- LeBron James is the only player in NBA history to play over 60,000 minutes before turning 38 years old
- Wilt Chamberlain is not in the top 10 for games played before turning 38 but ranks third in minutes played
- Only three players in NBA history played at least 55,000 minutes before turning 38 years old
Over the course of NBA history, it has become a rarity to see successful basketball careers last past the age of 36-38 years old. One of the most glaring pieces of evidence that exists for a sustained level of success in basketball is a player’s combined game played and minutes played in the regular season and the playoffs combined. This means not only has a player been consistently available in their career but also that player has led his teams on deep playoff and championship runs on a consistent basis. This also shows a level of success only achieved by those who achieve the highest levels they can in the NBA over the course of a career that exceeds those aforementioned age restrictions.Â
Below, we will take a look at the NBA players who have played both the most games and minutes before turning 38 years old. What you will find from these lists is that it is filled with some of the greatest players at their respective positions in NBA history as NBA champions, MVPs, All-Stars, and All-NBA Team members. What you will also find is that one player, above all the rest, stands out for his never-before-seen sustained level of success in the NBA.
Let’s take a closer look at how these players were able to find themselves among the most reliable and successful players in NBA history. These are the 10 NBA players who played the most games and the most minutes before turning 38 years old.
10 NBA Players With The Most Games Played Before Turning 38 Years Old
1. LeBron James – 1,659 Games
2. Kobe Bryant – 1,566 Games
3. Kevin Garnett – 1,520 Games
4. Dirk Nowitzki – 1,485 Games
5. Tony Parker – 1,480 Games
6. Tim Duncan – 1,467 Games
7. John Havlicek – 1,440 Games
8. Karl Malone – 1,436 Games
9. A.C. Green – 1,431 Games
10. Gary Payton – 1,419 Games
Sitting atop the list for the most games played in the regular season and playoffs before turning 38 is, of course, LeBron James. Over the course of 20 seasons, and heading into his 21st in 2023-24, James has set a new standard when it comes to longevity and greatness. During his NBA career, James has played 1,421 games with 12 seasons of at least 75 games played.
James has also led his teams to 10 different NBA Finals appearances, giving him nine postseasons with at least 20 games played before turning 38. James also has 16 games played in the playoffs after turning 38 after helping lead the Lakers to the Western Conference Finals in 2023. Of his 19 seasons completed before turning 38, James made 15 total playoff appearances with four NBA championships and four Finals MVP awards.
Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant ranks second on this list with his entire 20-year career coming before the age of 38. Bryant played all 20 seasons with the Lakers, appeared in 1,346 regular season games, and played all 82 games in a season four times. In five NBA championship runs and seven total Finals appearances, Bryant logged 220 playoff games in his career as well with five playoff runs lasting 20 or more games. Bryant would finish his career with five NBA titles and two Finals MVP awards.
Kevin Garnett, like Bryant, was drafted out of high school in 1995. Garnett would play 21 seasons in the NBA for the Timberwolves, Celtics, and Nets. In 21 seasons, Garnett played at least 80 games eight times in his career and made 14 appearances in the NBA playoffs. Garnett would play in a total of 143 playoff games before his 38th birthday and win one NBA championship in 2008 with the Celtics.
Dirk Nowitzki is also one of the few players in NBA history to play their entire career with one team. Nowitzki played 21 years with the Dallas Mavericks from 1999 through 2019. He retired at the age of 40 with 1,394 games played of his total 1,522 coming before his 38th birthday. He played in at least 80 games seven times in his career as well and led the Mavericks to 15 playoff appearances. All 145 of his career playoff games would come before turning 38 as well. In 2011, Nowitzki led the Mavericks to their only NBA championship win and second appearance in the NBA Finals overall. He took home Finals MVP honors in a win over the Miami Heat.
Tony Parker played a total of 18 seasons in the NBA and retired at the age of 37 in 2019. Parker played 17 of his 18 seasons with the Spurs, where he experienced most of his success. Although he played in at least 80 games just three times, Parker appeared in a total of 1,254 games in the regular season. Being on a dynasty such as the Spurs, Parker logged 226 playoff games played in his career and five runs, resulting in at least 20 games played. Parker would win four NBA titles with the Spurs and win one Finals MVP in 2007.
