There’s no doubt that each NBA superstar would want to prolong their careers as much as they could. Even Michael Jordan, who retired for three years after winning his sixth title in 1998, came back to play for the Wizards in 2001 because he felt that he still had the ability to perform at an elite level.
But with LeBron James becoming an anomaly when the longevity topic is discussed, you often wonder when it’s the right time for all these NBA superstars to ride into the sunset and call it a career.
Pride will inevitably be a factor, but a degrading game plus recurring injuries might be enough to make a star quit for good.
So, who are the NBA superstars whose careers are officially over? Let’s take a quick dive at the top 13 names that should consider walking away from the game in the next year or two.
Which NBA superstars should consider retirement after the season?
Chris Paul
Pushing 40 at the end of the season, this might be it for CP3’s career.
He’s no longer the player he once was, and that’s understandable, considering all the years he’s spent on an NBA court. Drafted in 2005, Paul is considered one of the best pure point guards to ever play the game.
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While he never won a ring – the ultimate goal for NBA superstars – Paul’s still a first-ballot Hall of Famer should he decide to call it a day at the end of this season. Nothing else to prove, Chris.
No need to chase a ring in the offseason.
Al Horford
Horford’s best days are behind him, and we generally thought that he’d call it a career after winning his first championship with Boston a season ago. Retire while at the top, right?
However, the lure to repeat and add another ring to his collection was a little bit too strong to refuse for big ol’ Al.
The result? Missed time due to injuries and a degrading ability at age 38. Sure, the big man is still producing for the Celtics in a limited capacity, but his allotted playing time should have been given to other young bigs in the roster to hasten their development.
DeAndre Jordan
It’s quite baffling that DeAndre Jordan is still on an active roster. His last good season was in 2019-2020, and it has been all downhill since.
While not necessarily an NBA superstar, he was close to one.
People tend to forget that Jordan was an all-star and a member of three All-NBA teams during his heyday. He was arguably one of the best centers in the league for a five-year span during his time with the “Lob City Clippers.”
He’s been backing up Nikola Jokic for the past three seasons for the Nuggets and won a title with them in 2023. Career-low numbers during that span, if we may add. Time to hang it up, big man.
Kyle Lowry
With all the injuries he’s dealt with in the last couple of seasons and how the Sixers have faltered from a possible title-contending team to being lottery-bound, Lowry should think hard about retiring in the offseason.
The six-time all-star has nothing left to prove on the court. Lowry had a hell of a career after being called a ‘locker room cancer’ during his early NBA days. Nobody will criticize his declining numbers since leaving Toronto.
While Lowry wasn’t the best ever to don a Raptors jersey, he’s their most beloved superstar, and they will have his jersey retired in the rafters immediately should he hang up his sneakers at the end of the 2024-2025 NBA season.
Kevin Love
We wouldn’t blame you if you thought that Kevin Love had already retired from the game.
Truth is, he’s still a member of the Miami Heat. The big man out of UCLA had a roller-coaster career in the association. He went from being a superstar in Minnesota to a third option for Cleveland, ultimately winning an NBA title in 2016.
After Kyrie Irving and LeBron James left Ohio, Love became the number-one scoring option for the Cavs. For the past three years, though, he’s become a role player for Miami, racking up DNPs in the process.
At 36 with an extensive injury history, Love might be better off to call it a day.
Paul George
This one will be tough for Philly fans to swallow, as they signed this man to a whopping 200 million-dollar-plus contract last year.
As for his production on the court for the Sixers? This former NBA superstar looked washed and out of place on the basketball court. While injuries have played a huge role in PG’s demise, whenever he’s healthy for this team, he’s still not producing at the all-star level he used to.
Sadly, George is past his prime, and the Sixers’ front office overpaid for his services.
With all the recurring injuries he’s had in the last four seasons, don’t be surprised if the former 9x all-star calls it quits a year from now and goes full blast on his other side gig, Podcast P.
Russell Westbrook
It’s utterly gut-wrenching to see that a former league MVP and a triple-double machine such as Russ would become a loathed role player during his twilight years in the league.
Can you believe that his last all-star appearance was five years ago?
The truth is, the former superstar relied on his insane athleticism for most of his NBA career. Now past his prime, the decline to his once jaw-dropping playstyle was inevitable. In recent years, Westbrook went from playing above the rim to a spot-up shooter and occasional cutter.
