20 NBA Players Who Played The Most Minutes In The Regular Season And Playoffs Combined
On Monday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James made more NBA history. With his ninth minute played in the evening, he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most minutes played by any player in the regular season and playoffs combined.
The accomplishment is another example of James’ unheard-of longevity in his NBA career which has seen him play at a high level for 21 seasons. LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Karl Malone are the only three players to reach 60,000 minutes played between the regular season and playoffs in their careers. Now, it is time to break down the 20 NBA players who have logged the most minutes played in NBA history and how they got to that point in their careers.
These are the 20 NBA players who played the most minutes in the regular season and playoffs combined.
20. Vince Carter - 49,400 Minutes
Credit: Lou Capozzola-USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 46,367
Playoff Minutes: 3,033
Another NBA veteran who played over 20 seasons in the NBA was the man they called half-man, half-amazing, Vince Carter. In 22 seasons of play, Carter logged 49,400 minutes between the regular season and playoffs. He played 22 seasons with the Raptors, Nets, Mavericks, Grizzlies, Hawks, Magic, Kings, and Suns and made just 11 appearances in the NBA playoffs.
Without as much as one run to the NBA Finals in his career, Carter was able to log just over 3,000 career playoff minutes with the Raptors, Nets, Magic, Mavericks, and Grizzlies. In his career, Carter recorded two seasons with over 3,000 minutes played and 12 seasons with over 2,000 minutes played in his career, mostly coming with the Raptors and Nets from 1999 through 2009.
During these 22 seasons, Carter wowed NBA fans with his incredible feats of athleticism as one of the greatest in-game dunkers in NBA history. Carter would go on to become an eight-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA Team selection as well as the 1999 Rookie of the Year.
19. Hakeem Olajuwon - 49,971 Minutes
Credit: RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 44,222
Playoff Minutes: 5,749
Hakeem Olajuwon is one of the greatest big men in NBA history. Over the course of 18 seasons in the NBA, he logged 49,971 minutes played in 17 seasons with the Houston Rockets and one season toward the end of his career with the Toronto Raptors in 2001-02.
Other than dominating the glass and being the NBA’s all-time leader in blocks, Olajuwon was also as durable as they come, playing at least 65 games in 12 out of 17 seasons in the NBA. He recorded four seasons in which he played at least 3,000 minutes as well as 13 seasons with at least 2,000 minutes played.
Olajuwon was also able to rack up playoff minutes over time, especially in his 1994 and 1995 seasons that ended with back-to-back championships for him and the Rockets. Overall in his career, Olajuwon was a two-time Finals MVP, the 1994 MVP, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, a 12-time All-Star, a 12-time All-NBA Team selection, and a nine-time All-Defensive Team selection.
18. Shaquille O’Neal - 50,016 Minutes
Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 41,918
Playoff Minutes: 8,098
The first player on our list to reach the 50,000-minute mark is the most dominant force in NBA history, Shaquille O’Neal. For 19 seasons, Shq redefined the word dominance on the court with the Magic, Lakers, Heat, Suns, Celtics, and Cavaliers. With four NBA championships and six trips to the NBA Finals, the minutes quickly accumulated for Shaq in his career.
O’Neal would record three seasons with at least 3,000 minutes played in his career as well as 11 seasons with at least 2,000 minutes played. He would play in 675 minutes or more in all four of his championship runs including his first in 2000 when he played 1,000 minutes just in the NBA playoffs. Although he never led the NBA in minutes played, O’Neal did average over 40.0 minutes per game six different times.
In total, O’Neal won three Finals MVP awards to go with his four titles as well as one MVP, 15 All-Star selections, 14 All-NBA Team selections, three All-Defensive Team selections, and two scoring titles in 19 seasons.
17. Robert Parish - 51,881 Minutes
Credit: USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 45,704
Playoff Minutes: 6,177
Robert Parish was one of the first “ageless wonders” in the NBA, logging 21 seasons of play and playing through the age of 43 from 1977 through 1997. Parish played for four teams during his career including the Warriors, Celtics, Bulls, and Hornets but most notably played 14 years with Boston from 1981 through 1994.
Parish never reached the 3,000-minute mark in his career but his longevity is unmatched with 15 seasons of 2,000 minutes or more. In the NBA playoffs, Parish won three NBA titles with Boston during the 1980s in which he played over 490 minutes in all three of those playoff runs. This includes a career-high 869 minutes during their 1984 championship run.
Parish would win four NBA championships in his career, adding a fourth in 1997 at 43 years old with the Bulls. He would also earn nine All-Star selections and two All-NBA team selections during his career.
