Kobe Bryant is now 34 years old
By Reid Cherner, USA TODAY
Kobe Bean Bryant is not getting any younger. But that doesn’t mean everything needs to be viewed in the rear-view mirror.
Bryant, who turns 34 today, should be sipping from the Fountain of Youth just for the fact that Steve Nash and Dwight Howard are now wearing Lakers jerseys.
History says that 34 is not a death knell for an NBA player. Nash, now 38, averaged 15.7 points and 9.7 assists when he was 34.
Larry Bird was riding a bad back into retirement but did average 19.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 7.2 assists in his 34th year on earth.
Jerry West? How about 22.8 points, 8.8 assists and 4.2 rebounds. He was kept from an NBA title by finals MVP Willis Reed.
Nothing kept Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan from the promised land. At 34, Abdul-Jabbar averaged 23.9 points and 8.7 rebounds with the Lakers winning the NBA title. Magic Johnson, retired by the time he was 34, was the MVP of that finals.
As for Jordan, he was the league’s MVP (28.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists) and the NBA Finals MVP as the Bulls won another title.
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