Michael Jordan, Washington Wizards. Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images
One Final Game: Michael Jordan
Date: February 21st, 2003
Michael Jordan’s last meaningful NBA moment came prior to his second retirement, his iconic game-winning jumper in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals. A few years later, however, he couldn’t shake the basketball itch and returned to play for the Washington Wizards for two seasons to officially end his career (for now; he could still return!).
So it was, just four days after turning 40 years old, that Jordan put up his last great game. It is hard to pinpoint exactly which one to choose, as Jordan got plenty of shot attempts even as he clearly was losing his ability to truly dominate. We’re choosing this game because it was the last time he would break the 40-point barrier. For Jordan that meant the 173rd time he scored 40, which is second-most all-time behind just Wilt Chamberlain.
In that road win over the New Jersey Nets Michael Jordan dropped 43 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, one block and just one turnover. He was able to drive such an efficient scoring night because he got to the free-throw line eight times and hit seven of them. Overall he was 18-of-30 from the field, able to draw forth from himself one last elite scoring game. In a tight game, Jordan scored the final go-ahead basket with just 34 seconds to go.
How remarkable was that performance from Jordan? He remains the only player in NBA history to score 40 or more points after turning 40 years old. In fact his three 40-point nights from that season rank as the three oldest such performances. He didn’t have it often in that final year, but every once in a while he could dig deep and summon the magic. He did so one last time on February 21st, 2003.
NBA provides a window into the rise and fall of superstars. More so than the brief schedule of the NFL or the unathletic hiding places of baseball, basketball and its 82-game seasons provide us a picture of players growing from rookie to star, and then on the back end of their career going from star to something less.</p>
<p>“Father Time is undefeated”, as they say, and every NBA star feels the effects of aging. Even LeBron James is experiencing that with the Los Angeles Lakers after ignoring its effects for so long. Throughout NBA history stars have had to deal with the decline of their careers on the most public of stages.</p>
<h2>Before the end NBA stars have shown in One Final Game that they can still be amazing</h2>
<p>The stars of NBA history have summoned some tremendous performances near the end of their careers. Some players get to do so in their literal last games, while others have to point further back as injuries or age resulted in less stellar ends. Whenever it occurred, every star has One Final Game to point to.</p>
<p>What are those games for some of the league’s best players? We took a look at 30 of the league’s stars, ranked in order of our recent <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://hoopshabit.com/2021/10/19/ranking-75-best-players-nba-history-75th-anniversary/">Top 75 ranking of every NBA player</a> in league history. No active players are included on the list, as their final game has yet to be written. Therefore we start with Air Jordan, who kept us on our toes in tracking his final great game by retiring three different times.</p>
<p>Here is “One Final Game” for 30 of the all-time greats.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Michael Jordan </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-438962" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1060,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1244970447.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="1600" height="1060" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1244970447.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1244970447-768x509.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Michael Jordan, Washington Wizards. Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Michael Jordan</h2>
<p><strong>Date: February 21st, 2003</strong></p>
<p>Michael Jordan’s last meaningful NBA moment came prior to his second retirement, his iconic game-winning jumper in Game 6 of the 1998 NBA Finals. A few years later, however, he couldn’t shake the basketball itch and returned to play for the <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://hoopshabit.com/eastern-conference/washington-wizards/">Washington Wizards</a> for two seasons to officially end his career (for now; he could still return!).</p>
<p>So it was, just four days after turning 40 years old, that Jordan put up his last great game. It is hard to pinpoint exactly which one to choose, as Jordan got plenty of shot attempts even as he clearly was losing his ability to truly dominate. We’re choosing this game because it was the last time he would break the 40-point barrier. For Jordan that meant the 173rd time he scored 40, which is second-most all-time behind just Wilt Chamberlain.</p>
<p>In that road win over the New Jersey Nets Michael Jordan dropped 43 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, one block and just one turnover. He was able to drive such an efficient scoring night because he got to the free-throw line eight times and hit seven of them. Overall he was 18-of-30 from the field, able to draw forth from himself one last elite scoring game. In a tight game, Jordan scored the final go-ahead basket with just 34 seconds to go.</p>
<p>How remarkable was that performance from Jordan? He remains the only player in NBA history to score 40 or more points after turning 40 years old. In fact his three 40-point nights from that season rank as the three oldest such performances. He didn’t have it often in that final year, but every once in a while he could dig deep and summon the magic. He did so one last time on February 21st, 2003.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Bill Russell </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-436842" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2134,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F521024556.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="3200" height="2134" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/521024556.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/521024556-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Bill Russell, Boston Celtics. Photo by Mike Lawrie/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Bill Russell</h2>
<p><strong>Date: May 5th, 1969</strong></p>
<p>For most of the NBA legends on this list, their final performance will come in the midst of a tough landing. Every NBA player, no matter how good, cannot conquer Father Time, and we often watch that struggle happen on the court in the final seasons of a player’s career. While that was certainly true with Bill Russell, the very last games of his career showed how much he was still impacting the game even at the end.</p>
<p>Russell went out on top, winning his 11th NBA title and his second as a player-coach. His last title run saw him face a familiar foe, the Los Angeles Lakers. That iteration of the Lakers had three elite offensive players in Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain. After falling behind 2-0 and 3-2 in the series, the Celtics evened the series 3-3 and then flew to Los Angeles for Game 7.</p>
<p>As always, Russell could not be denied in a Game 7. That’s not to say he was scoring at a high rate; in fact he took just seven shots and scored only six points. Yet he still dominated the game, pulling in 21 rebounds and dishing six assists to set up his teammates. Russell played all 48 minutes of that Game 7. His counterpart on the Lakers, Chamberlain, was held to only eight field goals himself, and it was only when Chamberlain was off the court receiving treatment for a knee injury that the Lakers went on a run to pull it close.</p>
<p>Russell owned Chamberlain throughout their careers, the ultimate success vs. stats argument for fans at the time. He would do so one final time, beating the Lakers, Wilt and Father Time to exert his will. He would retire after the game, the ultimate example of going out on top.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Kareem Abdul-Jabbar </a>
