The hardest working Basketball and football stars

Which players in the NBA, NFL and NCAA spent the most time on the court and field last season?

It’s not easy being a professional athlete in US sports - the hours spent training, travelling to games and playing stack up fast. When thinking about the most dedicated sports stars that have played the most time in-game, names of retired record-setting players like the NBA’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar likely come to mind.

But what about the hardest working active players in professional sports? DRF Sports wanted to find out which are the hardest working players in US football and basketball, so analyzed each player based on the number of minutes and games played in the most recent full season.

The Hardest Working NBA Stars

To reveal the NBA’s hardest working athletes, DRF Sports analysed the number of minutes played by each player during the 2020-21 season. We included minutes from the regular season games and the playoffs.

Key Position Team Minutes Played
1

Khris Middleton

k_mid22

Small Forward

Milwaukee Bucks

3,191

Two-time NBA All-Star, Khris Middleton, is the hardest working player in the NBA, spending 3,191 minutes on the court last season!

The Milwaukee Bucks’ Small Forward played in almost all of the championship team’s games in 2020-21, racking up the most time on the court out of all NBA players.

In the current 2021-22 NBA season, Middleton is averaging 17.8 points per game, his lowest points per game average in the last 4 years.

2

Devin Booker

dbooklegend

Shooting Guard

Phoenix Suns

3,159

Playing shooting guard for the Suns, Devin Booker played for 3,159 minutes during the 2020-21 season.

Since the Phoenix Suns and the Milwaukee Bucks played the most games in the 2020-21 season, making it to the finals, it’s not surprising to see the top-three hardest working NBA players coming from these teams.

The twice-named NBA All-Star was one of the Suns’ leading scorers this season before his recent hamstring injury which has left him unable to play in the last few games. Despite being temporarily sidelined, Booker has an impressive points per game average this season of 23.2.

3

Mikal Bridges

mikalbridges

Small Forward

Phoenix Suns

3,055

Mikal Bridges of the Phoenix Suns was one of the NBA’s hardest working athletes last season, playing for 3,305 minutes.

Since his rookie season in 2018-19, Bridges has proven himself to be one of the NBA’s hardest working athletes. Not one to miss a game, Bridges has played in all of the Suns’ regular-season games since joining the team.

Bridges currently has a 12.2 points per game average for the 2021-22 NBA season.

The hardest working NBA Stars

Player

Position

Team

Minutes Played

The Hardest Working NFL Stars

To find the hardest working NFL stars, DRF Sports looked at the total number of games played by each athlete during the 2020 full season. The following players all made on-pitch appearances in 20 games, including all 16 regular-season games and all playoff games.

Key Position Team Games Played

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were named 2020 NFL champions after winning the Super Bowl. By progressing to the final game, Tampa Bay played 20 games all season, including the regular-season games and 4 playoff matches.

Not all of Tampa Bay’s roster participated in all of their games - the above players are the hardest working athletes in the NFL.

The hardest working NFL Stars

Player

Position

Team

Games Played

The Hardest Working College Basketball Stars

DRF Sports analyzed player statistics for each athlete in the 2020-21 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball regular season and postseason tournament. Looking at the total number of minutes played reveals the hardest working players in college basketball.

Key Team Conference Minutes Played
1

D.J. Stewart JR.

3_djayy

Mississsippi St.

SEC

1,153

D.J. Stewart Jr played college basketball before joining the NBA G League. He played shooting guard for the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the 2020-21 season, and racked up 1,153 minutes of gameplay time.

2

Jalen Moore

lil_jmoore

Oakland

Horizon

1,135

Jalen Moore is a point guard for the Oakland Golden Grizzlies and was one of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball league’s hardest-working players last season. Moore played 1,135 minutes on the court.

3

Evan Mobley

evanmobley4

Southern California

Pac-12

1,118

Evan Mobley is currently playing his rookie season in the NBA for the Cleveland Cavaliers, yet played for the USC Trojans during his college career. As center for the Trojans, Mobley played for 1,118 minutes in the 2020-21 season.

The hardest working College Basketball Stars

Player

Conference

Team

Minutes Played

The Hardest Working College Football Stars

To reveal the hardest working college football players in the US, DRF Sports analyzed all players from the NCAA Division I. By totaling the number of games played by each athlete in the full regular season, and games played by those who appeared in at least two bowl games, the hardest working college football stars are revealed.

Key Team Conference Games Played

The Alabama Crimson Tide football team took the crown in the 2020 season playoffs, winning against the Ohio State Buckeyes. All of the hardest working college football players played for Alabama.

The hardest working College Football Stars

Player

Conference

Team

Games Played

Methodology

DRF Sports wanted to find out which players across the NBA, NFL, NCAAB, and NCAAF worked the hardest in the most recent complete season.

Basketball

To reveal the US’ hardest working basketball players, DRF Sports totaled the number of minutes played by each NBA and NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball player during the 2020-21 regular season and playoffs/postseason. Information for the NBA players was sourced from Basketball Reference, while for the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball League, information was sourced from NCAA Statistics.

The players were then ranked based on the amount of time they spent on the court.

Football

To find out the hardest working football players, DRF Sports looked at all players in the NFL and NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision. Due to the lack of statistics published on minutes played by each player, and the limited amount of live-action gameplay during a football game, DRF Sports instead used the number of games played to determine the hardest working players. This indicated the number of games that players traveled to and prepared for, showing which football players are the hardest working.

Games from the regular season and postseason of the NFL were accounted for. For each player in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision the total number of games played during the regular season was recorded. For players who played 2 or more games during the bowl games, this was added to the total.

The total number of games played by NFL players were sourced from ESPN, while information on NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision athletes was sourced from NCAA Statistics.