Most Points in NBA History: All-Time Scoring Leaders

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar held the NBA scoring record for nearly 39 years. Then, on a Tuesday night in February 2023, LeBron James stepped into a fadeaway jumper against the Thunder and took it from him in front of a full arena and a national broadcast audience. Records like that one don’t usually fall live, on camera, with everyone watching it happen in real time.

What It Takes to Top the All-Time Scoring List

Getting to the top of this list isn’t really about a scoring peak. It’s about durability, staying productive across fifteen-plus seasons while your body ages, your role changes, and the rest of the league gets younger around you. Every name near the top of this table got there by lasting, not just by scoring.

NBA All-Time Regular Season Scoring Leaders

Rank	Player	Career Points (approx.)	Seasons Active
1	LeBron James	40,000+	2003 — active
2	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	~38,387	1969 — 1989
3	Karl Malone	~36,928	1985 — 2004
4	Kobe Bryant	~33,643	1996 — 2016
5	Michael Jordan	~32,292	1984 — 2003
6	Dirk Nowitzki	~31,560	1998 — 2019
7	Wilt Chamberlain	~31,419	1959 — 1973
8	Shaquille O’Neal	~28,596	1992 — 2011
9	Carmelo Anthony	~28,289	2003 — 2022
10	Moses Malone	~27,409	1974 — 1995

Career totals shift as active players keep adding to them, so check Basketball Reference for current standings.

LeBron James — The Record Holder

What makes LeBron’s climb to the top unusual is that he never led the league in scoring average the way some of his rivals did. He got there by staying at an All-Star level into his late thirties, long after most careers have started winding down, and simply outlasting everyone chasing the same number.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Skyhook

Kareem passed Oscar Robertson in 1984 and then held the record himself for close to four decades. Six championships, six MVP awards, and a skyhook that defenders never really solved. He stayed effective from the late 1960s into the late 1980s, long enough that his total looked untouchable for most of that stretch.

Karl Malone — The Mailman

Malone sits third all-time after close to two decades as one of the most reliable scoring power forwards the league has had. His partnership with John Stockton in Utah produced a level of week-to-week consistency that’s rare even among players on this list.

Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan

Kobe and Jordan both averaged over 30 points a game across their careers, which puts them among the most efficient volume scorers the sport has seen. Their career totals sit lower than Kareem’s or LeBron’s mostly because their careers were shorter, not because they scored less per game.

Wilt Chamberlain — The Single-Season Legend

Chamberlain’s career total is strong, but it’s his single-season numbers that still stop people cold. In 1961-62 he averaged over 50 points a game and scored 100 in one game outright. Nobody has come close to either mark since, and it’s still treated as the most dominant scoring season basketball has ever seen.

Active Players to Watch

LeBron isn’t the only active name with a shot at climbing this list. Where the next generation ends up depends almost entirely on health and how long they can keep playing at a high level, the same variable that put LeBron at the top in the first place.