Between the 1979-80 and 1988-89 seasons, Alex English scored the most points, with 21,018 points.

Interpreted as:

NBA most total points by a player in the 1980s

	NAME	PTS	GP	MIN	REB	AST	STL	BLK	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	TS%	OREB	DREB	TOV	PF	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	TPG
1	Alex English A. English	21,018	811	29,208	4,780	3,596	848	634	8,664	16,997	51.0	16	77	20.8	3,674	4,385	83.8	55.5	2,086	2,694	2,294	2,286	36.0	25.9	5.9	4.4	1.0	0.8	2.8
2	Moses Malone M. Malone	19,082	778	29,039	10,269	1,191	730	1,107	6,552	13,349	49.1	3	53	5.7	5,975	7,709	77.5	57.0	4,224	6,045	2,659	1,898	37.3	24.5	13.2	1.5	0.9	1.4	3.4
3	Adrian Dantley A. Dantley	18,157	684	25,201	3,721	2,206	647	92	6,423	11,680	55.0	6	36	16.7	5,305	6,467	82.0	62.5	1,474	2,247	2,039	1,833	36.8	26.5	5.4	3.2	0.9	0.1	3.0
4	Larry Bird L. Bird	17,899	717	27,560	7,319	4,396	1,300	603	7,058	14,042	50.3	455	1,206	37.7	3,328	3,783	88.0	57.0	1,568	5,751	2,261	1,906	38.4	25.0	10.2	6.1	1.8	0.8	3.2
5	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar K. Abdul-Jabbar	16,246	787	25,675	5,980	2,220	584	1,594	6,693	11,707	57.2	1	18	5.6	2,859	3,846	74.3	60.6	1,563	4,417	2,037	2,258	32.6	20.6	7.6	2.8	0.7	2.0	2.6
6	Reggie Theus R. Theus	14,729	787	26,545	2,671	5,239	968	171	5,420	11,429	47.4	160	696	23.0	3,729	4,511	82.7	54.9	946	1,725	2,712	2,313	33.7	18.7	3.4	6.7	1.2	0.2	3.4
7	Dominique Wilkins D. Wilkins	14,557	559	20,644	3,784	1,357	811	403	5,577	11,937	46.7	138	513	26.9	3,265	4,062	80.4	53.0	1,644	2,140	1,485	1,196	36.9	26.0	6.8	2.4	1.5	0.7	2.7
8	Mark Aguirre M. Aguirre	14,488	602	20,222	3,395	2,252	518	231	5,654	11,501	49.2	255	840	30.4	2,925	3,942	74.2	54.7	1,315	2,080	1,814	1,819	33.6	24.1	5.6	3.7	0.9	0.4	3.0
9	George Gervin G. Gervin	14,216	547	18,086	2,333	1,455	563	365	5,508	11,052	49.8	77	259	29.7	3,123	3,674	85.0	56.1	792	1,541	1,545	1,515	33.1	26.0	4.3	2.7	1.0	0.7	2.8
10	Mike Mitchell M. Mitchell	14,161	679	22,961	3,917	950	479	371	6,009	12,206	49.2	19	88	21.6	2,124	2,716	78.2	52.8	1,412	2,505	1,198	1,797	33.8	20.9	5.8	1.4	0.7	0.5	1.8
11	Robert Parish R. Parish	14,043	786	25,841	8,195	1,419	660	1,346	5,763	10,506	54.9	0	5	0.0	2,517	3,479	72.3	58.3	2,561	5,634	1,924	2,424	32.9	17.9	10.4	1.8	0.8	1.7	2.4
12	Magic Johnson M. Johnson	13,943	716	26,417	5,303	8,025	1,464	310	5,062	9,543	53.0	117	490	23.9	3,702	4,439	83.4	60.6	1,328	3,975	2,800	1,685	36.9	19.5	7.4	11.2	2.0	0.4	3.9
13	Kiki VanDeWeghe K. VanDeWeghe	13,775	605	20,088	2,416	1,435	383	215	5,299	9,955	53.2	119	329	36.2	3,058	3,514	87.0	59.9	757	1,659	1,129	1,278	33.2	22.8	4.0	2.4	0.6	0.4	1.9
14	Jack Sikma J. Sikma	13,342	795	27,557	8,192	2,721	871	829	4,939	10,488	47.1	89	284	31.3	3,375	3,945	85.6	54.6	1,897	6,295	1,878	2,822	34.7	16.8	10.3	3.4	1.1	1.0	2.4
15	Julius Erving J. Erving	13,263	602	20,506	3,861	2,282	1,081	983	5,226	10,231	51.1	46	176	26.1	2,765	3,572	77.4	56.2	1,498	2,363	1,770	1,621	34.1	22.0	6.4	3.8	1.8	1.6	2.9
16	Walter Davis W. Davis	13,106	687	19,973	1,766	2,918	852	74	5,483	10,717	51.2	135	479	28.2	2,005	2,363	84.8	55.7	483	1,283	1,730	1,583	29.1	19.1	2.6	4.2	1.2	0.1	2.5
17	Tom Chambers T. Chambers	12,896	634	21,559	4,341	1,500	564	406	4,733	9,948	47.6	134	432	31.0	3,296	4,147	79.5	54.8	1,379	2,962	1,808	2,418	34.0	20.3	6.8	2.4	0.9	0.6	2.9
18	Isiah Thomas I. Thomas	12,862	635	23,276	2,372	6,220	1,338	181	4,918	10,632	46.3	212	762	27.8	2,814	3,697	76.1	52.5	657	1,715	2,437	2,105	36.7	20.3	3.7	9.8	2.1	0.3	3.8
19	Kevin McHale K. McHale	12,830	694	22,275	5,277	1,217	262	1,269	5,057	8,958	56.5	1	20	5.0	2,715	3,481	78.0	61.2	1,798	3,479	1,396	2,076	32.1	18.5	7.6	1.8	0.4	1.8	2.0
20	Purvis Short P. Short	12,740	685	20,633	3,030	1,881	758	146	5,133	10,786	47.6	115	408	28.2	2,359	2,852	82.7	52.9	1,196	1,834	1,490	2,044	30.1	18.6	4.4	2.7	1.1	0.2	2.2
21	World B. Free W. B. Free	12,662	583	18,515	1,555	2,303	619	116	4,621	10,229	45.2	213	632	33.7	3,207	4,187	76.6	52.4	628	927	1,372	1,504	31.8	21.7	2.7	4.0	1.1	0.2	2.4
22	Terry Cummings T. Cummings	12,159	550	19,052	4,834	1,345	772	436	4,995	10,151	49.2	8	28	28.6	2,161	3,049	70.9	52.9	1,771	3,063	1,346	1,974	34.6	22.1	8.8	2.4	1.4	0.8	2.4
23	Rolando Blackman R. Blackman	12,127	630	21,258	2,308	1,954	472	196	4,692	9,328	50.3	50	184	27.2	2,693	3,234	83.3	56.4	772	1,536	1,234	990	33.7	19.2	3.7	3.1	0.7	0.3	2.0
24	Bernard King B. King	12,100	535	17,948	2,841	1,689	508	129	4,807	8,938	53.8	10	67	14.9	2,476	3,308	74.8	58.2	910	1,931	1,633	1,787	33.5	22.6	5.3	3.2	0.9	0.2	3.1
25	Dennis Johnson D. Johnson	11,954	783	27,325	3,078	4,381	1,055	456	4,492	10,068	44.6	79	440	18.0	2,891	3,529	81.9	51.4	952	2,126	1,976	2,265	34.9	15.3	3.9	5.6	1.3	0.6	2.5