1996 Draft Class: Best ever from a longevity standpoint?

[bdm860]

When I was watching the Portland/Celtics (I think) on Friday night, I believe the announcers said there were 9 guys from the 1996 draft class still active.  I also read the Bill Simmons article today about defying the aging curve and it got me thinking.

When people think of the best draft class ever, the ones usually argued are 1984, 1996, and 2003.  The 2003 class is still way too early to tell much about yet, but in terms of 1984 and 1996, think about this.
The 1996 class has 9 guys still active (10 if you include undrafted Ben Wallace)

Marcus Camby
Ray Allen
Eric Dampier
Kobe Bryant
Peja Stojakovic
Steve Nash
Jermaine O'Neal
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Derek Fisher
*Ben Wallace

That’s 9 (or 10) guys still active in their 15th NBA season.  And I can see Ray Allen, Kobe, and Steve Nash definitely going several more.

Now 1984 by comparison had 7 guys that played 15 or more seasons:

Hakeem Olajuwon, 18
Michael Jordan, 15
Sam Perkins, 17
Charles Barkley, 16
Otis Thorpe, 17
Kevin Willis, 21
John Stockton, 19

Has any class had more players with such long careers than ’96?

[BballTim]

When I was watching the Portland/Celtics (I think) on Friday night, I believe the announcers said there were 9 guys from the 1996 draft class still active.  I also read the Bill Simmons article today about defying the aging curve and it got me thinking.

When people think of the best draft class ever, the ones usually argued are 1984, 1996, and 2003.  The 2003 class is still way too early to tell much about yet, but in terms of 1984 and 1996, think about this.
The 1996 class has 9 guys still active (10 if you include undrafted Ben Wallace)

Marcus Camby
Ray Allen
Eric Dampier
Kobe Bryant
Peja Stojakovic
Steve Nash
Jermaine O'Neal
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Derek Fisher
*Ben Wallace

That’s 9 (or 10) guys still active in their 15th NBA season.  And I can see Ray Allen, Kobe, and Steve Nash definitely going several more.

Now 1984 by comparison had 7 guys that played 15 or more seasons:

Hakeem Olajuwon, 18
Michael Jordan, 15
Sam Perkins, 17
Charles Barkley, 16
Otis Thorpe, 17
Kevin Willis, 21
John Stockton, 19

Has any class had more players with such long careers than ’96?

  Bold prediction: We won't see another thread all year that refers to Big Z and Peja as "active'.

[bdm860]

Also, from a total production standpoint, think about this:

	Games	Minutes	Points	Rebounds	Assits
1984	22,631	571,162	262,217	118,812	62,686
1996	21,947	582,926	262,996	102,827	57,130
1996 w/ Wallace	22,958	613,710	269,126	112,953	58,511

It looks like 1996 should easily beat or has already beaten 1984 in games, minutes, and points (especially if you include Ben Wallace).  They will probably get there in rebounds, but not assits (thank you John Stockton).

I know overall production isn't necessarily the best indicator.  But has any class had so many people with such long careers or been as overall productive as '96?

(I didn't compile all these numbers myself, when you go to draft class at basketball-reference.com, http://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1984.html for example, it shows you each players totals, and then I just copied and pasted into excel)

[bdm860]

When I was watching the Portland/Celtics (I think) on Friday night, I believe the announcers said there were 9 guys from the 1996 draft class still active.  I also read the Bill Simmons article today about defying the aging curve and it got me thinking.

When people think of the best draft class ever, the ones usually argued are 1984, 1996, and 2003.  The 2003 class is still way too early to tell much about yet, but in terms of 1984 and 1996, think about this.
The 1996 class has 9 guys still active (10 if you include undrafted Ben Wallace)

Marcus Camby
Ray Allen
Eric Dampier
Kobe Bryant
Peja Stojakovic
Steve Nash
Jermaine O'Neal
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Derek Fisher
*Ben Wallace

That’s 9 (or 10) guys still active in their 15th NBA season.  And I can see Ray Allen, Kobe, and Steve Nash definitely going several more.

Now 1984 by comparison had 7 guys that played 15 or more seasons:

Hakeem Olajuwon, 18
Michael Jordan, 15
Sam Perkins, 17
Charles Barkley, 16
Otis Thorpe, 17
Kevin Willis, 21
John Stockton, 19

Has any class had more players with such long careers than ’96?

  Bold prediction: We won't see another thread all year that refers to Big Z and Peja as "active'.

Lol, hey if you want to replace JO with Big Z I agree with you, but Big Z has played in all 47 of the Heat's games this year, starting 39 of them.

[BballTim]

When I was watching the Portland/Celtics (I think) on Friday night, I believe the announcers said there were 9 guys from the 1996 draft class still active.  I also read the Bill Simmons article today about defying the aging curve and it got me thinking.

When people think of the best draft class ever, the ones usually argued are 1984, 1996, and 2003.  The 2003 class is still way too early to tell much about yet, but in terms of 1984 and 1996, think about this.
The 1996 class has 9 guys still active (10 if you include undrafted Ben Wallace)

Marcus Camby
Ray Allen
Eric Dampier
Kobe Bryant
Peja Stojakovic
Steve Nash
Jermaine O'Neal
Zydrunas Ilgauskas
Derek Fisher
*Ben Wallace

That’s 9 (or 10) guys still active in their 15th NBA season.  And I can see Ray Allen, Kobe, and Steve Nash definitely going several more.

Now 1984 by comparison had 7 guys that played 15 or more seasons:

Hakeem Olajuwon, 18
Michael Jordan, 15
Sam Perkins, 17
Charles Barkley, 16
Otis Thorpe, 17
Kevin Willis, 21
John Stockton, 19

Has any class had more players with such long careers than ’96?

  Bold prediction: We won't see another thread all year that refers to Big Z and Peja as "active'.

Lol, hey if you want to replace JO with Big Z I agree with you, but Big Z has played in all 47 of the Heat's games this year, starting 39 of them.

  Yes, he's been on the active roster. But would you describe him as "active" when you see him play?