Starting 5 Cast: NBA Players' Ages, Stats, Teams, Rings & History

Starting 5 Cast: NBA Players’ Ages, Stats, Teams, Rings & History

Posted by Admin October 9, 2024 NBA

WARNING: SPOILERS ahead for Starting 5.

Netflix’s new NBA docuseries Starting 5 offers an extensive deep dive into the 2023-24 NBA season through the exclusive lenses of five elite players. Directed by Peter J. Scalettar (Supreme Team) and produced by Peyton Manning (Quarterback) and Barack and Michelle Obama (Leave the World Behind), Starting 5 takes a behind-the-scenes look at the off-the-court lives of five of the NBA’s biggest stars and most talented players. Starting 5 follows Domantas Sabonis of the Sacramento Kings, Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat, Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves, Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, and LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Starting 5 also includes never-before-seen footage of these five NBA talents during the regular season and playoffs, including previously unreleased audio and in-game commentary between players, coaches, and other NBA personnel. The series thoughtfully pieces together some of the common themes between these five NBA superstars, such as their personal battles with injury, legacy, and fame, as well as their roles as fathers, partners, and public figures. Starting 5 releases just one day after the start of the 2024-2025 NBA Preseason and chronicles the entire 2023-2024 season up to the Boston Celtics’ NBA Finals victory in June 2024.

All 10 episodes of
Starting 5
are now streaming on Netflix.

LeBron James

Los Angeles Lakers

Date Of Birth: December 30, 1984
Drafted: #1 by the Cleveland Cavaliers (2003)
Teams: Cleveland Cavaliers (2003-2010), Miami Heat (2010-2014), Cleveland Cavaliers (2014-2018), Los Angeles Lakers (2018-Present)
NBA Championships: 4

LeBron James is often considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest, NBA player of all time. He is one of only four players who have won 4 NBA Titles with three different NBA teams. As depicted in Starting 5, James is currently the NBA’s All-Time leading scorer and will enter the 2024-2025 NBA season with a total of 40,474 points. James has played a total of 21 NBA seasons and is currently the oldest NBA player at the age of 39. It was reported that James spends $1.5 million per year to keep his body in pristine shape, which James discusses in further detail in Netflix’s Starting 5.

LeBron James	GP	MPG	PPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG
2023-24	71	35.3	25.7	54	41	75	7.3	8.3	1.3	0.5
Career	71	37.9	27.1	50.6	34.8	73.6	7.5	7.4	1.5	0.7

James will be playing with his son LeBron “Bronny” James Jr. for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2024-2025 NBA season, marking the first-ever father-son duo on the same team at the same time in NBA history. As depicted in Starting 5, The Lakers were the first-ever champions of the NBA’s new In-Season Tournament, which awarded each team member a prize of $500,000. James has a net worth of $1.2 billion. He is a 4-time NBA Finals MVP, a 4-time NBA MVP, a 20-time All-Star, a 3-time Olympic gold medalist, an Olympics MVP, a husband, and a father of three children.

Jayson Tatum

Boston Celtics

Date Of Birth: March 3, 1998
Drafted: #3 by the Boston Celtics (2017)
Teams: Boston Celtics (2017-Present)
NBA Championships: 1

Jayson Tatum is a key member of the 2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics and has played for the historic franchise since he was drafted in 2017 after playing at Duke University. Tatum, who is just 26 years old, is the face of the current era of the Boston Celtics along with NBA Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, who was drafted by the Celtics in 2016. Tatum is a 5-time NBA All-Star, an Olympic gold medalist, and was named the Gatorade National Player of the Year in 2016 during his senior year of high school. Tatum has accomplished a great deal in his seven seasons as a Celtic, making him one of the new faces of the NBA.

Jayson Tatum	GP	MPG	PPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG
2023-24	74	35.7	26.9	47.1	37.6	83.3	8.1	4.9	1.0	0.6
Career	73.3	34.2	23.1	46.0	37.5	84.4	7.2	3.5	1.1	0.7

Tatum and the Boston Celtics have appeared in the Eastern Conference Finals in five of the last seven NBA seasons. Their 2024 NBA Title gives them a franchise total of 18 Championships, which broke the tie between the Celtics and the Lakers, who currently have 17 NBA Titles. With the Celtics bringing back all of their outstanding players from their Championship team, who also became the most efficient offensive team in NBA history, Tatum and the Celtics are expected to make another push at the NBA Title this season. The last time the Celtics won back-to-back championships was in 1968 and 1969.