16. Paul Pierce - 52,109 Minutes
Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 45,880
Playoff Minutes: 6,229
One of the most underrated parts of Paul Pierce’s career resume is his longevity. Pierce played 19 seasons in the NBA from 1999 through 2017 with the Celtics, Clippers, Nets, and Wizards. In 15 seasons in Boston, he became one of the greatest players in Celtics history and the franchise’s all-time leading scorer while helping them win an NBA title in 2008.
Pierce was a warrior on the court logging six seasons with at least 3,000 minutes played. Playing through injuries and even a stabbing, Pierce would also log a total of 14 seasons with at least 2,000 minutes played as well. In the playoffs, Pierce had two Finals runs that resulted in over 900 minutes played each time as well as three other runs with at least 550 minutes played.
In his illustrious career, Pierce would win a Finals MVP in 2008 along with 10 All-Star selections and four All-NBA Team selections which all came during his 14-year career with the Celtics.
15. Ray Allen - 52,408 Minutes
Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 46,344
Playoff Minutes: 6,064
Ray Allen is one of the greatest shooting guards and one of the greatest three-point shooters in NBA history. Plenty of people remember his older days with the Celtics and Heat but very few recall how special of a player he was earlier in his career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Seattle SuperSonics.
Allen was a baller from his early years with Milwaukee, recording five seasons with at least 3,000 minutes played and 15 seasons with at least 2,000 minutes played. In his playoff career, Allen would make his way to four NBA Finals, winning two in 2008 with Boston and 2013 with Miami. In his two Finals runs with Boston, Allen would play over 900 minutes, and in a lesser role with Miami in 2013 and 2014, he would register just over 500 minutes as well.
In his 18-year career, Allen would earn 10 All-Star selections and two All-NBA Team selections to go with his two NBA championships. At the time of his retirement, he was also the NBA’s all-time leader in made three-point field goals. That record would be broken by Stephen Curry during the 2021-22 season.
14. Gary Payton - 52,598 Minutes
Credit: Fadeaway World
Regular Season Minutes: 47,117
Playoff Minutes: 5,481
Very few players in NBA history have ever played the game with a burning passion like Gary Payton did night in and night out for 17 seasons from 1991 through 2007. As the greatest defensive point guard in NBA history, Payton would give it his all every night, taking on the biggest challenges that came his way with welcomed arms.
During his career, Payton would play eight different seasons in which he logged 3,000 minutes or more. He played just one season in 17 years with less than 2,000 minutes on the court, showing just how much he truly loved the game and wanted to be out there with his teammates. In the NBA playoffs, Payton was no different, logging over 900 minutes during his 1996 Finals run with Seattle and over 550 minutes during his only title run with the Heat in 2006.
Payton is one of two point guards in NBA history to be named Defensive Player of the Year which he earned along with nine All-Star selections, nine All-NBA Team selections, and nine All-Defensive Team selections.
13. Reggie Miller - 52,927 Minutes
Credit: RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 47,619
Playoff Minutes: 5,308
During his 18-year career, Reggie Miller logged nearly 53,000 minutes between the regular season and playoffs while playing the entirety of his career with the Indiana Pacers. With his clutch plays and insatiable appetite for throwing off his opponents, Miller became the Pacers’ GOAT in no time.
In his regular season career, Miller would have three seasons in which he played at least 3,000 minutes and 16 seasons with at least 2,000 minutes played. Despite being on a consistent contender, Miller only made one NBA finals appearance in his career which resulted in the most minutes he ever logged in a single playoff run with 892.
Miller would never capture championship gold with the Pacers but he would become a Hall of Famer with five All-Star selections and three All-NBA Team selections to his name.
12. John Havlicek - 53,331 Minutes
Credit: Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 46,471
Playoff Minutes: 6,860
For a player in the 1960s and 1970s, playing 16 seasons in the league was almost unheard of. For John Havlicek, accomplishing the unheard-of was almost a norm for him by the end of his career. Havlicek played the entirety of his 16-year career with the Boston Celtics where he went on to win eight NBA titles in eight attempts as one of the winningest players in NBA history.
Havlicek actually led the NBA in minutes played twice during his career with two of his seven career 3,000-minute seasons. Havlicek would also log at least 2,000 minutes played in a season in all 16 years of his career, always willing to sacrifice and do whatever it took to help his team win. Thanks to his eight NBA championship runs, Havlicek would have several 8,000-minute playoff runs as well as six with over 500 minutes played.
In his career, Havlicek would win one Finals MVP to go with the eight NBA titles he captured as well as 13 All-Star selections, 11 All-NBA Team selections, and eight All-Defensive Team selections.