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<img class="wp-image-438694 size-full" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2160,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1349858497.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="3200" height="2160" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1349858497.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1349858497-768x518.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar</h2>
<p><strong>Date: June 11, 1989</strong></p>
<p>Few players in NBA history can match the peak of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and none but LeBron James can match his longevity. Abdul-Jabbar played 20 seasons in the league after a four-year college career, playing past 41 years old. He averaged at least 20 points per game in 17 of those seasons, and double-digits in every single one.</p>
<p>By the end Abdul-Jabbar was slow and creaky, but he still knew enough to get his shot off and have occasional bursts of scoring. Those came less often than earlier in his career, when he could pump out 20-point games in his sleep, but it was remarkable how defenders two decades younger than him still couldn’t shut him down.</p>
<p>In his final season, at age 41, the Los Angeles Lakers made it to the 1989 NBA Finals looking for a third-straight title. They played the “Bad Boy” Detroit Pistons in a rematch of the previous year, when the Lakers won in seven games, in part due to a hotly-debated foul call that sent Abdul-Jabbar to the free-throw line in the waning seconds.</p>
<p>This time around the Pistons had the Lakers’ number, winning the first two games at home before the series went to Los Angeles. The Lakers needed a win to stay alive (going down 3-0 is an NBA death sentence) but the Pistons’ defense smothered most of their usual offensive engines and they lost by four points. The loss was not on Kareem, however; he dropped 24 points and 13 rebounds, both season-high marks. He gave it all he had in the penultimate game of his career, one last great game from the NBA’s most prolific scorer.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Tim Duncan </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-438695" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F531900758.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/531900758.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/531900758-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Tim Duncan, San Antonio Spurs. Photo by J Pat Carter/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Tim Duncan</h2>
<p><strong>Date: May 12, 2016</strong></p>
<p>Tim Duncan demonstrated to the world how a superstar player can age gracefully in a way that helps his team win. He began taking a backseat offensively to allow his younger teammates to drive scoring, while continuing to clean the glass, move the ball and anchor an elite defense. It’s how Duncan and the <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://hoopshabit.com/western-conference/san-antonio-spurs/">San Antonio Spurs</a> won titles 15 years apart.</p>
<p>In Duncan’s final season, the reality of 1,582 career games (regular season and playoffs) after a full four years in college meant Duncan was a reliable but no-longer-prolific player for the Spurs. He filled his role as a low usage player and important leader and culture-setter, and the Spurs set a franchise record with 67 wins.</p>
<p>After sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies in the playoffs, they found themselves in a tough battle with the Oklahoma City Thunder, led by Kevin Durant, and ultimately went six games as they struggled with the Thunder’s length and athleticism. The Thunder won Game 6, going on to famously lose a 3-1 series to the Golden State Warriors in the next round.</p>
<p>The Spurs may have lost the game, Duncan’s last one as a player, but it wasn’t because of Duncan’s play. After averaging 4.5 points per game through nine playoff games he exploded for 19 points. He played 34.5 minutes and the Spurs were a +12 when he was on the court; they lost the other 13.5 points by a whopping 26 points.</p>
<p>Duncan defined his game by more than scoring, but he showed he still could bank that basketball off the backboard a few more times in the final game of his career.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Shaquille O'Neal </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-390221" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1255,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F106973417.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="1600" height="1255" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/106973417.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/106973417-768x602.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Shaquille O’Neal, Boston Celtics. Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Shaquille O’Neal</h2>
<p><strong>Date: November 24, 2010</strong></p>
<p>Shaquille O’Neal was one of the most unstoppable forces in league history, a force down low no defenders could truly stop during his prime. The concept of team loyalty didn’t stop him either as he changed teams throughout his career more than any other all-time player. He suited up for six different teams, making the NBA Finals with four of them and winning four titles.</p>
<p>At the very tail end of his career, he joined the Boston Celtics for one more run of contention. The 38-year-old played in just 37 games that last season, averaging just 9.2 points per game, the lowest in his career. He spent most of that season injured and unavailable.</p>
<p>On one night in November, the night before Thanksgiving, Shaq mustered one last epic performance for his fans to be thankful for. He scored 25 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the floor, made seven free throws and pulled in 11 rebounds. It was a vintage Shaquille O’Neal performance, the last one he could pull from his old, worn-out hat.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Hakeem Olajuwon </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-389585" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2165,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F509968.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="3200" height="2165" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/509968.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/509968-768x520.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Hakeem Olajuwon, Toronto Raptors. Mandatory Credit: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Hakeem Olajuwon</h2>
<p><strong>Date: November 20, 2001</strong></p>
<p>Hakeem Olajuwon was one of the greatest defensive players in the history of the NBA, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year who made 9 All-Defensive teams. He was a dominant offensive force, certainly, but his ability to shut down the other towering centers of the 1990s helped lift the Houston Rockets.</p>
<p>By the end of his career, Olajuwon was playing out his swan song season with the Toronto Raptors, and his impact on the court was significantly muted from his prime. He turned 39 during the 2001-02 season, what would be his final year in the NBA. He averaged a career-low in minutes and in scoring, but on one night in the season’s first month he exploded for one last great game, including some elite defensive impact.</p>
<p>In a close loss to the Detroit Pistons, Olajuwon scored 14 points, towards the upper end of his scoring output that season. What is impressive is that he also contributed 20 rebounds, 15 of them on the defensive glass, and he rejected five shots. That’s right: a man about to turn 39 turned away five shots in a single game. He was the oldest player to put up a 20 and 5 night in NBA history, beating Marcus Camby by almost exactly a year.</p>
<p>The Dream would only have two more double-doubles the rest of the season, and 14 rebounds were the most he would pull down from there. The Raptors would go on to play those same Detroit Pistons in the playoffs at the end of the year, and Olajuwon would muster just 19 rebounds total in five games.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Magic Johnson </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-390824" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1079,w_1327/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F51584428.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="1327" height="1079" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/51584428.jpeg 1327w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/51584428-768x624.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1327px) 100vw, 1327px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1327px;">Magic Johnson, Los Angeles Lakers. Photo by RHONA WISE/AFP via Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Magic Johnson</h2>
