NBA All Time Points Leaders and Their Regular Season and Playoffs Stats

To sustain a scoring average for an entire season signifies that the player has hoards of bucket-getting talents. The players on this list kept doing that for several years against opponents younger, springier and better conditioned than themselves, and it is for that reason that all of the players on this list are first-ballot Hall of Famers and deservedly so.

We've already brought to you a consolidated list of the greatest all-time top scorers in NBA regular season play, but what we take a look about here is how well these same players fared in the playoffs. Read on to find out.

#10 Elvin Hayes

Regular season points tally: 27313

Playoff points tally: 2194

Hayes joined the NBA with the San Diego Rockets in 1968 and went on to lead the NBA in scoring with 28.4 points per game, averaged 17.1 rebounds per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. Hayes' scoring average is the fifth best all-time for a rookie (tied with Michael Jordan), and he remains the last rookie to lead the NBA in scoring average.

In an era when big men were coming into their own, getting polished by the day in college programs and finding their ways to get buckets from further away, Hayes' back-to-the-basket style of play changed tack over later years as he developed a solid touch from the low post and mid-post regions.

Unequivocally the greatest player in the Wizards' franchise history, Hayes will remain a staple on records relating to durability and volume scoring.

#9 Moses Malone

Regular season points tally: 27409

Playoff points tally: 2077

Responsible for one of the most iconic comments on the NBA, Moses Malone is one of the great yesteryear heroes who're often overlooked when people talk about the NBA's all-time greats.

As a rebounder, he was in his own class, averaging the highest offensive rebounds per game at 5.1 for his career as well as holding the record for highest total offensive boards by a pretty significant margin.

Initially drafted into the ABA after finishing high school, Moses was an undersized center who got his work done as the prototypical big man in an era of grinders by outhustling and outmuscling stronger and bigger opponents.

#8 Shaquille O'Neal

Regular season points tally: 28596

Playoff points tally: 5250

The sheer size and presence of Shaquille O'Neal, a.k.a The Big Aristotle, a.k.a Diesel, a.k.a The Real Deal, a.k.a The Big Shamrock, a.k.a (this is my personal favorite) Superman is still alive and kicking around hoops world, thanks to TNT adding him to the list of their analysts on Inside the NBA, but young'uns who haven't had the chance to witness total haplessness on a basketball court should consult the internet for footage of Shaq picking opponents apart in the late 90s and early noughties.

Through a 13-season period from 1992-2005, O'Neal averaged 27 points, 13 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game while shooting over 57% from the field, earning an All-Star game selection every year the game was played, 12 All-NBA selections (7 First Team), an MVP and 3 Finals MVP trophies. He was truly the most dominant physical force of a man ever seen on the basketball court.

#7 Dirk Nowitzki

Regular season points tally: 31187

Playoff points tally: 3663

Everyone's favorite European basketball player, Nowitzki is universally recognized as one of the greatest shooters of all time. The fact that he possessed such a well-rounded offensive game at his peak, complete with slick handles, ball fakes, and an explosive first step, is often overlooked when we talk about his career because by the time he won his first and only championship, he was on the latter half of his basketball prime.

The 2006-07 NBA MVP is one of only seven players to average 50/40/90 shooting splits in NBA history, and he helped the Mavericks become relevant in the Western Conference playoff picture for the first time in franchise history. No man is as reminiscent of a single-franchise player as the 41-year-old, who still has the opportunity to end up 6th, maybe even 5th on this list with all said and done.

His one-legged fadeaway jumper will remain forever one of the most stylish shots in the history of the game.

#6 Wilt Chamberlain

Wilt once scored 100 points in an NBA game

Regular season points tally: 31419

Playoff points tally: 3607

The most dominant athlete in the history of the NBA, the league's record book can best be summed up as the autobiography of Wilt Chamberlain. Standing at 7'1", 325 pounds in peak form, and possessing more skill off the dribble and more athleticism than any center ever since seen, Wilt Chamberlain was the one baller who surpassed the boundaries of logic.

For example, how does one explain a rookie taking the league by storm and winning the MVP trophy that very season? How does one explain a player averaging over 48 minutes per game, dropping 50 points per game on an average against his hapless opponents during that time? Wilt is one of a kind, and his records will stand the test of time if anybody's will.

