One NBA Record LeBron James Likely Won’t Break: Oldest Player Of All Time

NBA Hall of Fame writer Marc Stein listed a lot of cool gut feelings in his latest Substack newsletter, and I found one more interesting than most.

It’s that Lakers super-duper star LeBron James isn’t likely to break the record of the oldest player in NBA history. Granted, it’s about the only milestone that James probably won’t reach — as he’s still about six years away.

The champion in that department? A 5-foot-11 guard named Nat Hickey, who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Indianapolis Jets and Tri-Cities Blackhawks from 1944-48.

Yes, “Pittsburgh Pirates” was the name of one of the 13 founding franchises in the National Basketball League, a predecessor of the NBA. Most probably associate that nickname with a foundering modern-day Major League Baseball organization and most therefore would be correct.

Oh, and the Tri-Cities Blackhawks are now known as the Atlanta Hawks. So yeah, it was a long time ago when Hickey set the record.

Anyway, Hickey was head coach of the Providence Steamrollers when he went down in NBA lore. It happened on January 28, 1948. The Steamrollers were playing the New York Knicks (yep, they’ve been around that long).

Hickey checked himself into the game, and frankly, it didn’t go all that well. The Knicks led by five points with about four minutes left in the first half. By the time Hickey checked out at halftime, the Knicks led by 19. 

Nonetheless, a record is a record, and Hickey was 45 years and 363 days old. He finished the game 0-of-1 shooting, though he did somehow manage to compile four fouls.

“Please don’t think I’m simply playing to get some publicity as the oldest active pro basketball player,” Hickey said at the time. 

In his defense, that wasn’t the only game he played that season. It was just his last. And the record stands.

James turns 41 in December. It’s doubtful he’ll still be playing in five years. But maybe he can do what Hickey did and check himself in as a player-coach. I doubt it, but hey, you never know. This is LeBron we’re talking about.

As an aside, Hickey spent 15 years as an outfielder in the minors. Other than holding an NBA record, his biggest claim to fame was serving as Hall of Famer Stan Musial’s first minor league manager with the Williamson Colts in 1938.

Hickey died in 1979 at the age of 77. LeBron James was born seven years later.