Oldest, Youngest Players On NBA Rosters For 2025/26

For a third straight fall, Lakers star LeBron James will enter the NBA season as the league’s oldest player.

James will turn 41 before the calendar year is over, but he’s not the only NBA player in his 40s like he was a year ago. His good friend Chris Paul, the NBA’s second-oldest player, turned 40 in May, and veteran point guard Kyle Lowry will join that club later in the season — he turns 40 in March.

It’s safe to say that not every player on the list of the NBA’s 10 oldest players will provide the level of production that James – or even Paul – will in 2025/26. Garrett Temple and Joe Ingles are among the players in that group who have transitioned to the “veteran leader” stage of their careers and will likely see limited action this season.

Still, it’s worth noting that Stephen Curry has cracked the list of the NBA’s oldest 10 players for the first time and continues to play at an All-NBA level, while Kevin Durant just missed making the cut (he’s currently the NBA’s 12th-oldest player) and is still putting up gaudy numbers as well.

Before we share the full list, we should also acknowledge that it’s subject to change. A few of the veterans who were on this list a year ago – P.J. Tucker, Taj Gibson, and James Johnson – remain unsigned, but it’s possible they’ll find new NBA homes in the coming days or weeks.

For now, here’s the list of the oldest players in the league heading into the 2025/26 NBA season:

1. LeBron James, Lakers (born 12/30/1984)
2. Chris Paul, Clippers (born 5/6/1985)
3. Kyle Lowry, Sixers (born 3/25/1986)
4. Garrett Temple, Raptors (born 5/8/1986)
5. Al Horford, Warriors (born 6/3/1986)
6. Jeff Green, Rockets (born 8/28/1986)
7. Joe Ingles, Timberwolves (born 10/2/1987)
8. Mike Conley, Timberwolves (born 10/11/1987)
9. Stephen Curry, Warriors (born 3/14/1988)
10. Brook Lopez, Clippers (born 4/1/1988)

It comes as no surprise that the Clippers and Warriors – the two oldest teams in the league – have multiple players on this list. Beyond these 10 veterans, there are only seven more active NBA players who were born in the 1980s, and three of them are either members of the Clippers or Warriors: Nicolas Batum, James Harden, and Jimmy Butler.

The Timberwolves are the only other club with multiple players among the NBA’s oldest, but Minnesota balances that out by being one of just two teams with a pair of players on the list of the league’s 10 youngest active players, joining the rebuilding Nets. Brooklyn actually just narrowly missed out on having three players in that top 10, with Egor Demin coming in at No. 11.

Here are the 10 youngest players currently on NBA rosters, each of whom was a 2025 draft pick:

1. Cooper Flagg, Mavericks (born 12/21/2006)
2. Noa Essengue, Bulls (born 12/18/2006)
3. Joan Beringer, Timberwolves (born 11/6/2006)
4. Jeremiah Fears, Pelicans (born 10/14/2006)
5. Khaman Maluach, Suns (born 9/14/2006)
6. Ace Bailey, Jazz (born 8/13/2006)
7. Rocco Zikarsky, Timberwolves (born 7/11/2006)
   • Note: Zikarsky is on a two-way contract.
8. Kasparas Jakucionis, Heat (born 5/29/2006)
9. Nolan Traore, Nets (born 5/28/2006)
10. Ben Saraf, Nets (born 4/14/2006)

Flagg accomplishes the rare feat of entering the NBA as the league’s youngest player after after being selected first overall in the draft. He won’t turn 19 until two months into the regular season. No. 2 overall pick Dylan Harper nearly joined him in this top 10, but his March 2, 2006 birth date wasn’t quite recent enough to make the cut.

Outside of the Timberwolves and Mavericks, the NBA’s rebuilding or retooling teams are fairly well represented on this list. One notable exception is the Wizards, who would have multiple players mentioned here if we expanded to a top 15 — Tre Johnson was born on March 7, 2006, while Will Riley was born about a month earlier, on February 10.