In today’s league, durability is rare in an era where many stars take regular season games off due to load management. Throughout his career, Jayson Tatum has been one of the stars who consistently plays. Recently, HoopsHype released a list of the players with the most games played per season in NBA history; this list includes both regular season and playoff games. Impressively, Tatum ranks sixth on this list with an average of 89.43 games played per year over seven full seasons. Tatum’s durability is a true anomaly as he is one of just two current players on this top 39 list, with LeBron James at 35 (84.71 games per season) being the only other current player.

The five players above Tatum were all from much earlier decades. Dennis Johnson tops the list with an average of 91.43 games, followed by John Havlicek (90.13), Bobby Jones (89.90), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (89.85), and A.C. Green (89.44). Notably, Johnson and Havlicek were multi-time champions with the Boston Celtics, with Havlicek being an eight-time champion. Let’s dive into Tatum’s incredible durability and how it benefits the Celtics.

Jayson Tatum’s Historic Durability is Fueling the Celtics’ Sustained Success

Playoff Experience 

Tatum’s consistent playoff success is central to his high ranking. In five out of seven seasons, Tatum has played in at least 17 playoff games. This includes five conference finals appearances, and two NBA Finals runs. Notably, Tatum’s first conference finals appearance was during his rookie season. During the 2022 playoffs, when the Celtics lost to the Warriors in the finals, Tatum played a remarkable 24 games, and during the 2024 title-winning run, Tatum played 19 playoff games.

In 113 total playoff games, Tatum has posted averages of 24 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 4.9 assists. Impressively, Tatum has never missed a playoff game. Additionally, during the 2024 playoffs, Tatum surpassed Kobe Bryant for the most playoff points before turning 27. Overall, Tatum’s consistent availability is a key reason why the Celtics have sustained success for the past seven years.

A Consistent Regular Performer

In seven full seasons, Tatum has never missed more than eight games. His lowest amount of games played came in the 2020-21 Covid-shortened season, where he played in 64 games, combined with just five playoff games, this marks Tatum’s career lowest total. Furthermore, in the past two seasons, Tatum has played 74 regular-season games, missing eight in both seasons. Tatum’s career-high regular season games came in his rookie season when he played in 80 games.

His career-high total games was the 2021-22 season, when he played 76 regular season and 24 playoff games for a combined 100 games. This season, Tatum has appeared in 24 out of 26 games. Ultimately, Tatum has played 92% of the possible regular season games, a true rarity in today’s game.

Tatum has been vocal about not missing regular season games, in 2023, he said the following.

“For me, I just think about the young kid, the kid inside me from St. Louis that dreamed about being in the NBA. All I’ve ever wanted to do was play basketball. I love the game; I love to play. I try to never take this situation for granted. I never try to, I’m not gonna say I take it for granted, always be thankful because I truly am living out my dream. So, wake up excited, and I get an opportunity to play basketball for a living, right, and that’s not really work, it’s something I love to do.”

This mindset is refreshing in an era of load management where some question players’ passion for the game.

What about Brown? 

While Tatum’s availability is highly impressive, his running mate Jaylen Brown has also been consistently available. It’s somewhat surprising to see Tatum rank sixth while Brown is off the list, especially as he has been alongside Tatum for all of the Celtics’ deep playoff runs. Moreover, in Brown’s rookie season, he went to the conference finals with the Isaiah Thomas-led Celtics. However, Brown has missed 14 or more games four times this happened in four consecutive seasons from 2019 to 2023.

Regardless, he’s played in 70 or more games four times and has been consistently available in the playoffs. Overall, Brown has played in a combined total of 83 games per season. This puts Brown just outside HoopsHype’s list. Celtics legend Tommy Heinsohn earned the final spot with 84.22 games played. Nevertheless, Brown’s availability is highly impressive, especially in the modern game. Brown recently spoke about how many stars sit out on back-to-back games.

Jaylen Brown on back-to-backs and playing when you’re tired:

“It’s hard for teams to be great if some of your best players don’t play back-to-backs.” pic.twitter.com/HcLO69YU14

— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) December 3, 2024

Brown is absolutely right with this claim; the Celtics having both stars consistently play in the regular season is a massive advantage, especially when many of the stars regularly sit out in back-to-back games. Tatum and Brown’s availability helps the Celtics be a regular season powerhouse while preparing them for deep playoff runs. As the Celtics are eyeing back-to-back titles and banner 19, their stars’ durability should make everyone more confident about Boston’s Championship chances.