Surprisingly enough, Parker’s teammate Tim Duncan played 13 less regular season and playoff games before turning 38. Duncan, a two-time MVP and five-time NBA champion, played 19 seasons with the Spurs from 1998 through 2016 when he retired at 39 years old. Duncan played in 1,254 regular season games before turning 38 with six seasons appearing in at least 80 games. Duncan would appear in 234 playoff games before the age of 38 as well, leading the Spurs to five NBA championships and winning three Finals MVP awards to become the greatest power forward in NBA history.
John Havlicek remains one of the most underrated players of the past to this day despite winning eight NBA championships with the Boston Celtics. Havlicek played 16 seasons in the NBA, all with Boston, and all before turning 38 years old. He played in 1,270 regular season games and 172 playoff games. In 16 seasons, Havlicek appeared in at least 80 games an incredible 11 times. He would be a part of six NBA championship teams in his first seven seasons and two more in the 1970s. He won a total of eight NBA titles with one Finals MVP award won in 1974.
Karl Malone is the first player to appear on this list without winning an NBA championship during his NBA career. Malone played until the age of 40 years old for 19 seasons with the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers. Malone would officially play in 1,273 games before turning 38 in the regular season with 15 seasons of 80 games or more. Malone would lead the Jazz to a total of 15 playoff appearances and two NBA Finals appearances before 38 as well. Malone would also appear in the NBA Finals with the Lakers at the age of 40 but suffered his third loss before retiring following the series.
A.C. Green is known as the NBA’s Iron Man for his NBA-record 1,192 games played streak that lasted from 1987 through the end of his career in 2001. During this time, Green played nine years with the Lakers, Suns, Mavericks, and Heat. Green would appear in 153 playoff games during this time as well making 13 playoff appearances and winning three NBA titles all with the Los Angeles Lakers. Green’s Iron Man streak is easily one of the most unbreakable records in the history of the NBA, especially in the load management era of today.
To round out our top 10, we have one of the greatest point guards in NBA history, Gary Payton. Before turning 38, Payton played 1,267 games over 16 seasons with the SuperSonics, Bucks, Lakers, Celtics, and Heat. He would play in at least 80 games 11 times and help his teams reach the NBA playoffs 14 times. He would also secure his first and only championship with the Miami Heat in 2006, just days before his 38th birthday. Payton made a total of three NBA Finals appearances in his career in 1996, 2004, and 2006 with a 1-2 overall record.
10 NBA Players With The Most Minutes Played Before Turning 38 Years Old
1. LeBron James – 64,166 Minutes
2. Kobe Bryant – 57,312 Minutes
3. Wilt Chamberlain – 55,371 Minutes
4. Karl Malone – 54,263 Minutes
5. Kevin Garnett – 54,221 Minutes
6. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – 53,438 Minutes
7. Dirk Nowitzki – 53,167 Minutes
8. Tim Duncan – 51,829 Minutes
9. Jason Kidd – 51,381 Minutes
10. Gary Payton – 51,082 Minutes
LeBron James has not only played in the most games before turning 38 years old, but he spent the most time on the court in that time frame as well. In his 19 and a half seasons before turning 38 years old, James led the NBA three times in total minutes played in a season. He registered eight seasons of at least 3,000 total minutes played during the regular season as well.Â
As has been the case his entire career, you pretty much have to drag LeBron James off the court during the NBA playoffs. In his 15 appearances in the playoffs before turning 38, James led the postseason in minutes played seven times as he led his teams to 10 NBA Finals appearances overall and averaged 41.5 minutes played per game over the course of 15 seasons. Whether measured by games or minutes played, LeBron James is simply the King of longevity and a model for sustained greatness.
Behind James in second place on this list just as he was in games played before turning 38 is Kobe Bryant. Bryant sits just over 6,700 minutes behind James with his 20 seasons played before turning 38. Kobe never led the NBA in minutes played in the regular season but did record six seasons with at least 3,000 minutes played. In the NBA playoffs, Bryant led the postseason in minutes played twice with six seasons of at least 800 minutes played on the way to five NBA championships and two Finals MVP awards.
