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It's not very often we get to see players who never came off the bench for an NBA team and play all their games as a starter. Even some NBA greats like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Shaquille O'Neil has come off the bench at least once in their career.
Stepping into NBA as a rookie, it's not easy to get the starting job straight away and they have to come off from the bench until they prove their game. Some players might possess some good skills even as a rookie and those are the players who will get a chance to play as a starter from the start of their career but even these players have to play consistently to hold their starting job.
Let's find the top 5 active players to have never come off the bench:
#5 Damian Lillard (457 games)
Damian Lillard was drafted as the 6th overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers. He required no time to prove his worth as he recorded 23 points and 11 assists in his debut match against the star-studded Los Angeles Lakers.
With the stellar performance in his debut game, Lillard went on to play all the 82 games in that season that too as a starter. Lillard had a great season as a rookie, where he averaged 19.0 PPG, 3.1 RPG, 6.5 APG, and went on to win the 'Rookie of the Year Award' and also he became only the 4th player, then, to win the award unanimously.
Lillard became better and better every season which made him play as a starter throughout his career. He is now leading the Portland Trail Blazers and already having a good start to this season.
#4 Kyrie Irving (464 games)
Kyrie Irving, one of the best ball handlers possible ever, was drafted as the number 1 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was the starting Point Guard for the Cavaliers in his rookie season where he averaged 18.5 PPG, 5.4 APG with 46.9% shooting. This performance gave him the Rookie of the Year Award over Kawhi Leonard.
Kyrie is one of the best examples of how to improve your career season by season. In his rookie year, he won Rookie of the Year Award (2012). He had been selected as an All-Star in his next season (2013). Then, he won the NBA All-Star MVP award in his next season (2014). He made his entry into the NBA Finals in the next season (2015) and finally won a Championship in 2016 season along with LeBron James.
Kyrie has been traded to Boston Celtics this off-season and he led the Celtics to 16-straight win and made them sit at the top of the Eastern Conference. Kyrie is putting up on another All-Star worthy performance this season.
#3 Kevin Durrant (834 games)
Seattle SuperSonics had drafted Kevin Durant with the second overall pick in 2007 NBA Draft. He averaged 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists for which he was awarded the 'NBA Rookie of the Year' award.
Proving his worth as a starting Small Forward in his very first season, Durant went on to play all his games as a starter and never came off from the bench. He led the league in scoring for three consecutive seasons and four times in five years.
He is now one of the best players in the league and all set to become a future Hall-of-Fame. He is now playing for the Golden State Warriors alongside Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green.
#2 Chris Paul (925 games)
Chris Paul was drafted by the New Orleans Hornets with the fourth overall pick in 2005 NBA Draft. Paul finished the season by leading all the rookies in points, assists, and steels and double-doubles. He also became the second rookie to record the most number of assists in a season. For averaging 16.1 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 7.8 APG, 2.2 SPG, Paul was awarded 'Rookie of the Year'.
Paul is a great passer and was good at finding the shooters on the weak side. He is always active when he steps on to the courts and has quick hands which help him to get more deflections and steals. He has also led the league in assists for 4 seasons and in steals for 6 seasons.
Chris Paul has joined hands with James Harden in Houston Rockets and they are now enjoying the top spot in the Western Conference. Paul is yet to win his Championship and he is well on course this season.
#1 Carmelo Anthony (1071 games)
Carmelo Anthony tops this list with 1071 career games without coming off from the bench. Anthony was chosen with the 3rd overall pick in 2003 NBA Draft. Just in the 6th game of his career, Anthony scored 30 points and became the second youngest player to score 30 points in a game after Kobe Bryant. He also went on to become the 3rd youngest player to score 1000 points in the same season. Anthony led all the rookies in scoring with 21.0 PPG but finished as a runner-up for 'Rookie of the Year' behind LeBron.
Carmelo has become a scoring machine season-by-season as he averaged 20+ points in all the season barring this season and also led the league in scoring in 2013 season. He is all set to become a future Hall-of-Fame.
Carmelo is now with Oklahoma City Thunder forming a Big 3 with Paul George and Russel Westbrook. They are yet to fire as a unit. If these guys play up to their potential as a unit, then they will become a tough contender for the Championship and all these three guys can win their first championship.
