With 42-year-old Udonis Haslem returning for a 20th season with the Heat and a 37-year-old LeBron James still playing peak-level basketball for the Lakers heading into Year 20, we’ve heard a lot about the oldest players in the NBA.
But what about the youngest players?
Get ready to feel old: there are several players in the 2022 NBA Draft class who were born in 2003. The greater majority of them have a 2002 date of birth.
And while none of them will take the title of the youngest player to play in an NBA game — a record that will remain reserved unless the NBA brings back the eligibility to go pro straight out of high school — there are still a handful of players who just recently turned 18.
Who are the youngest players to play in an NBA game in history? And who will be the youngest player to take the floor this season?
The Sporting News has answers below.
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Youngest players in NBA history
In 2006, the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement no longer allowed players to make the leap to the league straight out of high school. Prospects must now turn 19 years old in the same year they declare for the draft and must be one year removed from high school.
Until that rule is changed, Andrew Bynum will remain the youngest player in history to play in an NBA game at 18 years and six days old.
| Rank | Player | Debut team | Debut year | Debut age |
| 1. | Andrew Bynum | Los Angeles Lakers | 2005 | 18 years, 6 days |
| 2. | Jermaine O’Neal | Portland Trail Blazers | 1996 | 18 years, 53 days |
| 3. | Kobe Bryant | Los Angeles Lakers | 1996 | 18 years, 72 days |
| 4. | Darko Milicic | Detroit Pistons | 2003 | 18 years, 133 days |
| 5. | Stan Brown | Philadelphia Warriors | 1947 | 18 years, 139 days |
Youngest players in NBA entering 2022-23 season
Memphis freshman Jalen Duren — the Pistons’ No. 13 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft — will still be 18 years old when he (presumably) makes his NBA debut on Oct. 19 against the Magic.
He is the only player in the 2022 NBA Draft class who will be 18 years old when he makes his debut.
You can find the five youngest players in the NBA entering the 2022-23 season below, along with their projected debut age.
| Rank | Player | Debut team | Birth year | Debut age* |
| 1. | Jalen Duren | Detroit Pistons | 2003 | 18 years, 331 days |
| 2. | Trevor Keels | New York Knicks | 2003 | 19 years, 54 days |
| 3. | AJ Griffin | Atlanta Hawks | 2003 | 19 years, 55 days |
| 4. | Nikola Jovic | Miami Heat | 2003 | 19 years, 130 days |
| 5. | Shaedon Sharpe | Portland Trail Blazers | 2003 | 19 years, 140 days |
*All ages assume players make debut in first game of the 2022-23 season.
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