<p><strong>Date: April 27, 1996</strong></p>
<p>Most NBA stars have their athletic decline happen in their team’s jersey, on the court as they turn from high-impact player to something much less effective. Magic Johnson, who retired at the age of 32 due to an HIV diagnosis, was out of basketball for four seasons (unless you count the Dream Team in the 1992 Summer Olympics). Then at the age of 36 he made a sudden return, playing 32 more games for the Los Angeles Lakers before calling it quits for good.</p>
<p>What’s wild is that Johnson wasn’t all that bad despite returning to basketball after a four-year layoff. He averaged 14.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.9 assists on a Lakers team that won 33 games. In his 32 games after joining the team midseason, they went 22-10. He genuinely helped them win games, most often coming off the bench.</p>
<p>Johnson clearly was missing a step from his heydey, or even from his time with the Olympic team in Barcelona, but he leveraged his size, passing ability and veteran savvy to find ways to fill up the chat sheet. He put up a triple-double in just his sixth game back, then dropped 30 points the following game.</p>
<p>We’ll go a little later into that final, abbreviated season to find his final gem. The Lakers faced the two-time defending champions, the Houston Rockets, in the first round of the playoffs. They would lose the five-game series in four, but their one playoff win came on the back of one Earvin Magic Johnson. He scored 26 points, getting to the foul line for 13 free throw attempts. He had seven rebounds, five assists and the Lakers won by 10 points. In his final home game as a Laker, he led his team to victory as the game’s leading scorer.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Larry Bird </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-404775" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2160,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2020%2F07%2F147497571.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="3200" height="2160" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/07/147497571.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2020/07/147497571-768x518.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Larry Bird, Boston Celtics. Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Larry Bird</h2>
<p><strong>Date: March 15, 1992</strong></p>
<p>Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were linked throughout their careers, facing off for the college basketball title before winning eight of the ten titles through the 1980s, including three head-to-head matchups in the NBA Finals. Their careers ended in very different ways, however. Johnson was forced to retire while still in his prime when he contracted HIV; Larry Bird’s body broke down and cut short the end of his career.</p>
<p>Injuries didn’t end Bird’s effectiveness, but rather his ability to consistently suit up. The pain and stiffness in his back was such that he was often prohibited from playing. He averaged 20.2 points, 9.6 rebounds and 6.8 assists per game in his final year, 1991-92, but played just 45 games. Only once in his final four seasons did he play more than 60.</p>
<p>During that pain-plagued final year Bird was limber enough to uncork a few truly elite performances, throwbacks to the days of his MVP seasons. The last one came on March 15, 1992 against a Portland Trail Blazers team that would play in the NBA Finals that season. He scored 49 points as part of a triple-double with 14 rebounds, 12 assists, 4 steals and a block in a four-point win.</p>
<p>Those numbers are insane for any player, but especially an older veteran player basically immobile from back issues when off the court. He is the only player in NBA history with such a line, a <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/199203150BOS.html?__hstc=205977932.e146ddaef0d34fe4c3d43b6f1dcbb672.1630463703414.1637755137843.1637982901329.41&__hssc=205977932.4.1637982901329&__hsfp=3537442245%22 target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener" ref="nofollow">truly special performance</a> in front of the home crown.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Kobe Bryant </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-380875" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2130,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F521066550.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="3200" height="2130" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/521066550.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/521066550-768x511.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers. Photo by Harry How/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Kobe Bryant</h2>
<p><strong>Date: April 13, 2016</strong></p>
<p>When you first read the headline for this post, it’s possible you thought immediately of Kobe Bryant and his One Final Game. For most NBA legends we are combing through their final season to find their last great game some time before the end. For Kobe Bryant, he walked off in his final game in the most Kobe way possible.</p>
<p>On the final night of the regular season, on the same evening that the Golden State Warriors were winning a record 73rd game, Kobe Bryant took the court for the final game of his career. He shot 22-of-50 for a whopping 60 points, chipping in four rebounds and four assists in the process.</p>
<p>Bryant shot almost every time he touched the ball, determined to go out firing. He shot 21 3-pointers, only three off the most in NBA history and his personal most by three. In a tight game that the Lakers ultimately won by 5, Bryant scored 60 of his team’s 101 points. He scored or assisted on the Lakers’ final 21 points.</p>
<p>It was the purest distillation of the Kobe Bryant experience, shots and shots and shots as Bryant recaptured the magic, using every trick in his bag to gain enough space to get off his patented jumper. He went out on his terms, in his way.</p>
<p>Mamba Out.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Kevin Garnett </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-415052" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1065,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F506090954.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="1600" height="1065" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/506090954.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/506090954-768x511.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves. Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Kevin Garnett</h2>
<p><strong>Date: February 10, 2013</strong></p>
<p>Kevin Garnett is a prime example of a superstar player hanging on in the league well past the end of his prime. Garnett’s end came quickly, a couple of injuries and a lot of minutes taking their toll. Garnett’s last three seasons were all the product of a smart, hard-working role player who was a plus on defense but no longer able to create offense.</p>
<p>To find Garnett’s One Final Game, therefore, we have to go back to the 2012-13 season, well before his 2016 retirement date. In his final season with the Boston Celtics Garnett managed a small handful of games that stood out from the rest.</p>
<p>One of those was a tight 118-114 win over the Denver Nuggets, who were en route to a Top 3 seed in the Western Conference. Garnet played 47 of a possible 48 minutes, scoring 20 points, pulling down 18 rebounds and totaling six assists, two steals and three blocks. He was everywhere, willing the Celtics to victory in the midst of a difficult season.</p>
