Tonight let’s look at the NBA’s Fifty Greatest Players from another perspective – games played and minutes per game. Remember, this list was released by then NBA Commissioner David Stern in 1996, so none of today’s greats are on this list. I know, talking about longevity is like talking about getting old, but the length of a pro athlete’s career is a definite factor in his athletic achievements and relative worth as an athlete.
There really aren’t very many options. As a player, you either keep on playing or you retire. Injuries obviously influence games played and minutes per game, but overall, the longer an athlete plays and the more minutes per game he plays, the greater the achievements and contributions.
Some statistical and general comments on the list (my call sign is Stats, after all) follow. Remember, the left side of the table shows minutes per game (MPG) while the right side of the table shows games played.
- In the MPG category we see the two familiar names of Wilt Chamberlain (45.8) and Bill Russell (42.3) at the top of the list.
- In the games played category, we see two more centers at the top of the list: Robert Parish (1611) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1560).
- Oscar Robertson (42.2) is the top rated guard in MPG at # 3 while John Stockton is the top rated guard in games played with 1504.
- Elgin Baylor (40.0) leads the forwards in MPG while Karl Malone (1329) leads the forwards in games played.
MPG AVERAGES (Descending) GAMES PLAYED (Descending)
| # | Name | POS | MPG | # | Name | POS | GAMES PLAYED | |
| 1 | Wilt Chamberlain | C | 45.8 | 1 | Robert Parish | C | 1611 | |
| 2 | Bill Russell | C | 42.3 | 2 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | C | 1560 | |
| 3 | Oscar Robertson | G | 42.2 | 3 | John Stockton | G | 1504 | |
| 4 | Elgin Baylor | F | 40.0 | 4 | Karl Malone | F | 1476 | |
| 5 | Jerry West | G | 39.2 | 5 | Moses Malone | C | 1329 | |
| 6 | Jerry Lucas | F/C | 38.8 | 6 | Elvin Hayes | F/C | 1303 | |
| 7 | Bob Pettit | F | 38.8 | 7 | John Havlicek | F/G | 1270 | |
| 8 | Dave Cowens | C | 38.6 | 8 | Hakeem Olajuwon | C | 1238 | |
| 9 | Paul Arizin | F | 38.4 | 9 | Shaquille O’Neal | C | 1207 | |
| 10 | Larry Bird | F | 38.4 | 10 | Patrick Ewing | C | 1183 | |
| 11 | Elvin Hayes | F/C | 38.4 | 11 | Scottie Pippen | F | 1178 | |
| 12 | Michael Jordan | G | 38.3 | 12 | Hal Greer | G | 1122 | |
| 13 | Walt Frazier | G | 37.5 | 13 | Clyde Drexler | G | 1086 | |
| 14 | Nate Thurmond | C | 37.2 | 14 | Lenny Wilkens | G | 1077 | |
| 15 | Karl Malone | F | 37.2 | 15 | Charles Barkley | F | 1073 | |
| 16 | Pete Maravich | G | 37.0 | 16 | Michael Jordan | G | 1072 | |
| 17 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | C | 36.8 | 17 | Wilt Chamberlain | C | 1045 | |
| 18 | Magic Johnson | G | 36.7 | 18 | Oscar Robertson | G | 1040 | |
| 19 | Charles Barkley | F | 36.7 | 19 | Dolph Schayes | F/C | 996 | |
| 20 | John Havlicek | F/G | 36.6 | 20 | David Robinson | C | 987 | |
| 21 | Wes Unseld | C/F | 36.4 | 21 | Wes Unseld | C/F | 984 | |
| 22 | Dave Bing | G | 36.4 | 22 | Isiah Thomas | G | 979 | |
| 23 | Rick Barry | F | 36.3 | 23 | Kevin McHale | F | 971 | |
| 24 | Isiah Thomas | G | 36.3 | 24 | Nate Thurmond | C | 964 | |
| 25 | Hakeem Olajuwon | C | 35.7 | 25 | Bill Russell | C | 963 | |
| 26 | Dave DeBusschere | F | 35.7 | 26 | Jerry West | G | 932 | |
| 27 | Nate Archibald | G | 35.6 | 27 | Earl Monroe | G | 926 | |
| 28 | Willis Reed | C | 35.5 | 28 | James Worthy | F | 926 | |
| 29 | Hal Greer | G | 35.5 | 29 | Bob Cousy | G | 924 | |
| 30 | Lenny Wilkens | G | 35.3 | 30 | Magic Johnson | G | 906 | |
| 31 | Bob Cousy | G | 35.3 | 31 | Dave Bing | G | 901 | |
| 32 | Scottie Pippen | F | 34.9 | 32 | Larry Bird | F | 897 | |
| 33 | Shaquille O’Neal | C | 34.7 | 33 | Nate Archibald | G | 876 | |
| 34 | David Robinson | C | 34.7 | 34 | Dave DeBusschere | F | 875 | |
| 35 | Clyde Drexler | G | 34.6 | 35 | Sam Jones | G | 871 | |
| 36 | George Mikan | C | 34.4 | 36 | Elgin Baylor | F | 846 | |
| 37 | Dolph Schayes | F/C | 34.4 | 37 | Julius Erving | F | 836 | |
| 38 | Patrick Ewing | C | 34.3 | 38 | Jerry Lucas | F/C | 829 | |
| 39 | Julius Erving | F | 34.3 | 39 | Walt Frazier | G | 825 | |
| 40 | Billy Cunningham | F | 34.3 | 40 | Rick Barry | F | 794 | |
| 41 | Moses Malone | C | 33.9 | 41 | Bob Pettit | F | 792 | |
| 42 | George Gervin | G | 33.5 | 42 | George Gervin | G | 791 | |
| 43 | James Worthy | F | 32.4 | 43 | Dave Cowens | C | 766 | |
| 44 | Earl Monroe | G | 32.0 | 44 | Paul Arizin | F | 713 | |
| 45 | Bill Sharman | G | 32.0 | 45 | Bill Sharman | G | 711 | |
| 46 | John Stockton | G | 31.8 | 46 | Pete Maravich | G | 658 | |
| 47 | Kevin McHale | F | 31.0 | 47 | Billy Cunningham | F | 654 | |
| 48 | Robert Parish | C | 28.4 | 48 | Willis Reed | C | 650 | |
| 49 | Bill Walton | C | 28.3 | 49 | Bill Walton | C | 468 | |
| 50 | Sam Jones | G | 27.9 | 50 | George Mikan | C | 439 |
BILL HARVEY, Call Sign “Stats”, is the Editor of Hoops Business. He is a former college basketball player, basketball referee, Army officer, and college instructor in technical writing with a public relations and journalism background. He is also the editor of the Net Set blog at http://thenetsetblog.com. BA degree from Xavier University and MA degree in Information Management.
