Earlier this month, I was talking with my dad about old NBA teams, and the question arose: which NBA team has the oldest players?

This question has been examined before, by computing the largest average age [1][2].

But that method could potentially miss the "spirit" of the team. For example: a team with 5 young guys playing 40 minutes, but a significant amount of veterans on the bench might unfairly be characterized as old. A better method is to measure the oldness of a team by taking the average age of a team weighted by minutes played. (The same approach outlined in a recent reddit post on weighted average draft position by /u/Tangeman & /u/dooleysucks)

Here are the stats (I also included the naively calculated average age):

Weighted average age NON-weighted average age ABBREVIATION LAC 30.98 30.46 SAS 30.42 29.54 MEM 30.13 27.94 CLE 30.1 30.93 GSW 29.1 28.74 ATL 28.88 29.17 SAC 28.71 27.56 DAL 28.54 27.65 HOU 28.26 26.78 NYK 28.16 27.59 IND 27.89 27.75 CHI 27.81 26.72 UTA 27.7 27.08 CHA 27.39 26.57 MIA 27.37 27.53 TOR 27.07 26.1 WAS 26.87 26.46 BKN 26.84 26.67 BOS 26.83 26.14 NOP 26.55 26.62 MIL 26.3 26.73 DET 26.29 26.37 DEN 26.19 26.36 ORL 26.12 26.32 LAL 25.88 27.55 PHX 25.72 26.4 POR 25.71 25.2 OKC 25.45 26.72 PHI 25.45 25.54 MIN 24.77 26.53

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Clippers, who've won the title of the oldest team in the NBA!

Also, it seems that the top 6 oldest teams all made the playoffs this year. I wondered if oldness was a predictor of winning games, so I plotted weighted oldness vs win-loss record.

Here's the table with win-loss data and colors:

Weighted average age Non-weighted average age Change from weighting Win percentage ABBREVIATION LAC 30.98 30.46 0.52 0.622 SAS 30.42 29.54 0.88 0.744 MEM 30.13 27.94 2.19 0.524 CLE 30.1 30.93 -0.83 0.622 GSW 29.1 28.74 0.36 0.817 ATL 28.88 29.17 -0.29 0.524 SAC 28.71 27.56 1.15 0.39 DAL 28.54 27.65 0.89 0.402 HOU 28.26 26.78 1.48 0.671 NYK 28.16 27.59 0.57 0.378 IND 27.89 27.75 0.14 0.512 CHI 27.81 26.72 1.09 0.5 UTA 27.7 27.08 0.62 0.622 CHA 27.39 26.57 0.82 0.439 MIA 27.37 27.53 -0.16 0.5 TOR 27.07 26.1 0.97 0.622 WAS 26.87 26.46 0.41 0.598 BKN 26.84 26.67 0.17 0.244 BOS 26.83 26.14 0.69 0.646 NOP 26.55 26.62 -0.07 0.415 MIL 26.3 26.73 -0.43 0.512 DET 26.29 26.37 -0.08 0.451 DEN 26.19 26.36 -0.17 0.488 ORL 26.12 26.32 -0.2 0.354 LAL 25.88 27.55 -1.67 0.317 PHX 25.72 26.4 -0.68 0.293 POR 25.71 25.2 0.51 0.5 OKC 25.45 26.72 -1.27 0.573 PHI 25.45 25.54 -0.09 0.341 MIN 24.77 26.53 -1.76 0.378

Negative change from weighting, like in Minnesota, means something like they're playing youngsters a lot and have veterans that they're leaving on the bench.

Positive change from weighting, like in Memphis and Houston, means that the team has some youth that they are leaving on the bench, and is playing their elderly more often.