<p>Garnett would match those 20 points a couple more times that season, but would never again top it. He would never again have even 15 rebounds in a game. One of the most ferocious competitors to ever play basketball was robbed of the ability to make an elite impact by age and injury. For one last roar in 2013 he made sure the world knew he wasn’t going quietly into the night.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Wilt Chamberlain </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-398057" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2160,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2016%2F04%2F497885862.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="3200" height="2160" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/04/497885862.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/04/497885862-768x518.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Wilt Chamberlain, Los Angeles Lakers. Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Wilt Chamberlain</h2>
<p><strong>Date: May 10, 1973</strong></p>
<p>How do you draw a line between great and good for a player as dominant as Wilt Chamberlain? For the man who once scored 100 points in a game, and averaged 50 over the course of a single season, where do you point to as his decline? He can drop 20 points off his per-game average and still be among the league’s leaders.</p>
<p>Even so, you can find the decline happening eventually as he hit his mid-30s. Playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, Chamberlain saw his scoring decrease below 20 points per game for the first time in his career, all the way down to 14.8 points per game in 1971-72 and 13.2 in his final season. Yet at the same time he led the league in field goal percentage and rebounding in each of those seasons, and he won the title alongside Jerry West in 1972. Chamberlain aged and slowed, but he was always a force to handle.</p>
<p>That’s illustrative of his final game as well. In the 1973 NBA Finals, in a rematch with the New York Knicks, Chamberlain scored 23 points, collected 21 rebounds and dished three assists. He played all 48 minutes, as he did in every gave in that series. It wasn’t perfect — he missed nine free throws, and the Lakers lost the game and the series – but it’s hard to look at such a line and think of it as anything less than excellent.</p>
<p>Chamberlain wouldn’t play another game after that series, but it was a solid final performance from the prolific center.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Oscar Robertson </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-367159" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1065,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F984145730.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="1600" height="1065" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/984145730.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/984145730-768x511.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Oscar Robertson (L) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Oscar Robertson</h2>
<p><strong>Date: March 19, 1974</strong></p>
<p>The original “Mr. Triple Double” had a split career, one that started with absolutely elite superstar dominance on a Cincinnati Royals team that was never good to truly contend. Then he flipped the script, joining the Milwaukee Bucks and accepting a smaller role for his final four seasons, a decision that earned him a title.</p>
<p>With the Bucks, playing off of Lew Alcindor (who would later change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar), Robertson had less of a scoring load. He also had less of an opportunity beside Alcindor, who seemed to collect rebounds as if he had the help of The Force.</p>
<p>In Robertson’s final season the Bucks reached the NBA Finals, losing in seven games to the Boston Celtics in 1974, and he had a number of strong games in that playoff run. For this list, however, we are going to go back a few weeks to the last triple-double of his career, a then-record 181, 103 more than Wilt Chamberlain in second. Robertson’s record would stand for four decades before Russell Westbrook finally overtook him.</p>
<p>In the stretch run of the season, Robertson played 41 minutes in a strong win over the Golden State Warriors, scoring 14 points and pulling in 10 rebounds and 10 assists to notch that final triple double. He chipped in three steals for good measure, making a two-way impact as one of the best players on one of the best teams in the league, even in the twilight of his career.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> David Robinson </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-436881" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2160,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1334399711.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="3200" height="2160" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1334399711.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1334399711-768x518.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">David Robinson, San Antonio Spurs. Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: David Robinson</h2>
<p><strong>Date: June 15, 2003</strong></p>
<p>The Admiral got a late start to his NBA career, serving two years with the U.S. Navy before debuting as a rookie for the San Antonio Spurs at the age of 24. That meant his 14 years ended with him a lot older than most other players who lasted that long. Even as a 37-year-old Robinson has plenty left in the tank, starting on a team that won the NBA Finals (albeit in a reduced role alongside Tim Duncan).</p>
<p>His scoring output was up-and-down throughout that final season, but he was right there at the end, playing 31 minutes (a playoff high that year) in the closeout game of the NBA Finals. Robinson scored 13 points on an efficient 6-of-8 from the field.</p>
<p>Robinson led the league in rebounding once, and for his career he ranks 36th in total rebounds. He chipped in 17 more in this final playoff game, which was ultra-important against a New Jersey Nets team that missed 47 shots. Robinson and Duncan formed an impenetrable defensive wall, holding the Nets to just 34.5 percent from the field. The Nets had just 35 rebounds to the Spurs’ 55, and Robinson’s 17 were the most he collected in a game in seven months.</p>
<p>There was a time when Robinson paired dominant scoring with elite defense. By the end he was no longer a high-volume player, but he still had enough to exert his will in the paint and on the glass in the last game of his career, one that ended with him and his teammates hoisting a trophy.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Jerry West </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-434631" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1119,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2021%2F08%2F942815354.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="1600" height="1119" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/08/942815354.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/08/942815354-768x537.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Jerry West. Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Jerry West</h2>
<p><strong>Date: February 3, 1974</strong></p>
<p>Jerry West is a prime example of why it’s difficult to evaluate players solely on the basis of championships. He was an absolutely elite two-way guard for the Los Angeles Lakers throughout the 1960s but could never break through against the Bill Russell Celtics. Finally, late in his career he and the Lakers broke through after Russell’s retirement, winning a title in 1972.</p>
<p>West would play two more seasons after winning that title before retiring, remarkably keeping his per-game scoring average above 20 points in both. His final season came in 1973-74, when West carried on without his former co-stars, Elgin Baylor or Wilt Chamberlain. Injuries piled up and West played just 31 games, returning for only one brief appearance in a playoff game before hanging up the sneakers for good.</p>
<p>In the third-to-last game of his career, the Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Portland Trail Blazers. West scored just 19 points, but he absolutely dominated the box score otherwise. He was everywhere, snatching 14 rebounds (his most in six years), dishing 10 assists and swiping an insane seven steals. The Lakers pummeled Portland to the tune of a 33-point win.</p>