#5 LeBron James

Regular season points tally: 31803

Playoff points tally: 6911

Have we ever seen a player like LeBron James in any team sport? Heck, any sport? A physical specimen who has universally been recognized as the gold standard for his sport for the entirety of a decade (and arguments could be made for the period being a bit longer than that as well)?

Bron drops his career average of 27 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists in his below-par games these days. Admittedly, his days of playing tough-nosed defense are now past him, but when he is trying on that end, he's still troublesome enough to sport lockdown potential against any player in the world.

King James does what he wants on the basketball court, and soon enough, I'll be editing this article to improve his ranking up to at least #2. If he does get to #1 in regular season points, I don't anticipate anyone breaking that record in my lifetime.

#4 Michael Jordan

Jordan nails the jumper against Bryon Russell in the 1997 NBA Finals

Regular season points tally: 32292

Playoff points tally: 5987

If there is one player who was genuinely bigger than the sport itself, in any sport across the world, it is Michael Jordan. Having grown up during times when every great play I saw on television was met with the same old 'That's Jordanesque' reaction from fans around me, I didn't really realize that this man was better than all the hype and hoopla around him till I actually bothered to look up game tape and relive game after game on which Jordan stamped his authority.

Universally recognized as the greatest to ever step on the hardwood, Jordan holds the record for points per game for regular season play, playoff games as well as the NBA Finals. He was the definition of clutch when push came to shove, and the fact that he never even had to play a Game 7 in the Finals kinda stops any chatter about him not occupying that hallowed position atop a sport with several legendary players through the past 70 years or so.

#3 Kobe Bryant

Regular season points tally: 33643

Playoff points tally: 5640

If you are a basketball fan who didn't grow up on a staple of Kobe Bryant going to work on a nightly basis against the rest of the league, it really is hard to grasp what the Black Mamba meant to a lot of people, and still does to the NBA. For heaven's sakes, the league is filled with players who grew up idolizing him and copying every move of his.

As psychopathic a competitor as the NBA has ever seen, the Black Mamba is an embodiment of how a person can "squeeze every ounce of juice out of the orange that they could". That's how he evolved from a high-energy dunker in his first season into the most complete guard to play the game since Michael Jordan, and even those comparisons are a heavy undersell given what Kobe did on a nightly basis.

If you don't shout out "Kobe!" while punting a crumpled up paper ball into a trash can, do you even watch basketball?

#2 Karl Malone

Regular season points total: 36928

Playoff points total: 4761

The Mailman combined with fellow Utah Jazz legend John Stockton to form the most prolific pick-and-roll partnership in the history of the league. Indeed, the duo helped each other set some insane scoring and assists records, and their styles of play couldn't have complemented each other's better. Having said that, Malone was always the man whenever the Jazz needed to grind out a win on a bad day, for the Mailman always delivered.

Karl Malone's longevity and conditioning is truly the stuff of legend. Like LeBron James is looked upon as a veritable Iron Man for his ability to play world-class basketball on heavy usage through the years, Karl Malone was that player for his generation, appearing in 80 or more regular season games for 18 of his 19 regular season campaigns.

While Malone was never truly a threat to win a scoring title due to Jerry Sloan's well-rounded rosters, he was dominant enough to be recognized as the best power forward in NBA history before the advent of the likes of Garnett, Duncan and Nowitzki. Three Finals appearances attest to the same.

#1 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Lew Alcindor playing for the Milwaukee Bucks

Regular season points total: 38387

Playoffs points total: 5762

Universally recognized as the greatest big man to ever play the game, Lew Alcindor was probably the last NBA player to be instantly the best player in the league from the second he stepped on court for his debut.

Not only does Kareem crush all traditional and advanced statistic metrics, he holds the record for most seasons with 6 or more win shares, and was never a member of a team with a record of less than .500 in the regular season.

Kareem won 6 out of 11 possible MVP trophies during his initial years in the league, capping off a number of those accolades with championship rings. His postseason points total would probably have been higher had he stayed in Milwaukee and helped the Bucks stay relevant, but his championship count would never have received the boost that he got while playing with the consensus GOAT point guard in Magic Johnson.