After bouncing around several teams since his heyday, Westbrook has formed an unexpected bond with Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets this season. We all root for him to win one before he retires, right?
Mike Conley
The former 4th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft has had a severely underrated career in the league. Conley was not a genuine star in the eye for most NBA fans, but he was a superstar for Grizzlies fans for more than a decade.
As one of the league’s oldest starting point guards, Conley’s game has declined noticeably for Minnesota this season.
Now in his 17th year, Conley’s scoring has dipped significantly, and his shooting numbers are at a career-worst.
With the league unforgiving to aging lead guards, it may be time for the former all-star to take an off-the-bench role moving forward or just simply retire.
Brook Lopez
For a back-to-the-basket big man who did not have a jump shot beyond the three-point line early in his career, Lopez’s evolution to add a long-range shot to his game is commendable.
Picture this: during his first eight seasons in the league, he only made three shots from beyond the arc. Since then? Lopez made more than a thousand threes!
But despite his evolution on the court, he’d be turning 37 by the end of the season. While he’s still a good shot blocker despite his advancing age, he’s looked slow on rotations and switches on the defensive end.
Is it time for Milwaukee to trade for a younger big man in the offseason to inject some youth into their starting lineup?
At this stage of his NBA career, Lopez might be better off with a diminished role to give the Bucks’s superstar duo, Giannis and Dame, a chance for a title within the next couple of years.
Or he could just hang it up by the end of the season. He’s a one-time champ, after all.
Draymond Green
Green’s numbers for the last seven seasons are…something.
He hasn’t averaged more than 10 points since 2018. But yet, he’s still starting for the Warriors in 2025! All the on and off-the-court antics have built him quite a rather unflattering reputation among NBA circles in recent years.
To be fair to Green, even if he’s an active member of the Warriors, he’s already worked as an NBA playoff analyst in the last couple of years. Plus, he’s running a successful podcast to add to his resume once he decides to call it a career.
Expect that once Steph Curry retires, Green will most definitely follow suit. The end is near for Draymond’s career, and he most definitely knows it.
Kawhi Leonard
Whenever healthy, Leonard is one of the best superstars in the NBA. But that’s the main thing, though, being healthy.
Recurring injuries and missed time truly robbed this man of being an all-time great. Leonard is a two-time Finals Most Valuable Player and one of the league’s best two-way players on the court.
Sadly, in all of his six-year tenure with the Clippers, Leonard never played more than 68 games in a single season. He missed the entire 2021-2022 campaign and has played sparingly this year.
He will turn 34 next season, and it might be time for the Clippers to consider parting ways with the often-injured forward. Leonard’s numbers are down all across the board, and it will not get better as he slowly exits his prime years.
Ben Simmons
Once dubbed as the next LeBron James and the NBA’s next superstar, Simmons’ fall from grace has been heavily scrutinized and documented after his exit from the Sixers in 2022.
At this point, we all know about his fallout with Philly and his phantom injury, which led to him sitting out the entire 2021-2022 season.
His fresh start with Brooklyn in 2022 wasn’t pretty, either. His numbers continued to decline, and his superstar trajectory began to fumble. Simmons never became the star that the Nets had hoped him to be after swapping him for James Harden.
He’s still a serviceable player for the Clippers nowadays, but as far as becoming an all-NBA talent again, that’s officially over for Ben.
Perhaps his career, too. He just hasn’t realized that part yet.
Joel Embiid
Another Philly guy on the list? That team must be crumbling, right?
Well, for all the injury woes he’s had to deal with throughout his career, it’s inevitable that Embiid’s career should be officially over sooner rather than later. He’s missed almost the same number of games compared to the games he’s participated in. Crazy stat, I know.
The former MVP’s knees are all but gone at this point. His surgeons are at a stage where they are considering an out-of-the-ordinary procedure in the hopes of prolonging the superstar’s NBA career.
That’s not really a good thing to consider for a man who’s had multiple injuries to his knees, right?
Even after his looming offseason procedure, there’s no guarantee that Embiid will regain his MVP form moving forward. It might be time for him to lean into retirement rather than try to walk with a limp for the rest of his life.
