Active players are listed in bold

* Indicates member of the Hall of Fame.

Rank Player PPG TS+
1. Michael Jordan* 30.12 106
2. Wilt Chamberlain* 30.07 113
3. Elgin Baylor* 27.36 102
4. Joel Embiid 27.32 108
5. Kevin Durant 27.30 113
6. LeBron James 27.19 108
7. Jerry West* 27.03 112
8. Allen Iverson* 26.66 98
9. Bob Pettit* 26.36 109
10. Oscar Robertson* 25.68 115
11. Damian Lillard 25.19 106
12. George Gervin* 25.09 107
13. Karl Malone* 25.02 109
14. Kobe Bryant* 24.99 104
15. Dominique Wilkins* 24.83 100
16. Rick Barry* 24.78 104
17. Stephen Curry 24.69 114
18. Donovan Mitchell 24.68 100
19. James Harden 24.65 111
20. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar* 24.61 114
21. Larry Bird* 24.29 105
22. Adrian Dantley* 24.27 115
23. Pete Maravich* 24.24 99
24. Julius Erving* 24.16 106
25. Anthony Davis 24.00 107
26. Devin Booker 23.97 102
27. Shaquille ONeal* 23.69 111
28. Kyrie Irving 23.41 105
29. George Mikan* 23.13 114
30. Karl-Anthony Towns 22.97 111
31. Paul Arizin* 22.81 111
32. Giannis Antetokounmpo 22.72 108
33. David Thompson* 22.67 108
34. Jayson Tatum 22.58 102
35. Dan Issel* 22.56 107
36. Bernard King* 22.49 105
37. Carmelo Anthony 22.45 100
38. Russell Westbrook 22.29 96
39. Charles Barkley* 22.14 114
40. Bradley Beal 22.12 101
41. Bob McAdoo* 22.05 107
42. Dwyane Wade* 21.98 103
43. Geoff Petrie 21.82 100
44. Hakeem Olajuwon* 21.77 104
45. Alex English* 21.47 103
46. Billy Cunningham* 21.18 101
47. David Robinson* 21.06 110
48. DeMar DeRozan 21.04 100
49. Mitch Richmond* 21.00 105
50. Patrick Ewing* 20.98 103
51. Elvin Hayes* 20.96 96
52. John Havlicek* 20.78 99
53. Dirk Nowitzki* 20.74 108
54. Charlie Scott* 20.69 97
55. John Drew 20.69 103
56. Glenn Robinson 20.69 100
57. John Brisker 20.69 102
58. Chris Webber* 20.68 97
59. Paul George 20.66 103
60. Gilbert Arenas 20.66 103
61. Zach LaVine 20.53 103
62. Clyde Drexler* 20.44 102
63. Nikola Jokic 20.38 112

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table Generated 11/13/2023.

What to make of this data

Taking the career PPG leaders and getting the adjusted TS% (TS+) can give you a good idea who the best scorers in NBA/ABA history are. However, this does not account for pace or minutes played in a game. More work would have to be done to normalize for PER 36 minutes or PER 100 possessions stats.

The career PPG leaders also only accounts for regular season games and not playoff games. This should also be taken into account if you want to debate who the best scorers in NBA/ABA history are. Also, primes or best 5-year stretches are not taken into account for. Players who started off on the bench (Giannis, Kobe, etc.) or players who played way past their scoring prime (Wilt, Dirk, MJ, Kobe, Barkley, etc.) will be ranked much differently than their best 5-year stretch.

Active players are listed in bold and their numbers will change with more games played. This data is accurate for games played before 11/13/2023.

Finally, there are Rate statistic requirements.

TS+ formula: 100*[TS%/league TS%]. Career total weighted by seasonal TSA (True Shooting Attempts)

Some takeaways

  • Wilt has the best combination of volume and efficiency
  • Would you take KD’s ~3 less PPG in exchange for 7 higher TS+ against MJ?
  • Jerry West was underrated as a scorer
  • Oscar Robertson had higher volume and efficiency than Steph
  • Steph barely edges Kareem in volume, but they have the same efficiency
  • Adrian Dantley had higher volume and efficiency than Charles Barkley
  • David Robinson had higher volume and efficiency than Dirk Nowitzki
  • archerarcher0BEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Question, what’s your minimum for games played here

    Cause luka has played 340 games and averages 27.7 ppg for his career, which would be 3rd all time

  • BetweenTheBuzzAndMeBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    i would personally look at something like a player’s best 7 or 10-year stretch rather than their entire career. This punishes a guy like Vince Carter for example, for holding on way too long rather than going out on top like MJ did (aside from his two Wizards seasons). Also skews towards current stars that haven’t had their inevitable career downturn.

  • vrkhfkbBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Oscar Robertson was the original free throw merchant.

    Wilt got almost the same TS as him but was a 50% FT shooter 😂

  • honestnbafanBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Adrian Dantley is probably the ultimate all-time “buckets only” player lol

    Unlike some other guys who might fit that description he even had all time great level efficiency to go with his 4 straight 30 PPG seasons but had a terrible reputation as a playmaker and defender

    It’s like if you made a 2K player with a 99 in all scoring attributes other than 3 pointers and a 60 in everything else

  • NaLuLuNaFairyPieceBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Sure let’s take Durant over Lebron too because of same ppg but 5 more TS /s

    Come on man

    • everyoneneedsaherroBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      No sane person would argue LeBron is a better scorer than KD. This is a list on best scorers not best players

  • honestnbafanBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    I think you could easily argue KD as the best regular season scorer ever with his all-time level efficiency and still extremely high volume but the playoffs is where MJ separates himself from the field in this category