Anthony Edwards

Minnesota Timberwolves

Date Of Birth: August 5, 2001
Drafted: #1 by the Minnesota Timberwolves (2020)
Teams: Minnesota Timberwolves (2020-Present)
NBA Championships: 0

Anthony Edwards has quickly become one of the most exciting players to watch in the NBA. At just 23 years old, Edwards has already drawn early comparisons to NBA legend Michael Jordan for his incredible athleticism and competitive nature. Edwards helped lead the Minnesota Timberwolves, who drafted him with the number 1 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, to the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks in 2024. He has also led the Timberwolves to the playoffs in the last three seasons. Edwards is already a 2-time All-Star and is expected to only get better throughout the 2020s.

Anthony Edwards	GP	MPG	PPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG
2023-24	79	35.1	25.9	46.1	35.7	83.6	5.4	5.1	1.3	0.5
Career	75.5	34.3	22.9	44.6	35.3	79.3	5.2	4.1	1.4	0.6

Anthony Edwards was given the nickname “Ant-Man” by his father. As discussed in Starting 5, Edward’s mother passed away when he was just 14 years old. His sister, Antoinette, assumed legal custody over Edwards from that point on. Edwards welcomed his first child in March 2024, a daughter named Aislynn, with his girlfriend Jeanine Robel, who also has another child with ex-boyfriend and rapper Chief Keef. Edwards signed a 5-year, $245 million contract extension with the Timberwolves in July 2023, earning him an average annual salary of $49 million and making him one of the highest-paid athletes in the NBA.

Domantas Sabonis

Sacramento Kings

Date Of Birth: May 3, 1996
Drafted: #11 by the Orlando Magic (2016)
Teams: Orlando Magic (Drafted), Oklahoma City Thunder (2016-2017), Indiana Pacers (2017-2022), Sacramento Kings (2022-Present)
NBA Championships: 0

Domantas Sabonis is arguably one of the most underappreciated superstars in the NBA, although his $40.5 million salary for the 2024-2025 season might suggest otherwise. Sabonis is a triple-double machine, leading the NBA in most triple-doubles during the 2023-2024 season with a total of 26. He became just the fifth player in NBA history to have 25 or more triple-doubles in a single season. Sabonis also recorded the most double-doubles of the 2023-2024 season with a total of 77, nine higher than the 2024 NBA MVP Nikola Jokić. He was notably not selected as a 2023-2024 All-Star, which many felt was a massive snub.

Domantas Sabonis	GP	MPG	PPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG
2023-24	82	35.7	19.4	59.4	37.9	70.4	13.7	8.2	0.9	0.6
Career	72	30.3	15.7	55.8	33.2	72.6	10.3	4.8	0.8	0.5

Sabonis is the son of NBA Hall of Famer Arvydas Sabonis, who played for the Portland Trail Blazers for seven seasons between 1995 and 2003. Sabonis is clearly quite successful as an NBA player in his own right, getting named an All-Star in 2020, 2021, and 2023 but not being able to find much luck in the postseason. Sabonis attended Gonzaga University where he played for two seasons from 2014-2016. Sabonis will wear the retired Kings number 11 in honor of his dad in the upcoming NBA season after receiving the blessings from the family of the former number 11, Bob Davies.

Jimmy Butler

Miami Heat

Date Of Birth: September 14, 1989
Drafted: #30 by the Chicago Bulls (2011)
Teams: Chicago Bulls (2011-2017), Minnesota Timberwolves (2017-2018), Philadelphia 76ers (2018-2019), Miami Heat (2019-Present)
NBA Championships: 0

Jimmy Butler is one of the fiercest playoff competitors in the NBA. He took the Miami Heat to the NBA Finals in 2020 and 2023, defeating the Boston Celtics on both occasions. Butler was originally drafted by the Chicago Bulls where he played for his first six NBA seasons. He was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2015 and led the league in steals in 2021. Butler, who is also known as “Jimmy Buckets”, is a 6-time NBA All-Star who is about to enter his 14th NBA season.

Jimmy Butler	GP	MPG	PPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG
2023-24	60	34.0	20.8	49.9	41.4	85.8	5.3	5.0	1.3	0.3
Career	62.6	33.2	18.3	47.0	32.9	84.4	5.3	4.3	1.6	0.4

As depicted in Starting 5, Butler is known for his annual Media Day trolling where he shows up for his press photo dressed in a wild costume. This would explain his “Emo Jimmy” look in 2023, which Starting 5 reveals was inspired by a conversation he had with his nanny. Butler is also a lover of music, a sharp domino player, and an espresso aficionado who hires a personal barista. He is certainly one of the most unique and fun-loving personalities in Netflix’s Starting 5 and in the NBA at large.