Luke Kornet’s 154 offensive rating led every 1,000-minute player in 2025-26 — for the second straight year

SAN ANTONIO — Oct. 15, 2026 — Luke Kornet posted a 154 offensive rating for the San Antonio Spurs in 2025-26, the highest of any NBA player who logged at least 1,000 minutes. Per Basketball-Reference, the next-best mark in that group was 149, by the Lakers’ Jaxson Hayes. It was the second year in a row Kornet finished first on that board.

Kornet did not appear on the official leaderboard. He played 1,430 minutes over 68 games, short of the minutes minimum, and Charlotte’s Moussa Diabaté took that title at 139.5. Kornet’s number was still about 15 points higher, built on a role with almost no wasted possessions: close shots, free throws and very few turnovers.

The 1,000-minute board

Offensive rating estimates the points a player produces per 100 possessions he uses. Low-usage centers who finish at the rim and rarely give the ball away tend to rise to the top. The 2025-26 list followed that pattern:

• Offensive rating, 2025-26 (1,000+ minutes): Kornet 154, Hayes 149, Mitchell Robinson 145, Ryan Kalkbrenner 142, Luka Garza 140, Diabaté 139
• Qualified leaderboard: Diabaté 139.5, Neemias Queta 138.4
• Offensive rating, 2024-25 (1,000+ minutes): Kornet 152 with Boston, Jarrett Allen 142, Rudy Gobert 138, Daniel Gafford 137, Jimmy Butler 136

Kornet’s gap over the field in 2024-25 was 10 points. In 2025-26 it was five, with Hayes closing in, but nobody passed him.

How the number was built

Kornet averaged 6.5 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 21.0 minutes, with 25 starts. He shot .643 from the field (175 of 272) and did not attempt a single three-pointer all season. Of his shots, 82.7 percent came within three feet of the rim, where he made .693. He also made 94 of 114 free throws, an .825 clip that is rare for a center who lives in the paint.

The other half of the formula was ball security. Kornet committed 28 turnovers in 1,430 minutes, or 0.7 per 36 minutes. Among 1,000-minute players, only Cleveland’s Dean Wade and Boston’s Sam Hauser turned it over less often by that measure. He used only 10.3 percent of San Antonio’s possessions while on the floor, with a .689 true shooting percentage and 181 offensive rebounds that turned misses into second chances.

That added up to 6.9 win shares and .231 win shares per 48 minutes, which put him among the top eight 1,000-minute players. The Spurs went 62-20, second in the West, then beat Portland, Minnesota and Oklahoma City before losing the Finals 4-1 to the New York Knicks. Kornet played in all 23 playoff games, averaging 12.9 minutes, with a 131 offensive rating.

From stretch big to rim runner

The numbers mark a full reinvention. As a Knick in 2017-18 and 2018-19, Kornet took about two-thirds of his shots from three and posted offensive ratings of 106 and 110. After he returned to Boston in 2022, he all but stopped shooting threes, and his rating jumped:

• 2022-23 (Boston, 804 minutes): 143
• 2023-24 (Boston, 983 minutes): 157
• 2024-25 (Boston, 1,361 minutes): 152
• 2025-26 (San Antonio, 1,430 minutes): 154

His 2023-24 mark of 157 came just short of 1,000 minutes, in the season he won a title with the Celtics. San Antonio then signed him to a multi-year contract on July 7, 2025.

What it means for 2026-27

Kornet is due $10.45 million this season, with $9.9 million in 2027-28 and $9.35 million in 2028-29. For the Spurs, that buys a backup center who has finished first in offensive rating among 1,000-minute players two years running. With Victor Wembanyama handling the high-usage work, Kornet’s job stays the same: catch, finish, rebound and hand the ball back without losing it.