What The Most Famous NBA Players From The 1990s Look Like Today

While '80s basketball included legends like Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Larry Bird, the '90s were also a great time for the sport. Many players were household names, even among those who didn't follow the NBA. Michael Jordan, aka "Air Jordan" and "His Airness," won four of five MVP awards during the decade, and he and Scottie Pippen took the Chicago Bulls to six championships.

Other great players included Hakeem Olajuwon, Shaquille O'Neal, and Patrick Ewing. These powerhouses, and several others, made the NBA in the 1990s thrilling to watch. The decade is also notable because there were so many outstanding players competing against one another at the same time. 

So, what are these former pro ballers doing today? Unsurprisingly, they're leading productive lives, and most have aged well considering the toll basketball or any other professional sport can have on the body. These men are currently in their 50s (some in their 60s) — way past their athletic prime. However, they're active in their communities and business ventures, proving that life doesn't end after the game does.

Dennis Rodman played for several teams during his NBA career: the Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers, and the Dallas Mavericks. For his career, he won five NBA championships and was named NBA defensive player of the year twice, in 1990 and 1991, per his official website.

Rodman led the league in rebounding for four seasons straight from 1992 to 1995, and he had 11,954 total rebounds for his career (via Basketball-Reference.com). He's also stayed in the news since his retirement from professional basketball. In the summer of 2022, for example, Rodman expressed willingness to aid in the release of WBNA star Brittney Griner from Russia. He told NBC News, "I got permission to go to Russia to help that girl. I'm trying to go this week," adding, "I know Putin too well."

It's not the first time Rodman has interjected himself into international politics. He's noted for having a friendship with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. He once said of their relationship (via ABC7 News), "That's a friend of mine. OK, great. I don't look at the political side about him." He also claims he was instrumental in the release of American Kenneth Bae from North Korea in 2014.

Shaquille O'Neal, an NBA center who stands at 7'1", was the 1992-93 rookie of the year and took the Orlando Magic to a 41-41 record in his first NBA season, according to Britannica. He joined the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996 and won an Olympic gold medal that same year. O'Neal went on to have a successful basketball career for several more years before retiring in 2011. He was known for his large presence on and off the court. In his career, O'Neal was named an All-Star 15 times, won the NBA Finals MVP three times, and was voted the league MVP once for the 1999-2000 season. He became a Hall of Famer in 2016.

What's "The Big Aristotle" up to these days? Since 2011, Shaquille O'Neal has been part of TNT's NBA coverage, where he co-hosts "Inside the NBA" with Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, and Kenny Smith, per TNT.

Twelve-time All-Star Hakeem Olajuwon, aka "The Dream," didn't start playing basketball in his native Nigeria until he was a teenager. The 7-foot star was recruited to play college ball in the United States and was drafted by the NBA in 1984, according to Britannica. In 1994 and 1995, Olajuwon led the Houston Rockets to back-to-back championships. He was named defensive player of the year twice and league MVP once, for the 1993–94 season (via Basketball-Reference.com). He retired in 2002.

In 2016, Olajuwon wrote about his history with the sport for The Players' Tribune. He explained that he'd never seen an NBA game when he went to the United States at the age of 18, and he didn't even know the names of any basketball stars, explaining that the only footwork he knew was due to soccer. He wrote, "When my coach told me to play the center position, I didn't know what he meant." He later added, "So I pretended I was a guard. I didn't want to have a position at all." The two-time NBA champion was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008.

Another one of the NBA's greatest players of all time is 14-time All-Star Karl Malone, aka "The Mailman." The power forward holds the NBA record for free throws attempted (13,188) and made (9,787), according to Britannica. He earned his nickname of "The Mailman" for how he delivered in every game, as one part of the famous tandem of "(John) Stockton to Malone."

When Karl Malone retired in 2004, he had career totals of 36,928 points and 13,528 field goals made (via Basketball-Reference.com). Malone played for the Utah Jazz for 18 seasons and one season, his final season, with the Los Angeles Lakers, teaming up with Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Gary Payton to make a dream team. He won two Olympic gold medals (1992, 1996), and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.

In his hall-of-fame speech, Malone said, "I hope I did it the way my peers did it before me. I didn't do anything but try to play hard" (via Bleacher Report).

Known as "Clyde the Glide," eight-time NBA All-Star Clyde Drexler was known for his skillful jumping, quick feet, and perimeter game, which made him challenging to guard. Drexler spent 12 seasons with the Portland Trailblazers, reaching the NBA Finals in 1990 and 1992. He joined the Houston Rockets in 1995, where he played with former University of Houston teammate Hakeem Olajuwon and won an NBA championship, per NBA.com.

During his stint with the Rockets, Drexler averaged 19 points, 6.1 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.9 steals, and 36.7 minutes a game (via Rockets Wire). In April 2022, he was inducted into the Houston Sports Hall of Fame and received a special ring and plaque on the Walk of Fame at the GreenStreet Promenade. The ring featured his name on one side with the Olympic rings, commemorating his time with the 1992 Dream Team (via USA Today). The other side of the ring was emblazoned with "Rockets" and the University of Houston Cougars' hand sign.

Drexler was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004.

Ten-time NBA All-Star point guard John Stockton was a force to be reckoned with in the 1990s. Today, his jersey is retired by the Utah Jazz, a team he played with for all 19 seasons of his career, and his likeness greets visitors to Vivint Arena (formerly known as the Delta Center in Stockton's days) in the form of a bronze statue (Karl Malone has one, too, via ESPN).

In his 19 seasons with Utah, John Stockton went to the playoffs every year, per the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. And among his many accomplishments, Stockton holds the record for leading the league in assists (nine), as well as the most assists in a season — 1,164. As part of the 1992 and 1996 USA Olympic teams, Stockton also has two gold medals.

And Stockton has passed down his love of the game to his son David, who signed with the Indiana Pacers in September 2022, according to Sports Illustrated. David previously played with the Jazz and the Sacramento Kings.