<p>West was inconsistent during his final season, often scoring 30 points one night and three the next. Some nights, though, he still had it, and “The Logo” showed why he was the best guard of the NBA’s first 25 years.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Julius Erving </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-438697" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1113,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1177948906.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="1600" height="1113" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1177948906.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1177948906-768x534.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Julius Erving. Photo by TONY RANZE/AFP via Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Julius Erving</h2>
<p><strong>Date: April 17, 1987</strong></p>
<p>One of the greatest dunkers in NBA history and an all-time athlete, Julius “Dr. J” Erving began his career in the American Basketball Association (ABA) before making his way to the NBA in 1976. From there he played the rest of his career with the Philadelphia 76ers, winning an MVP and a title.</p>
<p>His final season came in 1986-87, Erving’s age-36 season. At this point Erving was something of a wingman to a young Charles Barkley, and the pair kept the 76ers relevant even if they were no longer dominant. The Sixers made it to the playoffs before losing a tough five-game series (back then the first round was best-of-5) to the Milwaukee Bucks.</p>
<p>Erving had a solid postseason, but his last truly awesome game came just before the end of the regular season. With Barkley out with a minor injury Dr. J took off for 38 points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals, showing off that he still had it even in the final days of his career.</p>
<p>The last time Erving scored as many as 38 points was back in the 1983-84 season, interestingly enough also against the Pacers. Scoring that many points used to be a regular occurrence for the three-time scoring champion. Erving ranks eighth in career points when considering both the ABA and NBA numbers. For one final game, he showed the league, and perhaps himself, that he still had it.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Karl Malone </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-397759" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1046,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F50986917.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="1600" height="1046" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/50986917.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/50986917-768x502.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Karl Malone, Los Angeles Lakers. Photo by: Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Karl Malone</h2>
<p><strong>Date: April 25, 2004</strong></p>
<p>The Mailman always delivers. That’s what they said about Karl Malone, and it’s absolutely true. He scored 2,000 points in a single season 11 straight times, and put up at least 1,600 in 16 total seasons. He played the first 18 years of his career with the Utah Jazz before he joined the Los Angeles Lakers for one final, ill-fated run at a title in the 2003-04 season.</p>
<p>In that final season, Malone was clearly on his last legs, but his footwork and strength still made him a formidable opponent. He started the entire season for the Lakers alongside Shaquille O’Neal in the frontcourt, including 21 games in the playoffs. His impact at age 40 was up-and-down, but a few times in the playoffs he proved that the Mailman still delivered.</p>
<p>The best example came in the Lakers’ first-round series against the Houston Rockets. After winning the first two games at home the Lakers lost Game 3 by double-digits to Houston. Game 4 was a close game that could have gone either way, and it was Malone’s impact that made the difference.</p>
<p>Karl Malone scored 30 points, snagged 13 rebounds and had three steals, hitting 11 of his 17 shots and eight of his 11 free throws. In a four-point overtime win the Lakers won his minutes by six points, just eclipsing the final margin. No other Laker scored more than Kobe Bryant’s 18 points (in 50 minutes!), and that came on 7-of-21 shooting. Malone put his team on his back, perhaps for the last time, helping to push the boulder forwards in the playoffs. Ultimately the Lakers lost in the NBA Finals, but just getting there again was an achievement for Malone.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Dirk Nowitzki </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-438698" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1141636742.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1141636742.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1141636742-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks. Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Dirk Nowitzki</h2>
<p><strong>Date: April 9th, 2019</strong></p>
<p>Some superstars refuse to acknowledge the effects of time, demanding the ball as they act out the part of a star even if their bodies won’t deliver the same results. This very rarely results in any amount of team success. Dirk Nowitzki (and others such as Tim Duncan) took the different route, sliding into a new role that fit their ability as they continued to focus on team success.</p>
<p>In his final season, Dirk Nowitzki started just 20 of his 51 games, averaging 15.6 minutes per game and 7.3 points per game in his age-40 season. He didn’t have it in him to carry a team anymore, and so he didn’t, filling a role as a stretch big who occasionally heated up from outside.</p>
<p>In that final year, just two months away from his 41st birthday, Dirk Nowitzi played his final home game as a Dallas Mavericks player, his last game in front of the fans who had cheered him on for 21 seasons. He scored 30 points, cracking 30 for the first time all season and 20 for only the second time. He chipped in eight rebounds, three assists and five 3-pointers. In a game the Mavericks won by 11 points, he was a +11. It was exactly the way a franchise icon should go out.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Scottie Pippen </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-438699" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1043,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F51587353.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="1600" height="1043" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/51587353.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/51587353-768x501.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Scottie Pippen (R) and Rasheed Wallace, Portland Trail Blazers. DAN LEVINE/AFP via Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Scottie Pippen</h2>
<p><strong>Date: February 4, 2003</strong></p>
<p>Everyone knows Scottie Pippen for his time with the Chicago Bulls, when he was Michael Jordan’s wingman for six championships in eight seasons. Once Jordan hung up his sneakers for the second time (not to last, of course) Pippen joined the Houston Rockets for a season before playing with the Portland Trail Blazers for four, the final four seasons of relevance for his career.</p>
<p>Those Portland teams were a motley crew, an ensemble cast trying to win a title in a superstar’s league. Pippen didn’t have it in him anymore to be a dominant player every night, but he certainly had his moments.</p>
<p>The last truly special game of his career was in February of 2003, his penultimate season, in a game against the Orlando Magic. He took over the game, scoring a game-high 25 points in a showdown opposite a much younger Tracy McGrady. Pippen lived at the free throw line, hitting 11 of his 13 attempts.</p>
<p>Added to the scoring was his work on both ends of the court. He snatched 17 total rebounds, 13 on the defensive glass, while dishing out seven assists on the other end. He ran a beautiful two-man game with big man Arvydas Sabonis carving up the Orlando defense. Pippen would only score as many as 20 points two more times in his career, but for One Final Game he showed that he still had some magic within.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Dwyane Wade </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-438700" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1141740878.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1141740878.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1141740878-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat. Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Dwyane Wade</h2>
<p><strong>Date: April 10, 2019</strong></p>
