by Mike Mulhern

Created on: May 07, 2008

You can't win in basketball without scoring. I'm almost positive of that. So who has done it the best? Who is at the top of the scoring heap of all time? Who could Brian Scalabrine topple from the list with only 30,000 or so more points? Here we go, the top 5 scorers in NBA history.

(Author's note: Upon seeing that Moses Malone is fifth on the list I have decided to scratch him off and make this a four-man list. I defer to the words of the great Larry Bird who once announced to the entire city of Boston during a victory parade, "I guess it's true, Moses really does eat *&%#." Sorry, but I can't possibly take Moses seriously and include him on this list after that. My apologies.)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. 38,387 points.

Why was he great? The skyhook. It's as simple as that. Oh sure there were other reasons. He had a variety of low post moves that worked well, well enough to make him the 8th most accurate scorer ever. He got to the line often and hit a free throws at a 72% clip. Plus he was athletic enough to run the break, and lucky enough to have Magic Johnson running it too. But that skyhook released at the apex of his lanky arm's motion was a devastating shot and pretty much unblockable. Former NBA player Johnny Kerr was once asked how he would defend Kareem and he said, "I'd get real close to him and breathe on his goggles." That's pretty much all anyone could do.

Why else was he great?
Airplane! Some athletes do cameos in movies. Kareem had an actual role in an actual movie that was one of the best comedies ever. And he really did come off as believable at times, especially when he told Joey to tell his old man to drag Walton and Lanier up the court. Now that's realistic acting!

Karl Malone. 36,928 points.

Why was he great? He had an amazing blend of size and agility which made him the prototypical small forward of the 1980s (and I use the term "small" loosely). There was his low post repertoire, his fallaway jumper, his ability to get to the line... and there was this little guy named John Stockton who might have helped him out a tad. Stockton and Malone could run the pick-and-roll all night and there wasn't much defenders could do to stop them. They were so good the names "Stockton and Malone" are inextricably linked together for hoop fans of the 80s generation.

Why else was he great?
Talk shows! Stockton and Malone even did talk shows together, where they looked like the most frightening ventriloquist act in history.

Michael Jordan. 32,292 points.

Why was he great?

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>