Before 1997-98, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored the most points, with 38,387 points.

Interpreted as:

most points by a player all-time until 1997

	NAME	PTS	GP	MPG	PPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	TS%	OREB	DREB	TPG	MIN	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF	+/-
1	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar K. Abdul-Jabbar	38,387	1,560	36.8	24.6	11.2	3.6	0.9	2.6	10.2	18.1	55.9	0.0	0.0	5.6	4.3	6.0	72.1	59.2	2.4	7.6	2.7	57,446	17,440	5,660	1,160	3,189	2,527	4,657
2	Wilt Chamberlain W. Chamberlain	31,419	1,045	45.8	30.1	22.9	4.4			12.1	22.5	54.0				5.8	11.4	51.1	54.7				47,859	23,924	4,643				2,075
3	Moses Malone M. Malone	27,409	1,329	33.9	20.6	12.2	1.4	0.8	1.3	7.1	14.5	49.1	0.0	0.1	10.0	6.4	8.3	76.9	56.9	5.1	7.1	3.1	45,071	16,212	1,796	1,089	1,733	3,804	3,076
4	Elvin Hayes E. Hayes	27,313	1,303	38.4	21.0	12.5	1.8	1.0	2.0	8.4	18.6	45.2	0.0	0.1	14.7	4.1	6.1	67.0	49.1	3.1	7.8	2.4	50,000	16,279	2,398	864	1,771	1,358	4,193
5	Michael Jordan M. Jordan	26,920	848	38.6	31.7	6.3	5.6	2.6	0.9	11.9	23.3	50.9	0.6	1.8	34.0	7.4	8.7	84.3	58.4	1.7	4.7	2.8	32,706	5,361	4,729	2,165	783	2,404	2,342	+818
6	Oscar Robertson O. Robertson	26,710	1,040	42.2	25.7	7.5	9.5	1.1	0.1	9.1	18.9	48.5				7.4	8.8	83.8	56.4	1.0	3.0		43,886	7,804	9,887	77	4		2,931
7	Dominique Wilkins D. Wilkins	26,534	1,047	36.2	25.3	6.8	2.5	1.3	0.6	9.5	20.5	46.2	0.7	2.1	31.9	5.7	7.1	81.2	53.7	2.8	4.0	2.5	37,861	7,098	2,661	1,374	641	2,646	2,042	-402
8	John Havlicek J. Havlicek	26,395	1,270	36.6	20.8	6.3	4.8	1.2	0.3	8.3	18.8	43.9				4.2	5.2	81.5	49.2	1.5	3.5	2.5	46,471	8,007	6,114	476	117	204	3,281
9	Alex English A. English	25,613	1,193	31.9	21.5	5.5	3.6	0.9	0.7	8.9	17.6	50.7	0.0	0.1	21.7	3.6	4.3	83.2	55.0	2.3	3.2	2.5	38,063	6,538	4,351	1,067	833	2,821	3,027
10	Karl Malone K. Malone	25,592	980	37.6	26.1	10.8	3.2	1.4	0.8	9.7	18.4	52.7	0.1	0.3	26.8	6.6	9.2	72.4	58.2	2.7	8.0	3.1	36,799	10,542	3,183	1,417	804	3,064	3,213	+768
11	Jerry West J. West	25,192	932	39.2	27.0	5.8	6.7	2.6	0.7	9.7	20.4	47.4				7.7	9.4	81.4	55.0	1.0	2.8		36,571	5,376	6,238	81	23		2,435
12	Hakeem Olajuwon H. Olajuwon	23,650	978	37.7	24.2	12.0	2.7	1.9	3.4	9.6	18.6	51.6	0.0	0.1	20.4	4.9	6.9	71.6	55.8	3.6	8.4	3.2	36,833	11,739	2,628	1,811	3,363	3,150	3,695	+382
13	Robert Parish R. Parish	23,334	1,611	28.4	14.5	9.1	1.4	0.8	1.5	6.0	11.1	53.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	2.5	3.5	72.1	57.1	2.9	6.3	2.1	45,704	14,715	2,180	1,219	2,361	3,183	4,443	+105
14	Adrian Dantley A. Dantley	23,177	955	35.8	24.3	5.7	3.0	1.0	0.2	8.6	15.8	54.0	0.0	0.1	17.1	7.2	8.7	81.8	61.7	2.3	3.4	2.9	34,151	5,455	2,830	944	150	2,503	2,550
15	Elgin Baylor E. Baylor	23,149	846	40.0	27.4	13.5	4.3			10.3	23.8	43.1				6.8	8.7	78.0	49.4				33,863	11,463	3,650				2,596
16	Larry Bird L. Bird	21,791	897	38.4	24.3	10.0	6.3	1.7	0.8	9.6	19.3	49.6	0.7	1.9	37.6	4.4	5.0	88.6	56.4	2.0	8.0	3.1	34,443	8,974	5,695	1,556	755	2,816	2,279
17	Charles Barkley C. Barkley	21,756	943	37.1	23.1	11.7	4.0	1.6	0.9	8.2	15.0	54.7	0.5	2.0	27.1	6.1	8.3	73.6	61.8	4.0	7.7	3.3	34,941	11,027	3,743	1,520	843	3,085	2,963	+312
18	Hal Greer H. Greer	21,586	1,122	35.5	19.2	5.0	4.0			7.6	16.8	45.2				4.1	5.1	80.1	50.6				39,788	5,665	4,540				3,855
19	Patrick Ewing P. Ewing	21,539	913	36.6	23.6	10.4	2.1	1.1	2.8	9.3	18.0	51.3	0.0	0.1	16.4	5.1	6.8	74.5	56.1	2.5	7.9	3.3	33,403	9,513	1,959	979	2,516	3,003	3,301	+315
20	Walt Bellamy W. Bellamy	20,941	1,043	37.3	20.1	13.7	2.4	0.7	0.6	7.6	14.7	51.6				4.9	7.8	63.2	55.4	3.4	6.2		38,940	14,241	2,544	52	48		3,536
21	Clyde Drexler C. Drexler	20,908	1,016	34.5	20.6	6.2	5.7	2.0	0.7	7.8	16.4	47.4	0.7	2.2	31.8	4.4	5.5	78.7	54.8	2.5	3.8	2.7	35,064	6,331	5,743	2,081	677	2,788	3,092	+365
22	Bob Pettit B. Pettit	20,880	792	38.8	26.4	16.2	3.0			9.3	21.3	43.6				7.8	10.3	76.1	51.1				30,690	12,849	2,369				2,529
23	George Gervin G. Gervin	20,708	791	33.5	26.2	4.6	2.8	1.2	0.8	10.2	19.9	51.1	0.1	0.5	29.7	5.7	6.8	84.4	57.2	1.5	3.1	3.0	26,536	3,607	2,214	941	670	2,137	2,331
24	Tom Chambers T. Chambers	20,043	1,106	30.7	18.1	6.1	2.1	0.8	0.6	6.7	14.2	46.8	0.2	0.7	30.7	4.6	5.7	80.7	54.2	1.8	4.3	2.3	33,912	6,701	2,283	883	627	2,548	3,740	-49
25	Bernard King B. King	19,655	874	33.7	22.5	5.8	3.3	1.0	0.3	9.0	17.3	51.8	0.0	0.2	17.2	4.5	6.2	73.0	56.1	1.9	3.8	3.2	29,417	5,060	2,863	866	230	2,791	2,885