<p>Dwyane Wade was a man of three careers. First he was <em>the</em> man for the Miami Heat, an unstoppable perimeter scorer and underrated defender who led the Heat to their first franchise title in 2006. Then he was the wingman, playing alongside LeBron James en route to four-straight NBA Finals and two titles.</p>
<p>The final chapter of Wade’s career was as the aging man, the player who still remembered the glory days but couldn’t always reach back and touch them. He bounced around the league a little, playing in Chicago and Cleveland before returning to Miami to just more than a season of a final act.</p>
<p>Wade willed himself to 15 points per game that final season, and that number included a couple of explosions in the scoring margin. He ended his career on a hot streak, scoring 20 or more in his final four games. That included his very last game, when Wade not only scored 25 points but chipped in 11 rebounds and 10 assists.</p>
<p>It wasn’t a very efficient night, but that is how it goes for stars at the end of their career. No amount of chucking generates 10 assists out of thin air, though; Wade was involved and trying to go out on top. He even chipped in another block, a final victim for one of the all-time great shot-blocking guards.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Charles Barkley </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-438701" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1365,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1171484604.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="1600" height="1365" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1171484604.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1171484604-768x655.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Charles Barkley, Houston Rockets. PAUL BUCK/AFP via Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Charles Barkley</h2>
<p><strong>Date: December 6th, 1999</strong></p>
<p>The man with a million nicknames — Sir Charles and “The Round Mount of Rebound” being the best — was an absolute force on the basketball court. Despite being generously listed at 6’6″ he was nearly unstoppable inside, scoring and rebounding no matter the competition. Then when the games ended he made sure to find ways to enjoy himself until he was back on the court.</p>
<p>Despite both his size and his love of all things indulgent, Barkley played 16 seasons in the league, although the last few were certainly plagued by injuries. Even so he stayed effective, averaging 14.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in his final season.</p>
<p>Most of that final season was cut shots due to injury (he made it back onto the court in the final game of the season for just six months), so effectively his last game as an impactful player came in early December of 1999. Barkley played 37 minutes in a close game against the Vancouver Grizzlies, dropping one final monster stat line: 25 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and a victory.</p>
<p>Barkley would get hurt the following game and retire at the end of the season, moving on to become one of the most entertaining sports analysts in the business. For one last night, though, Sir Charles mounted his steed and mowed down the competition.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Steve Nash </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-438702" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F470004977.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/470004977.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/470004977-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Steve Nash, Los Angeles Lakers. Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Steve Nash</h2>
<p><strong>Date: March 25, 2013</strong></p>
<p>Steve Nash was an absolute wizard with the basketball, manipulating defenses and using some combination of The Force and “wingardium leviosa” to place the basketball exactly where his teammates needed it to score. When he called his own number he was one of the best shooters in the league, and honestly in the history of the league as well.</p>
<p>Nash defined an era for the Phoenix Suns, but in the twilight of his career he wanted a shot at what Phoenix never brought him: a championship. He joined the Los Angeles Lakers, hoping to join forces with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard to win a title.</p>
<p>Instead injuries and bad chemistry plagued the team, and Nash in particular struggled to stay on the court. He played in just 65 games across two seasons before chronic back issues forced him to retire. Nash has done quite well for himself since, making a career as a broadcaster for soccer before becoming the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets.</p>
<p>His final season was a tough one for Nash, and mostly lacking in standout performances. He was able to string a few together in his first season with the Lakers, and the penultimate season of his career. That included one night in late March when he scored 21 points, caught nine rebounds and dished out seven assists against the Golden State Warriors. He looked something akin to the Steve Nash of old, for one final game.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> John Havlicek </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-407352" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2190,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1126445456.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="3200" height="2190" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1126445456.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1126445456-768x526.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">John Havlicek, Boston Celtics (Photo by Ross Lewis/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: John Havlicek</h2>
<p><strong>Date: April 9th, 1978</strong></p>
<p>Nowadays it’s uncommon for a star player to be content sitting behind other superstars biding his time to take the mantle. Something similar happened with the San Antonio Spurs, but only briefly before Kawhi Leonard forced his way out. Throughout NBA history players like Kevin McHale fit the bill. Two decades before McHale, it was another Boston Celtics player who went from role player to star.</p>
<p>John Havlicek started his career during the peak of the Bill Russell Celtics, a team that won 11 titles in 13 seasons. He was there for the last six, slowly increasing his minutes and his scoring output as the aging veterans on the team began to pass the baton. Then the team was his, and he led them back to the NBA Finals and to another pair of championships during the 1970s.</p>
<p>Finally, the last season of Havlicek’s career saw him take a major step back in efficiency as he tried to compensate for his aging body. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t effective, as he averaged 18.3 points per game and 6.9 assists. That included a number of strong games from Hondo before he called it quits.</p>
<p>His final game came at home against the Buffalo Braves, a game that the Celtics won going away, not a given that final season for a Boston team that finished with 50 losses. Havlicek was not afraid to shoot in his final game, scoring 29 points and dishing nine assists. He went out with the ball in his hands, the last showing for a player with eight championship rings in his jewelry case.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Rick Barry </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-392082" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2160,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F467899188.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="3200" height="2160" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/467899188.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/467899188-768x518.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Rick Barry (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Rick Barry</h2>
<p><strong>Date: December 1, 1979</strong></p>
<p>Perhaps one of the most underrated superstars in NBA history, Ricky Barry’s career is hard to stack up against his peers because he left the NBA in the middle of his career to play four seasons in the ABA. He returned to continue dominating, but his career statistics are somewhat jumbled as a result.</p>
