List of oldest and youngest National Basketball Association players
This is a list of oldest and youngest National Basketball Association players. The National Basketball Association is a men's professional basketball league in North America. The NBA was founded in 1946 as the Basketball Association of America. The league adopted its current name at the start of the when it merged with the National Basketball League.
The oldest person ever to play in the NBA was Nat Hickey, a coach who activated himself as a player for a game two days before his 46th birthday. The youngest player ever to play in the NBA was Andrew Bynum, who played his first game only six days after his 18th birthday. The oldest active player is Brooklyn Nets shooting guard Jamal Crawford, who is currently 40 years old. The youngest active player in the NBA is Detroit Pistons forward Sekou Doumbouya, the 15th overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, who is currently 19 years old and was born on December 23, 2000.
Key
Oldest players
The oldest player ever to play in the NBA was Nat Hickey who played one game in the 1947–48 season when he was 45 years and 363 days old. Hickey, who was coaching the Providence Steamrollers at the time, decided to activate himself and played in a game for the Steamrollers. In his first game as a player for the Steamrollers, he missed all six of his shot attempts and only scored two points from three free throw attempts; he only played in one more game before retiring as a player two days shy of his 46th birthday. The second-oldest player is Kevin Willis. Willis, who had played 20 seasons in the league before he sat out the 2005–06 season and earned a contract with the Dallas Mavericks on April 2, 2007. He then played 5 games for the Mavericks at the age of 44. The third-oldest player is Hall of Famer Robert Parish. Parish, who played with the Boston Celtics in the 1980s, played his last season with the Chicago Bulls at the age of 43. He played in 1,611 regular season games during his 21-year career, more than any other player in NBA history. When the Bulls won the 1997 Finals, Parish became the oldest player ever to win the NBA championship. There are currently 27 players who played in the NBA after they turned 40.The oldest active player is Jamal Crawford, who is now 40 years old. Crawford played his first game in the 2000 season and is playing his 20th season. Crawford and Miami Heat power forward Udonis Haslem are the only players who were born in 1980 and who are still active and under contract with an NBA team.
All time
| Player | Pos | Birth date | Last game | Age | Team played | Draft | Ref. |
| G/F | Providence Steamrollers | Undrafted | |||||
| F/C | 1984 | ||||||
| * | C | 1976 | |||||
| † | G/F | 1998 | |||||
| * | C | 1991 | |||||
| * | C | 1969 | |||||
| * | G | 1950 | |||||
| C/F | 1981 | ||||||
| * | G | Utah Jazz | 1984 | ||||
| F/C | 1979 | ||||||
| * | F | 1985 | |||||
| † | F/C | Dallas Mavericks | 1998 | ||||
| † | G | San Antonio Spurs | 1999 | ||||
| C/F | 1980 | ||||||
| G/F | 1978 | ||||||
| † | G | 1999 | |||||
| * | F | 1994 | |||||
| C/F | 1977 | ||||||
| F | 1995 | ||||||
| F/C | 1989 | ||||||
| ^ | G | Present | 2000 | ||||
| F/C | 1985 | ||||||
| F | 1994 | ||||||
| * | G | 1996 | |||||
| * | G | 1984 | |||||
| * | G | 1994 | |||||
| † | G | 1999 | |||||
| ^ | F/C | Present | Miami Heat | 2002 | |||
| * | F/C | San Antonio Spurs | 1997 | ||||
| C/F | 1981 |
Active
| Player | Pos | Birth date | Age | Team played | Draft | Ref. |
| G | 2000 | |||||
| F/C | Miami Heat | 2002 | ||||
| G/F | 2003 | |||||
| C | 2001 | |||||
| G/F | 2004 | |||||
| G/F | 2006 | |||||
| F | 2003 | |||||
| G | 2006 | |||||
| G | 2006 | |||||
| F | 2003 | |||||
| C | 2007 | |||||
| F | 2006 | |||||
| C | 2007 | |||||
| F/C | 2006 | |||||
| G | 2005 | |||||
| F | 2007 | |||||
| F | 2009 | |||||
| F | 2004 | |||||
| F | 2007 | |||||
| F/C | 2006 | |||||
| G/F | 2004 | |||||
| G/F | 2008 | |||||
| C | 2004 | |||||
| G | 2006 | |||||
| G/F | 2007 | |||||
| G/F | 2007 | |||||
| G | 2006 | |||||
| G | 2008 | |||||
| G | 2008 | |||||
| G/F | 2009 | |||||
| F/C | 2007 | |||||
| F | 2005 | |||||
| F | 2009 | |||||
| F | 2006 | |||||
| F | 2007 | |||||
| F | 2008 | |||||
| G/F | 2009 | |||||
| G | 2005 | |||||
| C | 2005 | |||||
| C | 2009 | |||||
| F | 2009 | |||||
| F | 2007 | |||||
| F | 2005 | |||||
| G/F | 2009 | |||||
| G/F | Utah Jazz | 2009 | ||||
| G | 2007 | |||||
| G | 2008 | |||||
| G | 2009 | |||||
| C | 2008 | |||||
| G | Golden State Warriors | 2009 | ||||
| C | 2008 | |||||
| C | 2008 |
Youngest players
