For Bub Carrington, the norm is to play every match

With his 600 matches in a row (no failures since coming to the NBA), Mikal Bridges is currently the league benchmark in this area. Behind him, quite far, we find Harrison Barnes (349 matches), Julian Champagne (148) and Bub Carrington. If the latter deserves to be listed, with his 125 caps, it is because he has yet to miss a game since his draft in 2024.

And in ten years, he is only the 74th player to have played 125 matches in a row, i.e. a season and a half, which is therefore not rare, but not the norm either. Enough to surprise him.

« I find satisfaction in playing basketball every day. Honestly, I don’t see this as a series. I don’t see things like everyone else”, assures the playmaker de Washington. “It’s my job. I came all the way here to play basketball and play in the NBA every day. I missed games, until I got here, I didn’t know it was the norm. I thought acting was the norm, but somehow it’s not. This series really doesn’t mean much to me. I’m doing what I love. It’s normal to play every day, right?”

A determination praised by his teammates. “That’s the way he is. We saw it in the NCAA with Pittsburgh and last season. He has the desire to play, to fight every night.”says Kishawn George. “During matches and complicated moments, you can tell he’s happy, happy to be living this experience”pursuit of Chris Middleton.

“It’s not in my nature to give up”

To keep a streak like that alive, you need a little bit of luck: not to twist your ankle, not get sick or get a bad shot… But also willpower since Bob Carrington was able to retire a few times last season.

On December 30, 2024, he suffered a blow to the head against the Knicks. He doesn’t have a concussion, so he avoids the very meticulous Major League protocol and can resume two days later. Three months later, on March 20, 2025, the player’s father died of cancer. The next day, he played 26 minutes against Magic.

“These two games, it’s clear, I was thinking about not playing.” admits the teammate of Alexandre Sarr and Bilal Coulibaly. “But it’s not in my nature to give up. I wasn’t raised that way. My parents always told me that my main quality is my availability. I said: I love basketball, so I’ll do what I love to do.”

How to read statistics? MJ = matches played; Min = Minute; Shots = Shots Successful / Shots Attempted; 3 points = 3 points / 3 points in an attempt; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive jump; Tot = Total number of jumps; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal mistakes; Int = intercepts; Bp = lost balls; Ct: Against; Points = Points.