<p>Those statistics included averaging as many as 35.6 points per game, a top-10 all-time number. A huge boost to his scoring was his elite free-throw accuracy; he led the league a whopping seven times in free-throw shooting, including five of the last six, driven by his unique underhanded shot.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the free-throw shooting was about all that stood out from Barry’s final season, as age caught up to him and dimmed his output. He broke the 20-point barrier just ten times that final season on a team that ended with a 34-38 record.</p>
<p>His last truly great game came early in the season, a December 1st showdown with a very good Portland Trail Blazers team. On a team with Moses Malone it was Barry who broke free to lead all players in scoring with 30 points on a tidy 11-of-19 shooting from the field and his excellent 8-for-8 mark from the line. He chipped in four rebounds, five assists and a steal for good measure in the eight-point win. Barry didn’t have it often, but he had it on that night.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Reggie Miller </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-438704" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1240,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1172702255.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="1600" height="1240" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1172702255.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1172702255-768x595.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Reggie Miller, Indiana Pacers. MATT CAMPBELL/AFP via Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Reggie Miller</h2>
<p><strong>Date: April 10, 2005</strong></p>
<p>Alright, we lied. Ricky Barry isn’t the most underrated superstar in NBA history: Reggie Miller is. The shortage of stats and measurements with which to evaluate a star’s impact on the game outside of the box score led to Miller being undervalued by his peers and by fans, when his offensive impact was truly special, the precursor to how Stephen Curry absolutely warps and breaks defenses today.</p>
<p>Tracking his last great game is therefore also difficult, as his impact went so far beyond the stats. That being said he was also a prolific scorer, averaging 18.2 points per game for his career, made even more impressive by his long 18-year career, all for the Indiana Pacers.</p>
<p>By 2004-05 Miller was 39 years old but still dropping buckets on the heads of opposing defenders. Late in the year against his old rivals, the New York Knicks, Miller put up one last show for the home fans. He scored 34 points on 11-for-21 shooting from the field and a perfect 9-for-9 from the stripe. He hit a trio of triples and dished three assists, an offensive focal point for the Pacers. They lost by a point but won Miller’s minutes by six. It was one last hot night from one of the greatest shooters and offensive weapons in NBA history.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Patrick Ewing </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-391382" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1023,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1130089553.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="1600" height="1023" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1130089553.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1130089553-768x491.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Patrick Ewing, Orlando Magic. TONY RANZE/AFP via Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Patrick Ewing</h2>
<p><strong>Date: November 14, 2001</strong></p>
<p>It’s fitting that Patrick Ewing and Reggie Miller appear on this list back-to-back, as they were Eastern Conference foils for much of their careers, one the offensive sniper and the other a defensive brick wall. Miller later longer than Ewing, however, as the longtime New York Knicks center logged 17 seasons in the league.</p>
<p>Near the end of his career Ewing moved on from the Knicks, playing his final two seasons in Seattle and Orlando, respectively. Ewing was a shell of himself at this point, putting up just six points per game in his last season with the Magic. For the most part his game log from that final season reads as the depressing epilogue for a once-dominant star.</p>
<p>For one game, however, Ewing decided to rewrite that final chapter. Against the Phoenix Suns the big man erupted for 22 points and 15 rebounds, both season-highs by a long shot. Ewing shot an effective 10-of-16 from the floor, and most importantly was +18 in a game the Magic won by just one point. The next game he was back to a small role and small impact, but he roared free of the shackles of aging for one final game to lead his team to victory.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Isiah Thomas </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-438706" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_667,w_1022/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1145659322.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="1022" height="667" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1145659322.jpeg 1022w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1145659322-768x501.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1022px) 100vw, 1022px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1022px;">Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons. MICHAEL E. SAMOJEDEN/AFP via Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Isiah Thomas</h2>
<p><strong>Date: December 2nd, 1993</strong></p>
<p>Isiah Thomas, the face of the Bad Boys Pistons, a two-time champion and many-times-over villain of the league, had a relatively brief career. He played just 13 seasons, all in Detroit, before retiring early at the age of 32.</p>
<p>One thing that early retirement allowed him to do was go out on top. He scored 14.8 points and dished 6.9 assists that last year, and it was his only season that he did not earn All-Star honors. One benefit to going out early means less time enduring the pain of decreasing athleticism and impact. For a player like Thomas used to winning at the highest level, it also meant less time enduring the pain of losing seasons.</p>
<p>The Pistons were very bad in that final year, so many of Thomas’ games were inefficient scoring outings where he tried to carry the team on his back. We could pick any of a number of 20 point games where Thomas had as many shot attempts as points.</p>
<p>Instead we will go back to the beginning of the season to find his last truly special game. Thomas scored 26 points and tallied 13 assists, scoring on an efficient 9-of-15 from he field and 3-of-6 from the 3-point line. He added six rebounds and a steal as well. The Pistons lost by just one to a Phoenix Suns team headed to the NBA Finals that year. It wasn’t everything Thomas was used to — the smothering defense around him, the crushing victories — but it was something, one last ode to a tough competitor.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Ray Allen </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-211859" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1530,w_2136/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2016%2F08%2F450526156-2014-nba-finals-game-four.jpg" alt="NBA" width="2136" height="1530" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/08/450526156-2014-nba-finals-game-four.jpg 2136w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/08/450526156-2014-nba-finals-game-four-768x550.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 2136px) 100vw, 2136px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:2136px;">Ray Allen, Miami Heat. Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Ray Allen</h2>
<p><strong>Date: March 16, 2014</strong></p>
<p>This is not a listing of “One Final Shot” where we look at the last massive shot of each player’s career. That would be a difficult list, especially since some all-time greats lack such an iconic moment. Not so for Ray Allen, who hit one of the biggest shots in NBA history while in the twilight of his career. Yet in that famous Game 6 he scored just nine points; to find his true last great <em>game</em> we have to look elsewhere.</p>
<p>Ray Allen was a star throughout the early part of his career, the high-scoring lead guard on strong teams in Milwaukee and Seattle. Then he was part of an ensemble cast in Boston, winning a title and making it to a second NBA Finals alongside Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Finally, he joined the Miami Heat to make it to another two NBA Finals, winning his second title, as a role player coming off the bench.</p>
