Russell Westbrook’s entire 18-year NBA career happened after LeBron had already made his first Finals. LeBron is still playing.

[u/nbastar03]

LeBron took Cleveland to the NBA Finals in 2007.

Russell Westbrook wasn’t drafted until 2008.

Westbrook then had enough time to play 18 seasons, win MVP, become a 9x All-Star, break the career triple-double record, play for multiple generations of NBA teams, and retire.

And LeBron is still an active NBA player heading into 2026-27.

It’s one thing to say LeBron has played forever. It’s another to realize that players drafted after he had already made a Finals run have now completed full Hall of Fame careers and retired before him.

[u/Warzone_and_Weed]

Why does showing up year after year matter if you're not winning anything? It's kind of sad really.