11. Elvin Hayes - 54,160 Minutes
Credit: Malcolm Emmons - USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 50,000
Playoff Minutes: 4,160
When it comes to the time spent on the basketball court, very few compared to Elvin Hayes. During his 16-year career with the Rockets and Bullets, Hayes led the NBA four different times in total minutes played and recorded 12 different 3,000-minute seasons. The only time he played fewer than 2,000 minutes in his career was in his final season in 1984 in which he played just 994 minutes off the bench.
The NBA playoffs were a different animal as well. Hayes and the Bullets would make three different Finals appearances in his career with one championship coming in 1978. During that championship run, Hayes logged 868 minutes and over 750 minutes in each of his other two Finals appearances during his career. Along with his NBA title, Hayes was a 12-time All-Star and six-time All-NBA Team selection who won two rebounding titles and a scoring title in 1969.
10. John Stockton - 54,162 Minutes
Credit: RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 47,764
Playoff Minutes: 6,398
For most of his 19-year career, you could not get John Stockton to leave the basketball court at any point during the game unless it was on a stretcher or in a body bag. Stockton played all 82 games 16 times in 19 seasons and averaged 31.8 minutes per game for the entirety of his career.
En route to becoming the NBA’s all-time leader in assists and steals, Stockton recorded three seasons with at least 3,000 minutes played as well as 14 seasons with at least 2,00 minutes played. He also recorded five different playoff runs with at least 500 minutes on the court including when he helped lead Utah to the 1997 and 1998 NBA finals.
In Stockton’s career, he won an NBA record nine assists titles as well as two steals titles with 10 All-Star selections, 11 All-NBA Team selections, and five All-Defensive Team Selections.
9. Wilt Chamberlain - 55,418 Minutes
Credit: Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 47,859
Playoffs: 7,559
The fact that Wilt Chamberlain is ninth in NBA history in combined minutes played is fascinating considering he played just 14 full seasons in the NBA. If you know anything about Wilt, then you know, he played every minute he possibly could. He owns several of the highest minutes per game in a season including in 1962 when he averaged 48.5 minutes per game, more than a regulation NBA game even calls for.
In 14 seasons, Chamberlain had 13 in which he played at least 3,000 minutes and led the NBA eight times in total minutes played. He also led the NBA playoffs four times in minutes played including his 1967 title run with the Sixers and three of his four NBA Finals runs with the Lakers in his career. Chamberlain would become a two-time NBA champion, one-time Finals MVP, and four-time MVP in his career along with 13 All-Star selections and 10 All-NBA Team selections.
8. Kevin Garnett - 55,701 Minutes
Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 50,418
Playoff Minutes: 5,283
Another NBA veteran who played the game with as much fiery passion as any other player ever was Kevin Garnett. Coming straight out of high school in 1995, Garnett played 21 seasons in the NBA which resulted in over 55,700 minutes played in his career. Garnett would average 34.5 minutes played per game over 21 seasons including seven seasons with over 3,000 minutes spent on the court.
In 21 seasons with the Timberwolves, Celtics, and Nets, Garnett would only fail to reach 1,500 minutes played in a season three times giving him over 50,000 regular season minutes logged in his career. During the 2008 NBA title run with the Celtics, Garnett logged a career-high 987 playoff minutes and over 7000 minutes three other times on deep playoff runs in his career.
Garnett is a former MVP and Defensive Player of the Year as well as a 15-time All-Star, nine-time All-NBA Team selection, and 12-time All-Defensive Team selection.
7. Jason Kidd - 56,199 Minutes
Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 50,111
Playoff Minutes: 6,088
Point guards throughout NBA history rarely approach 20 seasons played in the NBA. Jason Kidd was never really one to follow guidelines when it came to what was expected. Kidd played 19 seasons in the NBA and went down as one of the greatest two-way players in NBA history. Kidd also led by example, hitting the court by any means necessary every single night.
In his 19 seasons, Kidd would record four seasons with at least 3,000 minutes and 17 seasons with at least 2,000 minutes played. He even reached 2,060 minutes in 50 games in 1999, leading the NBA in a strike-shortened season. When leading the Nets to back-to-back Finals in 2002 and 2003, Kidd played over 800 minutes each time. He would even play 744 minutes in 2011 at 37 years old to help the Mavericks win the NBA title.
6. Tim Duncan - 56,738 Minutes
Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 47,368
Playoff Minutes: 9,370
Over the course of 19 years from 1998 through 2016, Tim Duncan changed the San Antonio Spurs from a titleless franchise into one of the winningest teams in NBA history. At the forefront of it was Duncan who logged over 56,700 minutes for the team in his career. During the regular season, Duncan was almost guaranteed to be available for at least 65 games and 2,000 minutes played, logging 17 such seasons in his career.
