It’s no secret that some professional US sports athletes are among the best performing players in their sport. The yearly NFL and NBA drafts see major sports teams carefully select new players from a pool of the best athletes in the US.
Although, not all NFL and NBA players contribute equally to their teams. DRF Sports compared NFL and NBA players in each regular season since 2017 to find the lowest-scoring players.
@princeoni13
Miye Oni plays shooting guard for Utah Jazz, the team which drafted him into the NBA in 2019. Before joining the NBA, Oni played college basketball for the Yale Bulldogs and was named Ivy League player of the year in 2019.
Last season Miye Oni averaged 1.9 points per game, the lowest points per game out of all players in the league.
@thanasis_ante43
Thanasis Antetokounmpo was born in Greece and played basketball in his home country for the Greek Third Division team, Filathlitikos, before moving to the States for the NBA draft.
In the most recent 2020-21 season, Antetokounmpo scored on average 2.9 points per game for his team the Milwaukee Bucks.
@pjtucker
P.J. Tucker has played in the NBA since 2006 when he was chosen as the 35th overall pick by the Toronto Raptors. Currently, Tucker plays power forward for Miami Heat.
In the 2020-21 season, Tucker scored on average 3.7 points per game.
@jareddudley10
An NBA veteran, Jared Dudley played in the league for 14 seasons before recently announcing his retirement and the start of his coaching career.
Dudley played in 45 games, completing just over half the regular season, however, averaged just 1.5 points per game.
@vevey1800
Thabo Sefolosha made history in 2006 when he became the first Swiss athlete to join the NBA.
Sefolosha played his last season in 2019-20 before retiring and averaged 2.2 points per game.
@terance
Terance Mann played college basketball for the Florida State Seminoles before joining the NBA. Playing shooting guard, Mann averaged 2.4 points per game during the 2019-20 season,
@s_thornwell0
Thornwell joined the NBA in 2017 for the Milwaukee Bucks before being traded to the LA Clippers.
For the 2018-19 season, Thornwell played shooting guard and averaged 1 point per game, making him the NBA’s lowest-scoring athlete.
@quincypondexter
Quincy Pondexter now works as an assistant coach for the college basketball team at the University of Washington.
Before his coaching career, Pondexter played small forward. In his final regular season in the NBA, Pondexter scored an average of 1.8 points per game.
@jmcalderon8
José Calderón joined the league back in 2005 after being drafted by the Toronto Raptors.
Calderón retired after the 2018-19 season where he played for the Pistons, averaging a career-low 2.3 points per game.
@_mgh_3
Georges-Hunt has played in the NBA since 2016, originally drafted by the Brooklyn Nets, however now plays as a free agent. Georges-Hunt played just over half of the games in the 2017-18 season before suffering an injury.
Georges-Hunt scored on average 1.4 points per game.
@dliggs14
DeAndre Liggins currently plays with the London Lions of the British Basketball League.
During the 2017-18 season, Liggins averaged 1.7 points per game, one of the league’s lowest scorers.
@ericmoreland25
Eric Moreland primarily plays power forward/ center and was one of the NBA’s lowest-scoring players for the 2017-18 season.
Moreland averaged 2.1 points per game for Detroit.
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Note: 2 of 9 of players shown only, who rank at #2 for lowest scoring in 2021.
@mitchwish3
@boobiemilesxxiv
@terracevids
These NFL players participated in at least 9 games this season, while most played in all 17 games, and all scored on average 2 points per game.
Most of the lowest scoring players occupy defensive positions not suited for scoring points, including defensive end Jacob Martin of the Houston Texans.
Note: 3 of 24 of players shown only, who rank at #1 for lowest scoring in 2020.
@romeokwara
@stonecoldjones95
@ifeadiodenigbo
The following players each scored on average 2 points per game during the NFL 2020 season, making them the lowest scoring athletes in the league that year.
The lowest scoring players are from a range of NFL teams, but what most have in common is that they play on the defensive team in positions like outside linebacker and defensive end.
However, among the lowest-scoring players are some wide receivers, a typical scoring position in football, including Denzel Mims who plays wide receiver for the New York Jets.
Note: 3 of 11 of players shown only, who rank at #1 for lowest scoring in 2019.
@BIrvin_WVU11
@Lkuechly
@anthonybarr
The players below each scored on average 2 points per game during the NFL 2019 season and played in at least half of all their team’s games.
All of the lowest scoring athletes in the NFL 2019 season play for the defensive team. Most of the players are linebackers, with the remaining players occupying cornerback, defensive tackle, and defensive end positions.
Note: 3 of 10 of players shown only, who rank at #1 for lowest scoring in 2018.
@DonteJackson
@_a1fox
@EddieGoldman
These players averaged 2 points per game during the NFL 2018 season and played in at least half of all their team’s games.
The athletes mostly play in defensive positions, from cornerbacks to linebackers, except Baker Mayfield who plays quarterback. Mayfield made headlines recently following the Browns’ 13-0 victory over the Lions, a game where he posted an 8.6 QBR (out of 100) - one of the worst ratings of his career. He scored just 2 points per game on average in the 2018 season.
Note: 3 of 13 of players shown only, who rank at #2 for lowest scoring in 2017.
@Bdrewkaser38
Drew Kaser plays as a free agent and scored just one point per game during the 2017 season for the LA Chargers.
@KamChancellor
Kam Chancellor is currently retired after suffering a neck injury during the December of the 2017 season. Chancellor played in 9 games, just over half of the Seahawks’ total games, and averaged 2 points per game.
@flow54len
Leonard Floyd is an outside linebacker for the LA Rams, who was selected in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft. He was placed on injured reserve halfway through the 2017 season after spraining his knee, yet still finished the season with 34 combined tackles.
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To find the lowest scoring players in the NFL and NBA, DRF Sports analyzed athletes across the leagues based on the total number of scoring points per season and games played.
Only the scoring points of each player were taken into consideration - stats including passing yards, rushing yards, and tackles were not accounted for.
A full list of the NBA players in each regular season from 2017-18 to 2020-21, the number of points scored per game was sourced from BasketballReference.
Players which played in less than half of their team’s regular-season were removed from the list.
The number of scoring points achieved by each athlete was sourced from TheFootballDatabase. Players who played in less than half of the games in a full season were removed from the list.
