5 NBA players with most minutes in regular season and playoffs combined
Longevity is a gift to NBA players and the more you play in the league, the more you earn for a living. A basketball player's career is considered as long as dog years and it comes by so fast since it is a game played while you are young. However, there are some exceptions who were able to delay father time and had a great career in the NBA.
Furthermore, having the most number of seasons as well as playoff success adds up to a player's legacy in the league.
With the new record set by LeBron James, here's a look at five NBA players who have logged in the most minutes, both playoffs and season, in the league:
5 players who have the most minutes played in NBA history
#5 - Dirk Nowitzki: 57,263 minutes
The 14-time All-Star who has played for the Dallas Mavericks his entire career has logged in 57,263 minutes throughout his career. Dirk Nowitzki won a championship in 2011 where he was also crowned as NBA Finals MVP. The German forward was also named league MVP back in 2007.
#4 - Kobe Bryant: 57,278 minutes
The five-time champion, Kobe Bryant, played in the league for 20 seasons all wearing a Los Angeles Lakers jersey. He was also an 18-time All-Star, two-time scoring champion and played a total of 1,566 games.
#3 - Karl Malone: 62,759 minutes
Karl Malone logged 19 seasons in the league and 18 of those were with the Utah Jazz. He is the only player in this list that has not won a championship but won two MVP awards in 1997 and 1999. He was also a 14-time All-Star that averaged 25 points per game in the regular season.
#2 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 66,297 minutes
Widely known for the unblockable 'sky hook', Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers in a span of 20 seasons. He has won six championships and has been league MVP six times. For more than three decades, he has held the most number of points scored with 38,652.
#1 - LeBron James: 66,298+ minutes
Just another feather in LeBron James' hat as he just broke the record for minutes played in the playoffs and season against the Philadelphia 76ers on Nov. 27, 2023. Still playing in the league at 38 years old, there is no one in league history that has held back father time the most.