Take a look at the distance that Steph Curry covers in just one possession. He’s become synonymous for constant movement with and without the ball. And that would probably be your first guess when it comes to this topic. Distance ran per game.
I know it was for me.
Surprisingly enough however, he’s not even in the top 10. Steph is number 19. And before you even think about the second most logical guess-his teammate Klay Thompson, he is right behind at number 20.
I am sure that this sparked your curiosity, so let’s take a look at the players who run the most per game. What up everybody my name is Stefan and this is Heat Check. Let’s get into it.
While you take a look at this interesting list of the top 10 runners in the NBA let me explain what are the factors that get you here. And it’s never 1 thing, it’s a combination of elements and sometimes even circumstances that simply make a player run more during a game.
Take Bradley Beal for example who according to NBA.com led the league with 2.75 miles per game last season.
First of all he’s a 2 way player so he moves a lot on both ends on the court. Offensively I like his determination to attack the rim. When you think of Bradley Beal, you think of shooting, but going through most of his field goals I saw how often he attacks the basket and I love it. Those trips going inside out in addition to the movement around the perimeter quickly add up on the total mileage.
And defensively, he often chases his man around the court instead of relying on switching where of course you don’t exude nearly as much effort.
But ok, we know quite a few 2 way players with similar characteristics. Players like Jrue Holiday and Paul George compete on both ends as well.
So then you need to pay attention to stuff that’s not so obvious.
For example Beal was also the only option on offense for a portion of the season, after the John Wall injury. So guys like him, and especially Zach Lavine on the Bulls, taking the majority of the shots, they really need to do a lot of running to get themselves in a position to score.
That’s 1 big reason why I believe Curry and Thompson were not higher on this list is simply because of playing time and team dynamics.
Compared to Beal who also led the league in minutes per game, Steph and Klay spent almost 3 minutes less on the court. And the fact that they had multiple weapons like KD, Boogie and Draymond, meant that they could just chill and watch these other guys do their thing on some possessions.
Then we need to factor in the team’s style of play. The Blazers run Mccollum through a lot of handoffs, and same thing with Josh Richardson. On these plays guys run side to side to receive the ball then go inside towards the basket and that’s a lot of running.
Next, the Sacramento Kings were the number 1 transition team in the league last season so they look to run, and Buddy Hield has definitely been a beneficiary and I made a video about him a while back.
Last but definitely not least, let’s not forget that the primary reason for each of these players getting themselves on this list is their hard work and effort on the court. So while there are multiple outside factors like playing time and team philosophy that can impact the overall distance, it all starts with the mindset of wanting to work hard and be well conditioned in the first place, and grinding it out whenever in play. So regardless of the exact positioning on the list, I wanna give credit to all the top 10 even top 20 players in the league who bring their energy and effort every single game.
I know I was surprised to see some of the players, so let me know in the comments who was the guy that you did not expect to see here.
That’s it for now, if you liked this video, subscribe and hit the notification bell so that you don’t miss my future in depth analysis. Talk to you in the next one. Peace out.
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