Basketball used to be a game of "impossible" numbers. For decades, we looked at Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s career total and just assumed they were relics of a different era. Like the Pyramids. You can look at them, but you aren't supposed to build new ones.
Then came LeBron James.
As of January 2026, the NBA points all time leaderboard looks less like a record book and more like a glitch in the Matrix. LeBron isn't just leading; he’s currently sitting at over 42,600 regular-season points. If you factor in the playoffs—which the "official" record famously ignores—he’s cleared the 50,000-point mark. That is a number so large it feels fake. It’s the kind of stat you’d see in a video game where you turned the difficulty all the way down.
The Top 10 as of January 2026
The list has shifted significantly even in the last few months. James Harden recently climbed into the No. 9 spot, passing Shaquille O’Neal on January 12, 2026. This isn't just about "The King" anymore. We are living through a concentrated era of offensive nuclear warfare.
- LeBron James: 42,683+
- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 38,387
- Karl Malone: 36,928
- Kobe Bryant: 33,643
- Michael Jordan: 32,292
- Dirk Nowitzki: 31,560
- Kevin Durant: 31,544 (and rapidly closing in on Dirk)
- Wilt Chamberlain: 31,419
- James Harden: 28,667
- Shaquille O'Neal: 28,596
Honestly, seeing Wilt at number eight is jarring. He was the gold standard for so long. Now, Kevin Durant—who just passed Wilt a week ago while playing for the Houston Rockets—is eyeing Dirk and Jordan. It’s weird. It’s fast. And it’s mostly because the way the game is played has fundamentally broken the old math.
Why the "All-Time" List Is Exploding Right Now
It’s tempting to say players are just better now. Maybe they are. But the real culprit is the "Three-Point Revolution" meeting modern medicine.
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Back in the day, if you tore your ACL or had a bad Achilles, you were basically done. Your scoring average would tank, or you’d retire at 31. Today? Kevin Durant is 37 years old and still scoring 26 points a night on a surgically repaired Achilles. LeBron is 41 and just scored 31 points against the Thunder a few nights ago, breaking the record for the most points ever scored by a 41-year-old.
The pace of the game has also skyrocketed. In the 90s, a final score of 88-82 was normal. Now, if a team doesn't hit 110, we wonder if the baskets were crooked. More possessions mean more shots. More shots mean more points.
The Problem With "Regular Season Only"
There’s a huge debate among purists about how we track these NBA points all time. The NBA’s official record only counts regular-season games.
Why?
It’s a holdover from a time when playoff structures were inconsistent. But it leads to some pretty wild omissions. If you include the playoffs, LeBron’s lead over Kareem isn't just a few thousand; it's a canyon. Michael Jordan, despite being 5th on the regular-season list, is 2nd all-time in playoff points (5,987).
When you combine everything—Regular Season, Playoffs, and the newer Play-In games—the "Total Points" leaderboard looks very different. LeBron is the only person in the 50,000 club. Kareem is second at 44,149. The gap between first and second is basically an entire Hall of Fame career's worth of points.
The New Blood: Can Anyone Catch LeBron?
Short answer: Probably not.
Long answer: Only if Anthony Edwards or Luka Dončić stays healthy for 20 years.
We just saw Anthony Edwards become the third-youngest player to hit 10,000 career points on January 8, 2026. He did it at 24 years old. He’s ahead of Kobe. He’s ahead of KD. But he’s still trailing LeBron’s pace. LeBron hit 10,000 at age 23.
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Luka Dončić is the other name everyone watches. He’s currently averaging over 33 points per game this season. He’s a scoring machine. But the "LeBron Record" isn't about how high you can peak; it's about how long you can last. You have to average 25 points a game for 20 years without getting hurt. In a league where "load management" is a thing, that feels impossible.
Most players today don't want to play until they're 41. They have business empires, podcasts, and enough money to buy a small country. LeBron's obsession with his body—reportedly spending over a million dollars a year on recovery—is the outlier.
What People Get Wrong About Wilt’s Era
People love to dismiss Wilt Chamberlain's 31,419 points because he played against "plumbers." That’s a bit disrespectful. But it is true that the statistical environment was different.
Wilt once averaged 48.5 minutes per game in a season. Think about that. He played every single second, including overtimes. If modern stars played 48 minutes a night in today’s pace, someone like Giannis or Luka would probably drop 70 every Tuesday.
The NBA points all time list isn't just a measure of skill. It’s a measure of era, rules, and durability. When Kareem was sky-hooking his way to the record, there was no three-point line for most of his career. If you gave Kareem an extra point for every deep shot, his 38,387 might still be the record today.
Practical Next Steps for Following the Record
If you're trying to keep up with the shifting leaderboard this season, here is what you need to track:
- Watch the KD vs. Dirk/Jordan race: Kevin Durant needs fewer than 100 points to pass Dirk Nowitzki for 6th place. At his current pace, he should hit that by next week. After that, he’s only about 700 points behind Michael Jordan.
- The 30,000 Club: We are waiting for the next member. James Harden is at 28,667. He needs roughly 1,300 more points. If he stays healthy, he’ll likely hit 30k early in the 2026-27 season.
- The "Playoff points" asterisk: Always check if a stat includes postseason play. Most major broadcasters (ESPN, TNT) are starting to show "Total Career Points" more often because the regular-season-only limit feels increasingly arbitrary in the LeBron era.
The record is no longer a static thing. It’s breathing. It’s moving. Every time LeBron James laces up his Nikes, he isn't just playing a game; he’s extending a lead that might actually never be broken in our lifetime. Take a second to appreciate it, because once he retires, the top of that list is going to stay frozen for a very, very long time.