by Henry Liao
At age 98, legendary playmaker par excellence Bob Cousy, the all-time NBA great and member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, is the oldest living former NBA player today.
The 6-1 Cousy led the NBA in assists with the Boston Celtics for eight consecutive seasons, earning six league titles during his 13-year tenure with the Hub City squad.
He hung up his Celtics jersey in 1963, but in 1969-70, following his employment as head coach of the Cincinnati Royals, the harbinger of the Sacramento Kings, came out of retirement to play seven games with the Royals.
Cliff Hagan is the second-oldest living former NBA player. He turns 95 on December 9.
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I don’t know of any former Philippine cage great, whether in the MICAA, PBA, or national team, who has lived past the century mark.
In the NBA, a player by the name of Stanley (“Whitey”) Von Nieda lived until age 101 before his death on September 6, 2023, in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania.
He was the oldest living former NBA player at the time and the first ex-NBA player ever to reach 100 years of age.
Von Nieda played 59 total games with the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and Baltimore Bullets during the 1949-50 NBA season (the predecessors of the Atlanta Hawks and Washington Wizards, respectively).
He served in the U.S. Army during World War II.
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