kareem abdul-jabbar was the nba player who has scored the highest number of total points.
which nba player has scored the highest number of total points?
kareem abdul-jabbar
list of national basketball association career scoring leaders





















































this chart provides leading statistics on national basketball association players' total number of career regular season points scored.





















































two lists are provided:





















































these are the current official nba scoring leaders:





















































bullet::::- the current actively playing scoring leader is lebron james with 32,543 total points scored across his career.





















































bullet::::- the player with the highest number of points scored in nba history is kareem abdul-jabbar with 38,387 total points scored.





















































bullet::::- the record for total number of points scored in a single season belongs to wilt chamberlain at 4,029 points.





















































section::::scoring leaders.
list of national basketball association career scoring leaders
after failing to agree on a contract extension with the thunder, harden was traded to the houston rockets on october 27, 2012, along with daequan cook, cole aldrich and lazar hayward, in exchange for kevin martin, jeremy lamb, two first round picks (which became steven adams in 2013 and mitch mcgary in 2014), and a second round pick (which became álex abrines in 2013). rockets general manager daryl morey called harden a "foundational" player and expected him to be houston's featured player despite previously only playing a supporting role behind kevin durant and russell westbrook. on october 31, 2012, harden signed a contract extension with the rockets for five years worth $80 million. that same day, he became the first-ever nba player to score 37 or more points while registering a double-digit assist total in his team debut, posting 37 points, a career-high 12 assists, six rebounds, four steals and one block in a 105–96 win over the detroit pistons. he became just the fourth nba player in the last 25 years to post those totals in a single game and matched the third-highest point total for any nba player in his team debut (most for rockets debut). two days later, he scored 45 points against the atlanta hawks. his 82 total points were the most scored by a player in his first two games with a team in nba history, surpassing the previous mark held by wilt chamberlain, who scored 79 points in his first two career games with the philadelphia warriors in 1959. he registered the first triple-double of his career on february 2, 2013 against the charlotte bobcats, recording 21 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. harden was named as a reserve for the 2013 nba all-star game, marking his first all-star selection. he recorded 15 points, six rebounds and three assists in a 143–138 win by the west over the east. on february 20, 2013, harden scored a career-high 46 points in a 122–119 win over his former team, the oklahoma city thunder.
james harden