Midway through his 14th NBA season, the son of Cleveland, LeBron James, has played more career minutes than one of the all-time greats to ever play the game — Michael Jordan.
As the trophies and accolades pile up for his career, so have the minutes in James’ legs. LeBron has played in 1030 games, which is 42 fewer than Jordan did in his 15 seasons. The key difference has been playoff appearances, given how James has appeared in 199 playoff games, while Jordan played in 20 fewer games.
King James surpassed Jordan in combined regular season and playoff minutes in the first half of Monday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks.
| PLAYER | REGULAR-SEASON MINS | PLAYOFF MINS | TOTAL |
|---|---|---|---|
| Michael Jordan | 41011 | 7474 | 48485 |
| LeBron James | 40129 | 8383 | 48512 |
Jordan, now the owner of the Charlotte Hornets, accrued 48,485 minutes over his 15-year career, taking time off to play minor league baseball in 1993-94 and then skipping three seasons before making a return to the league as a member of the Washington Wizards. Jordan is widely considered the greatest basketball player of all-time, having won an endless amount of accolades, including five MVP awards and six championships accompanied by six Finals MVP trophies.
James, who entered the league as a highly-touted high school prospect, has four MVPs and three titles of his own. The all-around forward is already fourth in NBA history in playoff minutes played, but 32nd in the regular season.
This milestone, while somewhat insignificant in the eyes of many, speaks for his durability — missing a minimal amount of games for his heavy 38.9 minutes per game usage, shows he still has plenty left in the tank without having lost his high-flying game and physical play.
LeBron James finished with an assist and a rebound shy of yet another triple-double with 23 points, nine assists, and nine rebounds in 37 minutes, as the defending champions fell to the Mavericks 104-97 on Monday.
