The NBA is arguably one of the most exciting competitive sports leagues in the world. With several viewers from every nook and corner of the world, the league emerged as a leader in sports entertainment as well. However, the game of basketball is a contact-based sport and things often get really physical during a game. From a fan’s perspective, it may be fun to watch, but for athletes it’s quite the opposite.
NBA athletes put their entire lives on the line while performing for the whole world to see. From enduring minor injuries to the worst pain they have felt in their entire lives, ballers are always at risk. Our favorite basketball players train all throughout the year to be in shape and go through intense body conditioning practices as well. To safeguard athletes from career-ending injuries or simply hurting themselves, a series of rules were established.
Fouls are called when unnecessary contact is made between two players. Each player is allowed six personal fouls. On acquiring their sixth foul, the player will be ejected. This is also the case with getting two technical fouls. Technical fouls are rewarded against actions of players that are considered detrimental to the ongoing game. A flagrant foul is given for unsportsmanlike conduct or, in other words, violent contact on purpose.
Who has the most personal fouls in NBA history?
As unusual as it may sound, stats like these are also being recorded. Similar to how people keep track of the all-time leading scorer or most triple-doubles in NBA history, most personal fouls also get recorded. It turns out Kareem Abdul-Jabbar still leads one all-time category. He committed a whopping 4,657 fouls throughout his two-decade-long career.
Besides having this unique career feature, Kareem was also formerly the all-time scoring leader as well. The record was recently broken by Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James. The King now has 38,652 points while Kareem ended his career with 38,387 points. Bron surprisingly ranks 178th in most personal fouls with 2,604 committed throughout his career. This proves that James is very offensively gifted with good court vision.
Coming back to the topic of most fouls, Luka Doncic was the most recent player to get suspended for it. The NBA’s rule book states that any player with 16 technical fouls recorded gets suspended for one game. Dillon Brooks, Draymond Green, and Trae Young were also other victims of this treacherous rule.