Everybody is different. Kareem averaged 36.8 MPG for 21 seasons, never had a major injury and played until he was 41. Wilt averaged 45.3 MPG for his career. He didn't miss a single game his last three seasons and averaged 44.3, 42.3 and 43.2 MPG at the ages of 34, 35 and 36. Karl Malone averaged 37.2 MPG for 19 seasons and never missed more than two games in any single season until he was 40 years old. And most of the games he missed were for suspensions. He averaged 38.0 MPG at the age of 38. Tim Duncan is currently in his 17th season and has averaged 35.4 MPG for his career. He regularly averaged 39 - 40 MPG earlier in his career and at the age of 36 is averaging 31.3 MPG and third in the entire league in PER at 27.5. He's a legitimate MVP candidate at 36. Moses Malone, Hakeem Olajuwon, etc. also had long careers logging heavy minutes.
And those are just some of the Hall of Fame big men that logged big minutes over very long careers. There are tons of other guys that played into their 40s (Kevin Willis, Charles Oakley, Robert Parish) and continued to average over 35 MPG though their mid or late 30s.
I think as Blazers fans, we are conditioned to expect the worst. For every Sam Bowie, Greg Oden, and even Brandon Roy, whose body betrays them at a young age, there is a Kareem, Wilt, Mailman, etc. playing even more minutes than Aldridge does and continuing to do so for 15 or 20 years.
The only times in his NBA career that Aldridge has missed more than a couple games were both related to his congenital heart defect. He had surgery to repair that during the off season and it should not limit his minutes this year, or beyond. Although I'm not a cardiologist, I know a good, sustained cardio workout actually strengths the heart muscle (which may not matter in Aldridge's case, since his heart defect isn't muscle related). His body will tell him if he's playing too much. Personally, the more I play, the better I feel. Most NBA players will tell you that no matter how much they work out during the summer, the only way to truly get in game shape is to actually play in games. After his off season surgery, that's exactly what Aldridge is doing now. And, as he continues to get into game shape, his production will continue to increase.
BNM
