Aging in Christian Years
December 18, 2007 – 4:39 pm Posted by bryan in » Christianity, NBA
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ESPN.com senior writer Bill Simmons posted his annual NBA Trade Value Column today, and in the section on Dwight Howard (who he posits is the second-most untradeable player in the league to LeBron) he writes:
One other bonus with Howard that nobody mentions: Because he’s a devout Christian, even when he turns 35 in 2020, those will be Christian years — he won’t have any of that smoking-drinking-partying mileage on him, which means he could play at a high level until his early-40s (much like how Kurt Warner keeps chugging along at age 36). In other words, Howard could and should shatter nearly every rebounding record if he stays healthy, and even if he averages a 23-13 for the next 12 years (a conservative guess), when you throw in his previous three seasons, Howard would suddenly be in striking distance of two-thirds of the conceivable NBA records that ever meant anything. And to think, just seven months ago, I wasn’t sure if he was better than Al Jefferson.
It’s funny, and I think there might be some validity to it as well. Someone needs to do a study on athletes who didn’t drink, smoke, or party like rock stars during their playing years to see if they lasted longer than those who liked to imbibe in multiple vices. I mean, A.C. Green played forever, didn’t he?
Tags: A.C. Green, Christian Years, Dwight Howard
6 Responses to “Aging in Christian Years”
By buddy watts on Dec 19, 2007 | Reply
It doesn’t seem like you would have very many case studies if your criteria was:
Wanted: Professional athlete that has been handed everything, but abstained from all.
By buddy watts on Dec 19, 2007 | Reply
I agree that it would be cool to see if there is a connection
By brenton on Dec 19, 2007 | Reply
the best comp seems like it’ll be david robinson. good guy, freakish athleticism, clean living, plays center. howard’s a better leaper.
like simmons noted, the concern is that d-ho might be too much of a pushover, but he’s certainly finding an edge to his game, and will likely dominate.
now, since robinson didn’t come into the league until his age 25 season, dwight has a 7 year head start. even beset by injuries, robinson was a 10 time all-star and one time MVP - if you had to handicap the career of howard, you’d think these numbers a bit low, but again, robinson was a junior at the naval academy when he was howard’s age.
all told, i have to believe natural joint/bone/muscle integrity will play a more important role in the longevity of someone’s career than their clean living; however, i think the whole clean living thing will be an advantage late in the season, when a lot of folks are wearing down. when robinson was healthy, he was a force in every game, unless hakeem was systematically destroying him (as happened more than once).
we’ll see - in any case, i have such a man-crush on howard. so big. holy cow.
By buddy watts on Dec 20, 2007 | Reply
Don’t look now, but I think I just took the comment lead!
By Kevin Bussey on Dec 28, 2007 | Reply
Bryan,
Does this apply to those of us in ministry? I dare say it ages us more than wild living-at least the last 5 years.
By bryan on Dec 28, 2007 | Reply
Good call there Kevin. Someone need to do a study on which is more harmful to the body: imbibing in a myriad of vices ranging from alcohol and marijuana to late night romping or the stresses of shepherding a local church body while trying to maintain a solid budget, keep membership numbers from dwindling, maintain a good personal relationship with God and being a husband and father. someone get me George Barna on the phone right NOW!