NBA players usually come from U.S. college basketball. In the past, a college player had to complete his four-year college eligibility before he could enter the league through the NBA Draft or as a free agent. In the 1970s, the league began to allow college underclassmen and high school players to enter the league. However, the trend of drafting high school players only began in the mid 1990s. This has led to more younger players entering the league directly after high school graduation. In 2005, the league and the players' union agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement that includes a minimum age limit which requires that players who wish to enter the league must be at least 19 years old on December 31 of the year of the draft, and at least one year removed from high school. International players who did not play college basketball also have to be at least 19 years old on the same date to be able to play in the NBA. Despite a trend toward drafting younger players, the NBA has a higher average age than it had in the 1980s. However, since the NBA introduced the minimum age limit in 2005, the league's average age has decreased in the past few seasons.The youngest player to ever play in the NBA was Andrew Bynum who played his first game at the age of 18 years and 6 days old. Bynum, who was also the youngest player ever selected in the NBA Draft, went into the NBA straight out of high school. Jermaine O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, both drafted in 1996, were the second- and third-youngest players. Serbian Darko Miličić was the youngest player ever to play in an NBA Finals game. He played for the Detroit Pistons in Game 3 of the 2004 Finals at the age of 18 years and 356 days old. The Pistons won the 2004 Finals and Miličić became the youngest player ever to win the NBA championship, being only five days away from his 19th birthday at the time. There are currently 28 players who played in the NBA before they turned 19. Nineteen of them came to the league straight out of high school, while 7 of them are international players who never played basketball in the U.S. high schools or colleges before they entered the NBA, and two more players ended up playing only a year of college before entering the NBA.
Devin Booker and Ike Anigbogu are the only players to go from a year of college to the NBA while remaining 18 years old throughout the process. Coincidentally, both of them played their first NBA games at exactly the same age of 18 years, 363 days old in order to start their official NBA careers as players of the league, and their first games played would be the only time they'd play in the NBA as 18-year-olds.
All-time
| Player | Pos | Birth date | First game | Age | Team played | Draft | Ref. |
| C | 2005 | ||||||
| F/C | 1996 | ||||||
| * | G | Los Angeles Lakers | 1996 | ||||
| C | June 20, 1985 | 2003 | |||||
| F | Philadelphia Warriors | Undrafted | |||||
| F/C | 1975 | ||||||
| * | G/F | 1997 | |||||
| F | Los Angeles Clippers | 2005 | |||||
| C | 2004 | ||||||
| † | G/F | 2005 | |||||
| † | F | 2005 | |||||
| C | 1975 | ||||||
| F/C | Undrafted | ||||||
| ^ | F | 2003 | |||||
| F | 1999 | ||||||
| ^ | G/F | Milwaukee Bucks | 2013 | ||||
| C | 2001 | ||||||
| ^ | C | 2004 | |||||
| C | Undrafted | ||||||
| † | F | 2004 | |||||
| ^ | F | Detroit Pistons | 2019 | ||||
| G/F | 2005 | ||||||
| C | Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder | 2004 | |||||
| † | F/C | 2016 | |||||
| F | 2003 | ||||||
| F | 1998 | ||||||
| ^ | G | Phoenix Suns | 2015 | ||||
| † | C | Indiana Pacers | 2017 |
Active
| Player | Pos | Birth date | Age | Team played | Draft | Ref. |
| F | Detroit Pistons | 2019 | ||||
| G/F | Los Angeles Lakers | 2019 | ||||
| F | Golden State Warriors | 2019 | ||||
| F | New Orleans Pelicans | 2019 | ||||
| G | New York Knicks | 2019 | ||||
| G | Phoenix Suns | 2019 | ||||
| F | Oklahoma City Thunder | 2019 | ||||
| F/C | New Orleans Pelicans | 2019 | ||||
| G | Cleveland Cavaliers | 2019 | ||||
| G | Chicago Bulls | 2019 | ||||
| F | Portland Trail Blazers | 2019 | ||||
| G | Cleveland Cavaliers | 2019 | ||||
| G | Miami Heat | 2019 | ||||
| F | San Antonio Spurs | 2019 | ||||
| C | Denver Nuggets | 2019 | ||||
| G | 2018 | |||||
| G | Boston Celtics | 2019 | ||||
| C | Portland Trail Blazers | 2019 | ||||
| G | San Antonio Spurs | 2019 | ||||
| C | Memphis Grizzlies | 2018 | ||||
| F/G | Atlanta Hawks | 2019 | ||||
| F | Minnesota Timberwolves | 2019 | ||||
| F | New York Knicks | 2018 | ||||
| G | Memphis Grizzlies | 2019 | ||||
| F | Washington Wizards | 2018 |