highest points in a debut game nba since 1980

Since 1979-80, Kobe Bryant has dropped the most points in a game, with 81 points versus the Raptors on January 22, 2006.

Interpreted as:

highest points by a player in a debut regular-season game NBA since 1980

	NAME	PTS	DATE	TM		OPP	MIN	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	TS%	OREB	DREB	TOV	PF	+/-
1	Kobe Bryant K. Bryant	81	1/22/2006	LAL	vs	TOR	42	6	2	3	1	28	46	60.9	7	13	53.8	18	20	90.0	73.9	2	4	3	1	+25
2	Luka Dončić L. Dončić	73	1/26/2024	DAL	@	ATL	45	10	7	1	0	25	33	75.8	8	13	61.5	15	16	93.8	91.2	0	10	4	1	+13
3	Damian Lillard D. Lillard	71	2/26/2023	POR	vs	HOU	39	6	6	0	0	22	38	57.9	13	22	59.1	14	14	100.0	80.4	1	5	2	0	+21
4	Donovan Mitchell D. Mitchell	71	1/2/2023	CLE	vs	CHI	50	8	11	0	1	22	34	64.7	7	15	46.7	20	25	80.0	78.9	3	5	4	3	+19
5	David Robinson D. Robinson	71	4/24/1994	SAS	@	LAC	44	14	5	0	2	26	41	63.4	1	2	50.0	18	25	72.0	68.3	4	10	8	2
6	Joel Embiid J. Embiid	70	1/22/2024	PHI	vs	SAS	37	18	5	1	1	24	41	58.5	1	2	50.0	21	23	91.3	68.5	9	9	1	2	+11
7	Devin Booker D. Booker	70	3/24/2017	PHX	@	BOS	45	8	6	3	1	21	40	52.5	4	11	36.4	24	26	92.3	68.0	2	6	5	3	-6
8	Michael Jordan M. Jordan	69	3/28/1990	CHI	@	CLE	50	18	6	4	1	23	37	62.2	2	6	33.3	21	23	91.3	73.2	7	11	2	5
9	Kobe Bryant K. Bryant	65	3/16/2007	LAL	vs	POR	50	7	3	3	0	23	39	59.0	8	12	66.7	11	12	91.7	73.4	1	6	2	3	+4
10	Giannis Antetokounmpo G. Antetokounmpo	64	12/13/2023	MIL	vs	IND	37	14	3	4	1	20	28	71.4	0	3	0.0	24	32	75.0	76.0	3	11	4	1	+29
11	Michael Jordan M. Jordan	64	1/16/1993	CHI	vs	ORL	47	6	1	5	0	27	49	55.1	1	5	20.0	9	11	81.8	59.4	4	2	2	5
12	Devin Booker D. Booker	62	1/26/2024	PHX	@	IND	38	5	4	1	2	22	37	59.5	6	12	50.0	12	13	92.3	72.6	0	5	4	2	+1
13	Karl-Anthony Towns K. Towns	62	1/22/2024	MIN	vs	CHA	38	8	2	0	0	21	35	60.0	10	15	66.7	10	14	71.4	75.3	3	5	7	2	0
14	Stephen Curry S. Curry	62	1/3/2021	GSW	vs	POR	36	5	4	0	0	18	31	58.1	8	16	50.0	18	19	94.7	78.8	1	4	5	0	+20
15	Carmelo Anthony C. Anthony	62	1/24/2014	NYK	vs	CHA	39	13	0	0	0	23	35	65.7	6	11	54.5	10	10	100.0	78.7	1	12	0	1	+34
16	Kobe Bryant K. Bryant	62	12/20/2005	LAL	vs	DAL	33	8	0	3	0	18	31	58.1	4	10	40.0	22	25	88.0	73.8	3	5	2	3	+35
17	Tracy McGrady T. McGrady	62	3/10/2004	ORL	vs	WAS	46	10	5	1	0	20	37	54.1	5	14	35.7	17	26	65.4	64.0	3	7	6	1	+10
18	Nikola Jokić N. Jokić	61	4/1/2025	DEN	vs	MIN	53	10	10	2	0	18	29	62.1	6	11	54.5	19	24	79.2	77.1	2	8	4	5	+2
19	Jalen Brunson J. Brunson	61	3/29/2024	NYK	@	SAS	43	4	6	1	0	25	47	53.2	5	13	38.5	6	6	100.0	61.4	1	3	1	2	+20
20	Damian Lillard D. Lillard	61	8/11/2020	POR	@	DAL	41	5	8	1	0	17	32	53.1	9	17	52.9	18	18	100.0	76.4	2	3	3	2	+8
21	Damian Lillard D. Lillard	61	1/20/2020	POR	vs	GSW	45	10	7	1	0	17	37	45.9	11	20	55.0	16	16	100.0	69.3	0	10	2	1	+13
22	James Harden J. Harden	61	3/22/2019	HOU	vs	SAS	37	7	1	3	0	19	34	55.9	9	13	69.2	14	17	82.4	73.5	2	5	3	3	+18
23	James Harden J. Harden	61	1/23/2019	HOU	@	NYK	40	15	4	5	0	17	38	44.7	5	20	25.0	22	25	88.0	62.2	6	9	5	3	+19
24	LeBron James L. James	61	3/3/2014	MIA	vs	CHA	41	7	4	0	0	22	33	66.7	8	10	80.0	9	12	75.0	79.7	3	4	2	2	+16
25	Kobe Bryant K. Bryant	61	2/2/2009	LAL	@	NYK	37	0	3	0	1	19	31	61.3	3	6	50.0	20	20	100.0	76.6	0	0	2	1	+19