The NBA's top 10 scorers

LeBron James is widely considered one of the best players ever and on March 3, 2024, he lay a further claim to be considered the greatest ever when the four-time NBA champion and MVP became the first ever to score 40,000 NBA points. In his 21st NBA season, the 39-year-old set the record in an LA Lakers loss to the Denver Nuggets.*(as of 04.03.24)

For nearly 39 years, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the leading scorer in NBA history, thanks in large part to his legendary sky hook. Abdul-Jabbar, who was born as Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, and changed his name after he converted to Islam in 1971, played for just two teams, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers between 1969 and 1989. He played in the NBA all-star game 19 times.

Karl "The Mailman" Malone played 18 seasons for the Utah Jazz before finishing his career with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004. He never won an NBA championship but he was a member of the US "Dream Team" that won Olympic gold in Barcelona in 1992. Bronze statues of Karl Malone and the guy who usually fed him the ball, John Stockton, stand outside of the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.

The shooting guard spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, leading his team to five NBA titles. In 2006 Bryant scored 81 points in a game against the Toronto Raptors, the second highest single-game total after Wilt Chamberlain, who scored 100 points in a 1962 game. At 34 years and 104 days of age, Bryant was the youngest player in NBA history to reach 30,000 career points.

Michael "Air" Jordan was picked third overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 1984 NBA draft. He would have scored many more points had he not interrupted his career with two retirements; in 1993 and 1999. During his first retirement from basketball, during which his No. 23 was retired by the Chicago Bulls, Jordan played minor league baseball. He ended his career with the Washington Wizards in 2003.

Who would have thought that a kid from Germany's second division would make it to the NBA, let alone become a superstar? Drafted by Milwaukee Bucks in 1998 and then immediately traded to Dallas, Nowitzki became a legend at the Mavericks, securing a league MVP in 2007 and a championship in 2011. He remains the only player in NBA history to have played for one franchise for 21 seasons.

Wilt Chamberlain played 14 seasons in the NBA, turning out for the Philadelphia / San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers. While playing for Philadelphia, the center set a single-game record of 100 points in a 1962 game against the New York Knicks. Prior to his NBA career "Wilt the Stilt" played a season with the Harlem Globetrotters.

Listed at 2.16 meters tall (7 foot 1) and 147 kilograms (325 pounds), Shaquille O'Neal was one of the biggest men ever to play in the NBA. The center was drafted No. 1 overall by the Orlando Magic and went on to play for them and five other teams over a 19-year career. In 2000 Shaq became one of just three players to win the awards as NBA MVP, All-Star game MVP and Finals MVP in the same year.

Durant was named MVP in the 2014 season playing for Oklahoma City, but didn't win his first title until he joined Golden State, where he won in 2017 and 2018. He then moved to the Brooklyn Nets for four years, but mostly battled injury. Since early 2023, he has played for the Phoenix Suns and entered the top 10 scorer list in early December 2023.*(as of 04.03.2024)

Anthony is one of the best players never to win an NBA championship. Drafted by the Denver Nuggets in 2003, he led the team to the playoffs for six straight years. He later played for the New York Knicks, where he scored a career-best 62 points in one game. He has played for a handful of other teams and the 38-year-old was most recently on the LA Lakers. *(as of 08.02.23)