Hardest-Working Players in the NBA

By Grant Suneson Published May 31, 3:30PM EDT

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Hardest-Working Players in the NBA — © Elsa / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

To be a great NBA player, athletes need size, skill, athleticism, and dedication to their craft. While any player can have a bad game shooting the ball, the one thing he can always control is his level of effort.

A full NBA season can be a grind, and players may be tempted to conserve energy by walking back on defense or letting other players do the work on offense. But over the course of the season, a handful of NBA players have outworked the rest – running the equivalent of two or three miles every game.

To determine the hardest-working players in the NBA, 24/7 Tempo reviewed an analysis of NBA data by the sports insights platform The Action Network. NBA players were ranked based on the total number of miles they covered during games in the 2021-2022 NBA season. Estimated calories burned were calculated based on the players’ weight and miles traveled.

Click here to see the hardest-working players in the NBA

None of the players none this list would be considered superstars. However, they’re essential to their teams’ success – setting screens, moving without the ball to create space, helping out on defense, and crashing the boards to grab rebounds.

As the saying goes, the best ability is availability. These players were able to run such long distances over the season in large part because they all played in at least 74 of their 82 regular season games. Each of the hardest working players was in his 20s during the season covered, and the wear and tear of many NBA seasons has not caught up to them just yet. The players were able to use fresh legs to out-hustle their opponents. These are the youngest players to dominate their sport.

Buddy Hield (CC BY-SA 2.0) by ChristopherM01

10. Buddy Hield
> Team: Sacramento Kings / Indiana Pacers
> Distance covered (2021-2022 season): 192.2 miles
> Est. calories burned (2021-2022 season): 34,967

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Saddiq Bey (CC BY-SA 2.0) by All-Pro Reels

9. Saddiq Bey
> Team: Detroit Pistons
> Distance covered (2021-2022 season): 192.6 miles
> Est. calories burned (2021-2022 season): 36,945

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8. Franz Wagner
> Team: Orlando Magic
> Distance covered (2021-2022 season): 194.2 miles
> Est. calories burned (2021-2022 season): 34,653

Dorian Finney-Smith 2021 (CC BY 2.0) by Erik Drost

7. Dorian Finney-Smith
> Team: Dallas Mavericks
> Distance covered (2021-2022 season): 194.2 miles
> Est. calories burned (2021-2022 season): 36,994

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6. Harrison Barnes
> Team: Sacramento Kings
> Distance covered (2021-2022 season): 195.1 miles
> Est. calories burned (2021-2022 season): 36,966

Scottie Barnes... by All-Pro Reels from District of Columbia, USA

Scottie Barnes... (CC BY-SA 2.0) by All-Pro Reels from District of Columbia, USA

5. Scottie Barnes
> Team: Toronto Raptors
> Distance covered (2021-2022 season): 201.1 miles
> Est. calories burned (2021-2022 season): 37,762

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Tyrese Maxey... by All-Pro Reels from District of Columbia, USA

Tyrese Maxey... (CC BY-SA 2.0) by All-Pro Reels from District of Columbia, USA

4. Tyrese Maxey
> Team: Philadelphia 76ers
> Distance covered (2021-2022 season): 206.1 miles
> Est. calories burned (2021-2022 season): 32,784

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Tyrese Haliburton (CC BY-SA 2.0) by All-Pro Reels

3. Tyrese Haliburton
> Team: Sacramento Kings / Indiana Pacers
> Distance covered (2021-2022 season): 206.7 miles
> Est. calories burned (2021-2022 season): 29,436

C... (CC BY 2.0) by Erik Drost

2. Miles Bridges
> Team: Charlotte Hornets
> Distance covered (2021-2022 season): 210.7 miles
> Est. calories burned (2021-2022 season): 40,578

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1. Mikal Bridges
> Team: Phoenix Suns
> Distance covered (2021-2022 season): 212.5 miles
> Est. calories burned (2021-2022 season): 38,055

About the Author Grant Suneson →

Grant Suneson is a senior editor at 24/7 Wall St. He was previously a digital content creator at Newsy and a reporter at NPR member station KBIA, where he contributed to their Edward R. Murrow Award-winning coverage. He graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in journalism.

Grant’s work has been published and referenced in many major outlets such as MSN, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, Detroit Free Press, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Austin American-Statesman, The Tennessean, The Cincinnati Enquirer, The Indianapolis Star, The Clarion-Ledger, WSB-TV, Des Moines Register, Asbury Park Press, KMGH-TV, and many others.