I am watching the Bulls game tonight and the announcer said that basketball players run an average of five miles in a game. This seems to be way too high a number. The game only last 48 minutes, so they would have to running at over a 10min/mile pace. The don’t ever seem to run ever fast, except on a fast break and they don’t run all the time. So how many miles does a basketball average in a game?
A basketball court is 94 feet long. If a player ran the entire length every 10 seconds, that would equal 564 ft/min which equals 27,072 ft in a 48 minute game. 27,072ft/5,280ft = 5.13 miles.
It is conceivable.
Hmmm, if one were to do an experiment, are there any GPS units that are small enough for a player to wear and accurate enough to give measurements over such a small area?
IIRC, they put a pedometer on John Havlicek during one game, and he ran at least 5 miles.
If an NBA player is running the length of the court every 10 seconds, that’s going to be one high-scoring game!
Very few players play all 48 minutes anymore. It used to be the standard for the great ones. I think Wilt Chamberlain played a full season where he only sat one or two minutes.
But they don’t just run the length of the court. Tehy go side to side and move to get open.
IIRC an actual study was done of Aussie Rules football player and it was determined the average footy player ran a half marathon per game. When one considers an Aussie Rules season is more than 20 games, quite a few footy players are run half marathons every week for almost six months.
It’s still not five miles, though. First of all, they aren’t even in the vicinity of 10 seconds per break; it’s unusual for a possession to be LESS than 15 seconds. Sometimes you get a fast break or some idiot jacks up a shot too quick, but they usually use most of their 24 seconds and often use quite a bit more than that if someone grabs an offensive rebound. Knowing how many shots, offensive rebounds and turnovers a team tends to have in an NBA game, I would guess that an average team would have about 80 possessions in a typical game, which would come out to 18 seconds per possession. If we assume the average possession is eighteen seconds of game time - a reasonable guess - that cuts our distance almost in half.
Secondly, you have the fact that a player does not run from baseline to baseline. They play around the paint and the perimeter, so the run is more like 60-75 feet.
And finally, as already pointed out, almost no players play 48 minutes in a game anymore. It’s not worth it. And some of the movement away from the ball isn’t running, it’s walking.
I doubt many players run five miles in a game. Some heavily-used point guards might, like Steve Nash.
I agree. I think 3.5 to 4 miles would be about right for someone playing most of the game.
5 miles is quite realistic. I was a waiter in a Discotheque and once wore one of those distance “things”. From 21:00 to 03:00, I walked 4.5 miles. WALKED!
Listening to a TV announcer is not generally a good way to get accurate information. They aren’t the SD, after all! 
Oooh, math and basketball. I may have to stop halfway through this post for a cold shower.
Anyway, in the 1994-1995 NBA season, the average number of possessions in a game for one team on offense was 95.2. With 2 teams, the average number total becomes 190.4.
The court is 94 feet long and 50 feet wide. While fully recognizing that most players sit a decent bit and also don’t do full 94X50 routes, I’ll take a shot at estimating movement. Obviously, the distances are also different by position. Posts probably go 88 feet end to end but move less during set plays. They also don’t rack up fast break feet. Guards, may move only from 3 point line to 3 point line, but in guarding the perimeter and running fast breaks pick up more feet. So, I’ll call it essentially even.
With 190.4 possessions per game (PoPG) and a 48 minute game, each PoPG lasts an average of 15.12 seconds. All distances will be biased towards posts since that is what I am and I can more easily guesstimate distances traveled. One average possession would be 88 feet from block to block. In 15 seconds, 3 swings of the ball can occur, or 2 swings and penetration. Since the lane is 12 feet wide, take an average of 2.5 trips per possession side to side for 30 feet. Positioning and footwork probably add 8-10 steps, or approximately 20 feet. A rebound battle adds another 5 in shifting. All told, that gives us 88+30+20+5=143 feet in one possession.
143*190.4 = 27,227.2 feet or 5.16 miles. So, Wilt Chamberlain probably averaged over miles per game, as would any player who plays a majority of minutes and is the focus of an offense with important defensive responsibilities (think Jordan).
The average starter probably only logs 3.5-4 miles.