<p>In his final season before retiring, Allen was a relatively high-minute substitute off the Miami bench, coming in to space the floor and run defenders ragged with his tireless sprinting around the court. In some games he took just a handful of shots, but occasionally his shot was falling and he shot more.</p>
<p>The last time Allen truly exploded for a high-scoring affair was in March of that last year, when he came off the bench to drop 25 points on the Houston Rockets. He went 4-for-6 from 3-point range, just adding to his NBA record, and an immaculate 7-for-7 from the free-throw line. Allen still had it, even at the end of his career.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Paul Pierce </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-438710" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F675239216.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/675239216.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/675239216-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Paul Pierce, LA Clippers. Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Paul Pierce</h2>
<p><strong>Date: December 26, 2015</strong></p>
<p>Paul Pierce score the basketball. He wasn’t the type of insane athlete who dominated the paint, nor a truly high-volume shooter who kept shooting and shooting until it went in. He was just a gifted, solid scorer who could get to his spots against any defender and rise up for his patented jumper.</p>
<p>Even as he aged into the twilight of his career, Pierce could still trick defenders into letting him get to his spot, be that the top of the key or that midrange elbow jumper. He hit bigtime shots for the Brooklyn Nets, the Washington Wizards and even the LA Clippers at the very end of his 19-year career.</p>
<p>Only a handful of times near the end did he combine those bigtime shots into a bigtime game, but they happened. The last one came in his second-to-last season with the LA Clippers, when he poured in 20 points off the bench to help knock off the Utah Jazz on the day after Christmas in 2015.</p>
<p>Pierce hit five 3-pointers on just seven attempts to fill up the scoring column, chipping in five rebounds and a pair of assists to boot. Even more importantly he was a team-best +18 in a game they won by just five points. Pierce took a gentle slide into retirement, becoming nothing more than a low-minute reserve by the end, but his veteran leadership and occasional big games helped him stick around the league past his prime.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Allen Iverson </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-438709" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F84945412.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/84945412.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/84945412-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Allen Iverson. Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Allen Iverson</h2>
<p><strong>Date: January 29, 2010</strong></p>
<p>Allen Iverson did not see himself as a bench player. He was an offensive superstar, one who led the league in scoring four different times, and even late in his career he thought he deserved to start no matter what. In his final season when the Memphis Grizzlies began the season bringing him off the bench he effectively rebelled and was ultimately waived. He then signed with the Philadelphia 76ers and started all but one game down the stretch.</p>
<p>That final year was marred by injuries, and ultimately Iverson was driven to an early retirement from the NBA, instead heading overseas to continue playing in a context where he was “the man” and not simply one among equals.</p>
<p>During that final season Iverson had a number of poor games, when his shot wasn’t falling and he no longer had the leeway to shoot himself out of a slump. On the flip side, though, he also had a number of standout games, where the shot was going in and he got into a rhythm once again.</p>
<p>One such game was in January of 2010 against the Los Angeles Lakers. Iverson shot 55.6 percent from the field and a perfect 2-of-2 from deep en route to 23 points, a season-high. He filled the box score out in other ways: two rebounds, three assists, a steal and a block. It was not vintage AI, but it was still meaningful, the last 20-point game for an all-time scorer.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Vince Carter </a>
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<img class="size-full wp-image-438708" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2130,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1211021647.jpeg" alt="NBA" width="3200" height="2130" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1211021647.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1211021647-768x511.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Vince Carter, Atlanta Hawks. Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images</p>
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<h2>One Final Game: Vince Carter</h2>
<p><strong>Date: March 4th, 2019 AND March 11th, 2020</strong></p>
<p>Our list concludes with Vince Carter, whose youth was marked by insane feats of athleticism and whose “old age” saw him reinvent himself as a veteran mentor and role player. Years after his days as a regular starter ended Carter was making his way around the league continuing to survive, and thrive, in small roles as the consummate professional.</p>
<p>His final act was with the Atlanta Hawks, the sage veteran on a team led by young guns like Trae Youg and Kevin Huerter. Near the end of the 2018-19 season, Carter’s penultimate one, he came in off the bench against the Miami Heat and had himself one last big game.</p>
<p>Carter got up 14 shots, the most on the team, and scored 21 points by hitting 7 of his 11 3-pointers. That’s right, 100 percent of his point came from behind the arc, another wild development for the gunner formed from the body of perhaps the greatest dunker in NBA history.</p>
<p>For our final player we’re going to acknowledge one final game, a bonus one, because of the purely bizarre and, truly, final nature of it. Carter’s last season was 2019-20, the season upended by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the most memorable nights in NBA history was the Wednesday night when Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 and the NBA eventually suspended the season.</p>
<p>On that evening, the Atlanta Hawks were playing a game against the New York Knicks when the NBA made its announcement to suspend the season. They elected to let current games continue, so the Hawks and Knicks were actively playing when someone on the Hawks became aware of the announcement.</p>
<p>The game, which had gone to overtime, was put out of reach late by the Knicks, and the Atlanta crowd, tracking the state of the NBA and the world from their phones, began chanting “we want Vince!” Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce realized that with the season being suspended this could be Vince Carter’s last game, and so he put Vince back in with 19 seconds to go.</p>
<p>Carter was effectively forced to take the shot, with Trae Youg feeding him the ball multiple times until Carter gunned a 3-pointer. It went in, the last shot of his illustrious career, and the entire arena celebrated a magnificent career with him, for a few seconds lifted out of the morass of anxiety and fear from a global pandemic.</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history for 75th anniversary" data-url="https://hoopshabit.com/2021/10/19/ranking-75-best-players-nba-history-75th-anniversary/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2021/11/30/one-final-game-the-last-great-performance-for-nba-legends/2/"https://hoopshabit.com/2021/10/19/ranking-75-best-players-nba-history-75th-anniversary/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> Ranking the 75 best players in NBA history for 75th anniversary </a> </div>
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<p>Vince Carter. Kobe Bryant. Bill Russell. Stars from across the history of the league have been able to play One Final Game on their literal last game. Others submitted theirs before the end. For each, they were able to muster what was needed to rediscover what made them special one last time.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">