Goodbye NBA? How Should We Evaluate Taj Gibson's Career at 41?

Taj Gibson's NBA career may be coming to an end.

According to the latest official news from the Pelicans, the team has officially waived the 41-year-old veteran Taj Gibson, who became a free agent at a particularly difficult time.

It should be noted that this was not unexpected news. Previously, when the Pelicans and Grizzlies completed a trade in which New Orleans sent Jordan Hawkins, Micah Peavy, one second-round pick, and one second-round pick swap for Gibson and AJ Johnson, there were reports that the Pelicans might waive Gibson.

Even before the trade, there were reports that the Grizzlies might waive Gibson because of an oversized roster. Before the trade, Memphis had 19 standard contracts and needed to waive four players before the new season could begin.

Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that the Grizzlies signing Gibson last season was quite surprising.

Before last season, Gibson played for four different teams over four consecutive years from the 2022-25 seasons (Wizards, Knicks, Pistons, and Hornets), appearing in 49, 16, 4, and 37 games respectively.

During the 2024-25 season with the Hornets, Gibson averaged only 11.1 minutes per game, 2.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 0.5 blocks, while shooting 49.5 percent from the field.

Due to his age and declining form, after becoming a free agent again in the 2025 offseason, Gibson nearly had no team to join. He went unsigned for a long period until the Grizzlies offered him a contract in February 2026, and it was a two-year deal.

The first year of the contract was a fully guaranteed veteran minimum salary of $960,000, while the second year was a non-guaranteed minimum salary of $3.8 million. Before January 10, 2027, the team could decide whether to make it fully guaranteed. To complete the Pelicans-Grizzlies trade and match salaries, $200,000 of the second year was converted from non-guaranteed to guaranteed.

Returning to February this year, there were probably two reasons why the Grizzlies signed Gibson:

1. Before signing Gibson, the Grizzlies were dealing with an injury wave and had just bought out Kyle Anderson, so the move could strengthen their necessary wing rotation.

2. Compared with younger players with greater ability, the rebuilding Grizzlies preferred a veteran who could have a voice in the locker room, which was Gibson's biggest role.

The Grizzlies never initially expected Gibson to provide much on-court value, and that proved true. Gibson was not particularly impressive during his time with Memphis last season: he played only 10 games, averaging just 9.7 minutes, 3.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 0.6 assists, while shooting 46.2 percent.

It is worth mentioning that after this year's regular season ended, Gibson personally stated that he would not retire next season. But the reality of the NBA is that whether to retire is sometimes not decided by the player. In terms of his current condition, the 41-year-old Gibson has long been near retirement.

Looking back at Gibson's career, it was not glorious, but it can definitely be described as successful.

As the 26th pick in the first round of the 2009 draft, Gibson was in the same draft class as current veterans such as Stephen Curry, James Harden, and DeMar DeRozan. However, he was already 24 years old when he entered the league, making him an older rookie.

Unlike those three stars, Gibson was never selected to an All-Star team, All-NBA team, or All-Defensive team. Even at his peak, he was only a qualified starter for a strong team.

His time with the Bulls was undoubtedly the most memorable. He played in Chicago for nearly eight years, teaming with Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, and others to help the team finish first in the Eastern Conference and reach the Eastern Conference Finals, though that Bulls team was affected by too many injuries.

After leaving the Bulls, Gibson moved to several teams including the Thunder, Timberwolves, and Knicks. Tom Thibodeau was a very important figure in Gibson's career, and Gibson's presence could be seen on every team Thibodeau coached.

In fact, Gibson had already become a fringe player on teams by 2022, but he continued playing until 2026 because of his locker-room value. By the time he was waived by the Pelicans, his career statistics were:

Over 17 years, 1,012 games, averaging 22.9 minutes, 8.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 0.9 assists, 0.5 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game, with 8,434 total points and 5,755 total rebounds.

As mentioned earlier, it was not a glorious career, but playing 17 years in the NBA and appearing in 1,000 games is absolutely not simple. Will Gibson remain in the NBA next season? Will he officially announce his retirement? We will wait and see.