Tracking data shows which NBA players run the most miles per game
Since the 2013-14 season, the NBA has used player-tracking technology to collect all kinds of interesting data, including a player’s average speed, distance traveled, number of touches and more.
Second Spectrum is the NBA’s “official optical tracking provider,” and they’ve installed a player-tracking system in the catwalk of every NBA arena. Using multiple cameras, state-of-the-art machine learning and computer-vision techniques, the software identifies and locates every player and the ball 25 times per second. If something happens on the court, the player-tracking system catches it, and the data gets uploaded to NBA.com.
That’s how we know that five players — Mikal Bridges, Miles Bridges, Tyrese Haliburton, Tyrese Maxey and Scottie Barnes — ran more than 200 miles throughout the course of last season. And for the second-straight season, Fred VanVleet led all players in average distance traveled, running 2.82 miles per game.
Which players are currently covering the most distance this season? And which players have the fastest and slowest average speed? Let’s take a look:
MOST MILES PER GAME
| LaMelo Ball | 2.8 miles per game |
| Fred VanVleet | 2.77 miles per game |
| Terry Rozier | 2.74 miles per game |
| Mikal Bridges | 2.73 miles per game |
| Pascal Siakam | 2.72 miles per game |
| Dejounte Murray | 2.69 miles per game |
| Tyler Herro | 2.69 miles per game |
| Scottie Barnes | 2.68 miles per game |
| C.J. McCollum | 2.64 miles per game |
| Zach LaVine | 2.64 miles per game |
MOST TOTAL MILES
| Mikal Bridges | 163.7 miles |
| Anthony Edwards | 159.6 miles |
| Buddy Hield | 156.2 miles |
| Franz Wagner | 155.3 miles |
| Julius Randle | 154.1 miles |
| Scottie Barnes | 153 miles |
| Evan Mobley | 151.5 miles |
| Jalen Brunson | 150 miles |
| P.J. Washington | 149.2 miles |
| Domantas Sabonis | 148.9 miles |
Clearly, a player's role and their team's style of play influence how many miles they're running each game.
FASTEST AVERAGE SPEED
| Wendell Moore Jr. | 4.71 miles per hour |
| Luka Garza | 4.62 miles per hour |
| T.J. McConnell | 4.62 miles per hour |
| Jordan McLaughlin | 4.61 miles per hour |
| Blake Wesley | 4.59 miles per hour |
| Caleb Martin | 4.58 miles per hour |
| Cody Martin | 4.57 miles per hour |
| Sam Hauser | 4.57 miles per hour |
| Dalano Banton | 4.56 miles per hour |
| Aaron Wiggins | 4.55 miles per hour |
SLOWEST AVERAGE SPEED
| Chris Paul | 3.55 miles per hour |
| Joel Embiid | 3.55 miles per hour |
| James Harden | 3.56 miles per hour |
| DeAndre Jordan | 3.59 miles per hour |
| Eric Gordon | 3.63 miles per hour |
| Luka Doncic | 3.66 miles per hour |
| Kevin Durant | 3.67 miles per hour |
| John Wall | 3.7 miles per hour |
| Kyle Lowry | 3.7 miles per hour |
| LeBron James | 3.72 miles per hour |
If you're interested in checking out all of the NBA's tracking data, it can be found here.