Duncan would also go on to play 251 career playoff games for the Spurs in 21 seasons which is the third-most in NBA history by any player. In the playoffs, Duncan would play over 730 minutes in each of his five championship runs including in 2003 when he logged 1,021 minutes after playing 3,181 in the regular season to win their second NBA championship.
5. Dirk Nowitzki - 57,263 Minutes
Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 51,368
Playoff Minutes: 5,895
Dirk Nowitzki had a remarkable career with the Dallas Mavericks from 1999 through 2019. In those 21 seasons, Nowitzki left everything he had on the court and helped the Mavericks win their first NBA championship in 2011 while also winning the first MVP and Finals MVP awards in franchise history.
With 21 seasons comes a lot of games and even more minutes played. Nowitzki would play 51,368 minutes in the regular season with six seasons over 3,000 minutes and 16 seasons with over 2,000 minutes played, Dirk would lead the Mavericks to 15 different playoff appearances as well which led to 5,895 more minutes for Nowitzki. He would play over 820 minutes in each of his two Finals runs in 2006 and 2011 as well and accumulate 145 playoff games played in his career.
4. Kobe Bryant - 57,278 Minutes
Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 48,637
Playoff Minutes: 8,641
At some point toward the top of this list, you had to know Kobe Bryant was going to appear. Famous for his relentless desire to play and win, Bryant spent every moment within his physical limitations on the basketball court. In 20 seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, Bryant left everything he could on the court, leaving behind a legacy that few have surpassed.
Of his 20 seasons played, Bryant would record six with over 3,000 minutes played and 15 with over 2,000 minutes played in total. He also played 80 games or more six times while going on to help the Lakers win five NBA championships, two Finals MVP awards, and an MVP award in 2008. In the NBA playoffs, Bryant would play at least 690 minutes for all five of his championship runs and over 900 minutes three times.
3. Karl Malone - 62,759 Minutes
Credit: RVR Photos-USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 54,852
Playoff Minutes: 7,907
Before LeBron James, Karl Malone was one of the greatest models of consistency in NBA history. He scored at a consistent and elite level which made him the third-leading scorer in NBA history. He is also one of three players ever with over 60,000 career combined minutes between the regular season and the playoffs.
Malone played 19 seasons in the NBA, the first 18 of which came with the Utah Jazz where he became a two-time MVP and led the Jazz to two NBA Finals appearances. In the regular season, Malone would play 11 seasons in which he registered 3,00 or more minutes and 17 seasons with 2,000 or more. In the NBA playoffs, he had five separate runs with 700 or more minutes played. Advancing to the Western Conference Finals or NBA Finals each time.
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 66,297 Minutes
Credit: MPS-USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 57,446
Playoff Minutes: 8,851
For the second time in under a year, we have watched as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s name fell from No.1 1 to No. 2 on a longstanding NBA record. This time, it was his combined minutes played record which he held for 34 and a half years since retiring in 1989.
One thing about Kareem that can never be questioned was his commitment to be on the court by any means necessary in his 20-year career with the Bucks and Lakers. Kareem logged more regular season minutes alone than 95.0% of this list did in their regular season and playoff careers combined.
Kareem led the NBA in total minutes played only once but he did have nine seasons with over 3,000 minutes played. He only played under 2,000 minutes in a season once which was his farewell season at 41 years old in 1989. Kareem would win six NBA titles in his career, playing at least 490 minutes in every one of those playoff runs and at least 600 minutes for three of them.
1. LeBron James - 66,320 Minutes
Credit: Jonathan Hui-USA TODAY Sports
Regular Season Minutes: 54,666
Playoff Minutes: 11,654
As if there was any doubt as to which NBA player has had the greatest career longevity-wise, LeBron James claimed another NBA record on Monday evening when he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most minutes played in NBA history. It does not get any more consistent than what LeBron James has done over the last 21 seasons and counting.
Even as he has struggled with his first signs of injury in his later seasons, James has maintained an elite level of play we have never seen from someone his age. He has accumulated over 54,000 regular season minutes during his career, playing over 3,000 minutes eight times during that time and over 2,000 minutes 17 times.
Where he has really separated himself from everyone else is the playoffs. James has played 11,654 playoff minutes in his career, by far the most ever by a player. Leading teams to 10 NBA Finals appearances with four championships as the best player in the world is sure to lead to achieving a record as James did on Monday. The record is yet another testament to his sustained greatness which seems to have him single-handedly rewriting the record books as his career goes on.
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