The legends of Wilt Chamberlain playing nearly every minute of every game will live on forever. Chamberlain led the NBA in total minutes played eight times in his 14-year NBA career, retiring at the age of 36 in 1973. Chamberlain also recorded 13 seasons with at least 3,000 total minutes played. Chamberlain would also record a total of 7,559 minutes played in the NBA playoffs in his career. Chamberlain would have three different playoff runs with over 800 minutes played as well on his way to two NBA championships with the 76ers and Lakers as well as one Finals MVP in 1972.
When a player records as many games and 82-game seasons as Karl Malone did with 16 playoff appearances before turning 38, the minutes are bound to pile up. Malone would never lead the NBA in total minutes played or minutes per game but he did have 10 seasons with at least 3,000 minutes played. In the NBA playoffs, he would record just 6,755 total minutes played before turning 38 with just one playoff run of over 800 minutes played in the Jazz’s 1997 run to the NBA Finals.
Another player who ranked in the top 10 for games played also recorded the fifth-most minutes played before turning 38 years old. Kevin Garnett recorded over 48,000 minutes played in the regular season during that time frame and had seven seasons with at least 3,000 minutes played. In his 14 playoff appearances before turning 38, Garnett played over 5,280 minutes with his one playoff run of over 800 minutes coming in the Boston Celtics’ 2008 NBA title run.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar may have played well past 38 years old in his 20-year career but it was during his early seasons that he racked up the minutes on the court. Kareem played nine seasons in which he reached 3,000 minutes played and even led the NBA in total minutes in 1976. Even with six NBA championships with the Lakers and Bucks, Kareem never reached 800 minutes played in a postseason and only reached 700 total minutes twice at age 26 and again at age 36. This allowed him to become the NBA’s all-time leading scorer for 38 seasons before it was broken by LeBron James in 2023.
Dirk Nowitzki is another player you knew just had to show up at some point with his 18 seasons played before turning 38. In those 18 years, Nowitzki recorded six seasons with at least 3,000 minutes played and led the Mavericks to 15 playoff appearances. He led the playoffs in minutes in Dallas’ 2006 NBA Finals loss and had his only other 800-minute postseason during their 2011 NBA championship victory. Nowitzki played a total of 5,895 minutes in the playoffs before turning 38 years old.
The next three players all fall within 750 minutes played of each other before the age of 38. There is no surprise Tim Duncan is on this list considering he led the Spurs to five NBA titles at this time. Duncan would play 3,000 minutes in a season just four times in his career but really added to his total in the NBA playoffs. He is the first player on this list to have a 1,000-minute postseason which he accomplished in their 2003 championship season. Duncan would need less than 800 minutes played to seal all four of his other championship runs.
Jason Kidd also accumulated over 51,000 total minutes played before turning 38 years old even though he would play past his 39th birthday. He would lead the NBA in minutes played only once during the 1999 strike-shortened season with four other seasons with at least 3,000 minutes played. Kidd would also make a total of three NBA Finals appearances in his career, just two of them needing over 800 minutes from Kidd.
The final member of our list at number 10 was also 10th in total games played before 38 years old, Gary Payton. Over the course of his 17 seasons played before 38 years old, Payton played eight seasons with at least 3,000 minutes total. He also led the playoffs on Seattle’s 1996 Finals run with 911 minutes played with no other postseason reaching 800 minutes and only one other playoff run with at least 700 minutes played in the Lakers’ 2004 Finals loss. In 2006, Payton’s only championship win, he would play 560 minutes off the bench.
LeBron James Is The King Of Longevity
As you can see, the amount of games LeBron James has played and the minutes accumulated in doing so are unmatched. He has played 97 games more than the second-closest player Kobe Bryant, and 6,854 more minutes than Bryant as well. Most of that difference can be found in the NBA playoffs, where James led his team to a total of 10 NBA Finals, including eight in a row from 2011 through 2018, an NBA record that may never be reached again.
The incredible thing about this is that LeBron James isn’t done either. He completed his age 37-38 season in 2022-23 with 28.9 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 6.8 assists per game in the regular season and 24.5 points, 9.9 rebounds, and 6.5 assists per game in the playoffs. With that kind of production at such an old age, I can’t help but think that LeBron James will also hold the NBA record for most games and minutes played after turning 38 years old as well.Â
