5 Most Durable Superstars in the NBA

The tagline for the 2024 NBA Playoffs might go something like, “durability wins championships”. A historic number of superstars have gone down with injuries during these playoffs (if they were even available to begin with), altering the entire landscape of the NBA title race in the process.

Though it’s human nature to pessimistically focus on the “what if” potential of injury-riddled superstars like Joel Embiid, Kawhi Leonard, or Zion Williamson, the media doesn’t seem to do enough championing superstars who do stay healthy.

With this in mind, here’s a look at the most durable superstars in the NBA, including some honorable mentions.

Nikola Jokić

The best player in the world is almost always on the court

The best player in the world is also the most durable. Nikola Jokić has played in 75 regular season games per season over his nine-year career in the NBA, winning an NBA championship and three NBA MVPs in the process.

Jokić has also never missed a playoff game for the Denver Nuggets, who looked very poised to repeat as champions this season before running into a Minnesota Timberwolves defensive roster constructed literally for the sole purpose of neutralizing Jokić.

Jokić’s durability is even more impressive considering his size, as he’s just short of 7-feet and around 285 pounds. Players the size of Jokić are normally prone to constant injuries, forcing them to miss significant time every season and be heavily load-managed (Embiid is a recent example).

Jokić has never required load management. He has appeared in less than 70 games only once in his career (69 games played in 2022-23), and he’s appeared in 79-plus games on three separate occasions, including this past season.

With LeBron James presumably headed toward retirement in the next couple of years, Jokić and Tatum become the current models for superstar durability in the NBA.

LeBron James

James has largely missed injuries throughout his decades-long NBA career

Who else could challenge for the top spot on this list but LeBron James, one of the most durable NBA players of all time? James’ 1,492 total regular season games played (sixth all-time) is impressive enough, as are his 287 total playoff games played (first all-time), but most pertinent for this list is James’ 71 regular season games played per season over a 21-year career.

James combines the “man in the arena” mentality exhibited by Jayson Tatum with the kind of supreme physicality shared by Anthony Edwards and Jaylen Brown. Essentially, James is a model of durability, both mentally and physically.

Notably, James’ durability has fallen below his career norm since he joined the Los Angeles Lakers, most certainly as a result of his age.

James’ diminishing regular season appearances has as much to do with a shift in strategy as anything else, as James has prioritized having his body ready for the playoffs above all else. While such a strategy might disqualify another NBA player from appearing on this list (not to mention in the second position), James gets a pass due to being in his late 30s and having already proven throughout a lengthy career that he is durable when he needs to be.

James playing 71 games in his age-39 season (this past year) speaks directly to his continuing availability as one of the most durable players in the NBA.

Jayson Tatum

Tatum is yet to miss the playoffs in his NBA career

Jayson Tatum famously doesn’t believe in load management, and his availability certainly reflects this mindset. Tatum has appeared in 73.3 regular season games per season over his seven-year career with the Boston Celtics.

Of the five players on this list, Tatum probably has the body that is least protected against injury, but his mentality more than makes up for it. He struggled with a debilitating wrist injury throughout the Celtics’ 2022 title run but never missed a game (and later elected to forego offseason surgery).

Simply put, Tatum loves playing basketball, and he takes an old-school approach to wanting to show up every night and give fans a special experience who have never seen him play. Tatum’s elite durability, in tandem with Jaylen Brown’s, is a huge reason why Brad Stevens and the Celtics franchise have invested all of their chips into this dynamic duo.

Given all of their athleticism, skill, and accolades, durability is criminally under-discussed when Tatum and Brown arise in NBA discussions. Celtics fans are truly lucky to have a superstar in Tatum who approaches every regular season opportunity with equal humility.

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Despite missing the postseason in 2024, Giannis has always been reliable

For years, Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s consistent availability during the regular season has been the driving force behind the Milwaukee Bucks continually securing top playoff seeding.

Over his eleven-year career, Giannis has appeared in 72 regular season games per season for Milwaukee, including a three-year stretch between 2014 and 2017 in which Giannis logged 81, 80, and 80 games played in consecutive seasons. In addition to this run, Giannis has appeared in 70-plus games four other times.

Giannis’ season-ending calf injury at the end of the 2023-34 campaign was all the more shocking, considering his historic durability. After four years before this season of not reaching the 70-game mark (63, 61, 67, and 63 games played, respectively), Giannis returned to elite availability in 2023-24 by appearing in 73 games.

Known as one of the hardest-playing NBA superstars, Giannis’ durability is particularly remarkable. He has added a surprising amount of muscle to his 6-foot-11 frame since entering the league, which has contributed to his ability to bring it night after night throughout the grueling NBA schedule. It will be fascinating to see if Giannis can maintain elite availability late into his career the way that the players at the top of this have done, especially since history shows that such a feat is unlikely to happen.

Anthony Edwards

Edwards has emerged as a reliable superstar

Anthony Edwards‘ limited time spent in the NBA (four seasons) is the only reason he is not higher on this list, since his elite durability has not been proven over as long a stretch as the four players above him.

So far, however, Edwards is tracking to be as durable as they come. In his four seasons in the league so far, Edwards has totaled regular season game appearances of 72, 72, 79, and 79, averaging 34.4 minutes per game along the way.

Edwards’ durability doesn’t come as a surprise to anyone aware of his competitive nature, not to mention his elite physique. Like Jaylen Brown, Edwards possesses the sort of body just as appropriate for heavyweight boxing or NFL football as it is advantageous in the NBA.

Edwards’ durability and attitude towards showing up every night is another point of comparison between Edwards and Michael Jordan, who, although many are unaware, played in all 82 games in nine of his NBA seasons, including Jordan’s last season at age 39 playing for the Washington Wizards.

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