Most career points in the NBA regular season

With LeBron James surpassing 40,000 career points in NBA regular seasons, we thought it was time to take a look at those who have scored the most points in league history.

This list is for the regular season only and does not include playoff contributions. Totals are for the 2023-24 regular season.

Most career points in the NBA regular season

* Player still active

1. LeBron James – 40,474 points*

James, the NBA's all-time leading scorer, surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's previous record on February 7, 2023. Since then, he has continued to collect points and exceeded the 40,000 mark on March 2, 2024 in the Los Angeles Lakers game. Lost to the Denver Nuggets.

The 39-year-old scored 15,251 points in his first game with the Cleveland Cavaliers before adding 7,919 in his four years there with the Miami Heat. Another 7,868 followed after his return to Cleveland, and he has 9,436 and counting with the Los Angeles Lakers.

James is also close to 1,500 regular-season appearances, has over 11,000 assists – far more than anyone else on this list (fourth all-time) – and has not yet indicated that retirement is imminent.

How many points will he have at the end? Who knows? But he increases the distance to Abdul-Jabbar.

2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – 38,387 points

Before LeBron, Kareem was the man who held the all-time scoring record, having done so since 1984 before finally retiring in 1989.

A six-time NBA champion, Abdul-Jabbar also received six NBA MVP awards and two NBA Finals MVP awards. He finished his career with 1,560 appearances, the second most in NBA history behind Robert Parish (1,611).

The breakdown of his point totals was split between the two teams he represented, with him scoring 14,211 points in his six years with the Milwaukee Bucks and 24,176 points with the Lakers. Abdul-Jabbar had an overall PPG average of 24.6.

3. Karl Malone – 36,928 points

The Utah Jazz legend and 14-time NBA All-Star may not have won any championships, but it wasn't for lack of points.

In his 18 years at Utah, Malone won two NBA MVP awards, which likely caused several teams to regret the Jazz selecting him 13th overall in the 1985 NBA Draft.

Of course, the vast majority of his points came with the Jazz (36,374), but Malone added another 554 with the Lakers in his final season before retiring in 2004 and averaged 25 points per game by the end of his career.

4. Kobe Bryant – 33,643 points

The first four on this list all played for the Lakers at one point, but Bryant is the only one who has spent his entire career with the team. He spent all of his 20 seasons in Los Angeles.

Like Malone, he finished his career with a healthy average of 25 points per game, but also won five NBA championships, one NBA MVP award and two NBA Finals MVP awards.

Bryant's best season was the 2005-06 season when he scored a total of 2,832 points in 80 games, averaging 35.4 PPG.

5. Michael Jordan – 32,292 points

How is it that the player many consider the greatest of all time is only fifth on this list? Well, mostly because he hasn't played as many games as everyone else above him.

Jordan played 1,072 regular season games in his career, at least 274 games fewer than any of the four players who scored more career points.

In an incredible career that included six NBA championships, six NBA MVP awards and five NBA Finals MVP awards, Jordan famously played most of his career with the Chicago Bulls before a brief comeback to spend two years with the Chicago Bulls played for the Washington Wizards.

His points per game average of 30.1 is the highest in this ranking, while his most productive season was 1986-87 when he scored 3,041 points in 82 games with an incredible 37.1 PPG average.

6. Dirk Nowitzki – 31,560 points

Jason Kidd has expressed his belief that Luka Doncic is the best to ever play for the Dallas Mavericks, adding: “He's better than Dirk.” That's high praise considering Nowitzki is the scored the sixth most points in NBA regular season history.

The German star played 21 seasons and 1,522 regular-season games for the Mavs, a one-team player in the NBA (he played for DJK Würzburg before moving to Dallas in 1998), who won an NBA championship in 2011 and the NBA Finals MVP won. He also won the NBA MVP award in 2007 and was a 14-time NBA All-Star.

Nowitzki has the lowest PPG average on this list (20.7), but given his consistency and longevity, it's no surprise to see him here. Let’s see if Doncic can join him one day.

7. Wilt Chamberlain – 31,419 points

The man holds so many NBA individual records that it's almost unsettling to see him ranked seventh on this list.

Chamberlain won two NBA championships, four NBA MVP awards and one NBA Finals MVP award. With the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Lakers, he broke the record he held before Abdul-Jabbar overtook him in 1984.

Chamberlain played the fewest games of the top nine players on this list (1,045) and, like Jordan, finished his career with a 30.1 PPG average.

8th. Kevin Durant – 28,924 points*

Durant is one of two active players in the top 10 alongside James. Durant continues to score points in the NBA, currently as part of the Phoenix Suns.

In nine years with the Seattle SuperSonics/Oklahoma City Thunder, Durant established himself as one of the NBA's all-time greats, twice averaging over 30 PPG in the regular season. However, he won his previous two NBA championships in just three years with the Golden State Warriors before moving to the Brooklyn Nets in 2019. He missed the entire 2019-20 season but returned in 2020 and played half a season for the Nets two and two before being traded to the Suns in 2023.

Durant has only played 1,000 regular-season games as of November 2023 and has time to work his way up this list before giving it up.

9. Shaquille O'Neal – 28,596 points

O'Neal is now a popular basketball analyst and has already had a distinguished career. He represented six teams during his 19-year tenure in the NBA, where he won four NBA championships, three NBA Finals MVP Awards and one NBA MVP Award.

Shaq began his career with four years with the Orlando Magic, followed by eight years with the Lakers. Three and a half years with the Miami Heat were followed by brief stints with the Phoenix Suns, the Cavaliers and the Boston Celtics before finally retiring in 2011. He averaged 23.7 PPG in his 1,207 total games.

10. Carmelo Anthony – 28,289 points

He made a name for himself with the Denver Nuggets, where he scored 1,725 ​​points in his rookie season. After seven and a half years in Denver, he moved to the New York Knicks, where he stayed until 2017. Short stints with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Houston Rockets followed before he played two years with the Portland Trail Blazers and one last time with the Lakers before retiring in 2022.

Like Shaq, Melo was another player who spent his career on six teams. Anthony never won an NBA championship, but was a ten-time NBA All-Star.

Anthony finished his career with a PPG average of 22.5 in 1,260 total NBA regular season games.

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