out, I\u2019m excited for it.\u201d<\/p>\n Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the first player in the 20-season club, getting there in 1988-89. Robert Parish followed in 1995-96 (and played a 21st season as well). Kevin Willis played 21 seasons, his career ending in 2006-07.<\/p>\n The rest of the entrants into the club have all come in the last decade: Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki, Vince Carter (the league\u2019s first 22-year player before James tied that mark last year), Jamal Crawford, Udonis Haslem, James, Paul and soon, Lowry.<\/p>\n What the likes of James, Paul and Lowry have done, and how they\u2019ve done it, has been noticed by everyone \u2014 veteran and younger players alike.<\/p>\n