Top 12 NBA All-time Leading Scorers Playoffs

Top 12 NBA All-time Leading Scorers Playoffs

Basketball playoffs have always been the most fiercely contested tournament. So let’s talk about the top 12 NBA scorers of all time in the playoffs. Going to the playoffs is a difficult endeavor, especially since players and teams change and develop every season.

For a chance to advance to the playoffs, each team must finish among the top eight spots.

Therefore, accomplishing this in every season is a really outstanding feat.

Similar to that, it takes a lot of work to consistently have strong postseason runs over a career.

These guys have persevered despite the suffering and consistently made the playoffs.

Additionally, every time they reached the playoffs, they had an influence.

So, without further ado, let’s learn about the best 12 NBA playoff scorers of all time.

NBA Playoffs Top 12 All-Time Leading Scorers

The players listed below were chosen based on their NBA postseason scoring performances each season.

The majority of them were gathered from hoopshype.com, landofbasketball.com, statista.com, and nba.com.

Let’s quickly review the names on the list before diving into the facts regarding the top 12 NBA players in terms of postseason scoring all-time.

More Face About NBA Players Playoff Points

12. Larry Bird

When discussing Larry Bird, a true basketball lover would never overlook this name.

The former athlete led the Boston Celtics to 12 seasons in the playoffs.

The sportsperson also guided the Celtics to three NBA titles in 1981, 1984, and 1986.

From 1980 to 1988, he also didn’t miss any postseason games.

From 1990 to 1992, the former Pacers’ coach consistently reached the playoffs.

Not to add that he has 3,897 playoff points, which ranks third all-time in the NBA.

Similar to this, in the 164 playoff games the famous basketball player has participated in, 80 three-pointers have been made.

In addition to being a player and a coach, Bird presided over the Indiana Pacers.

The NBA executive, who is 60 years old, just resigned from his position, citing his desire to explore interests outside of basketball.

11. Dwyane Wade

Dwyane Wade, one of The Big Three, is now ranked 11th all-time among NBA playoff scorers.

Wade, Chris Bosh, and LeBron James all had illustrious careers with the Miami Heat.

Not to mention, during his NBA career, the athlete virtually always reached the playoffs.

The former basketball player only missed the playoffs twice, in 2008 and 2015, between 2004 and 2018.

In addition, he has won the NBA championship three times, in 2006, 2012, and 2013.

Wade also captured each of his championships with the Heat.

The athlete played in 13 postseason games, and his playoff total is 3954.

He participated in 177 postseason games as well and made 103 three-pointers over that time.

Wade is currently associated with NBA on TNT, where he works as a host.

In addition, he shares ownership of the Utah Jazz.

He said that he was anxious about life after the NBA, but added, “I mastered basketball.

I’m quite good at this. I am aware of this.

I’ve been doing this since I was five years old, but I need to try something new now.

So, after retiring, he founded his own production firm and launched a line of wines.

10. Tony Parker

One of the finest players in the National Basketball League’s history was Tony Parker, who was born the son of a basketball player.

He was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the 28th overall pick in the first round of the 2001 NBA Draft.

Parker has since led the Spurs to 17 playoff appearances and helped them capture four NBA championships in the years 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2014.

Not to mention, from 2002 through 2018, Tony did not miss a single postseason game.

His 4,045 postseason points rank him first among NBA all-time scorers.

The ex-basketball player participated in 226 contests and made 119 three-pointers.

Tony now holds a majority ownership stake in ASVEL Basket in LNB Pro A.

Furthermore, he is listed as “The Final Shot” on Netflix.

 9. Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant, the captain of the US men’s basketball team for the 2020 Summer Olympics, previously played for the Golden State Warriors and two NBA Championship championships with the Brooklyn Nets.

In the 2017 and 2018 seasons, Durant was a member of an invincible squad that also included Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson.

In his career, he has advanced ten times to the NBA playoffs.

Furthermore, he has 4,454 playoff points, which ranks fourth all-time in the NBA.

The sportsman has also participated in 151 playoff contests and made 337 three-pointers.

Kevin has been added to the disabled list as of right now due to a sprained MCL in his left knee.

Kevin recently agreed to a $198 million, four-year deal with the Nets.

On February 21, 2022, the small forward served as the team captain during the All-Star game.

However, his group was defeated by Team LeBron 163–160.

8. Jerry West

If the NBA logo is dedicated to you, then you cannot be an average player.

Jerry West is best known for his game-tying jumper in the final seconds of the 1970 NBA Finals, which everyone remembers.

The Lakers prevailed in overtime in game three against the New York Knicks thanks to the buzzer-beating shot.

The Lakers, however, were unable to capture the 1970 Championship trophy.

West has made 13 postseason appearances throughout his career and has only won one NBA Championship, in 1972.

His 4,457 playoff points are the most in NBA history.

The former Lakers coach also participated in 153 postseason contests.

He worked in the NBA as a general manager and a member of the executive board in addition to being a player and a coach.

Jerry served on the boards of the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors, respectively.

The NBA was looking into his hiring of small forward Kawhi Leonard while with the Clippers.

7. Karl Malone

Karl Malone, one of the best power forwards in the NBA, has 19 postseason appearances, which is the most in the league’s history.

In addition, he is second only to Kareem Abdul Jabbar in terms of NBA career scoring.

The former athlete has also broken the record for both attempted and made free throws.

In his whole career, the power forward has only missed the playoffs once during his debut season.

He has consistently advanced to the NBA playoffs ever since.

The power forward, though, has never taken home an NBA Championship trophy.

Nevertheless, from 1988 to 1998 and 2000 to 2002, he was an All-Star fourteen times and twice was named the NBA’s Most Valuable Player (in 1997 and 1999).

In addition, Malone has 4,761 playoff points, which ranks fourth all-time in the NBA.

He has 1743 field goals made across 193 games played.

In addition, the former NBA player helped the US men’s basketball team win two gold medals at the Olympics in 1992 and 1996.

He has engaged in professional wrestling, acting, and company ownership after his retirement.

6. Tim Duncan

One of the greatest power forwards of all time is Tim Duncan.

One of the most unbreakable shots is one of his off-the-glass attempts.

No other player could have competed with his height and intensity.

He is the primary architect of the Spurs dynamic as we know it as a result.

In addition, he is the only player to have captured the NBA championship in three different periods.

He has won five NBA championships overall and three final MVP awards.

In addition, the Hall of Famer has tallied 5,172 points in the playoffs overall.

Likewise, Duncan has had 18 playoff appearances throughout his 19 years of playing career.

This is how good the power forward has been throughout his career.

Furthermore, he has played 251 playoff games throughout his career.

Also, he and Tony Parker are the only two Spurs legend to be in the top 12 NBA all-time leading scorers playoffs.

5. Shaquille O’Neal

In a generation where centers dominated the game, Shaq took the dominance into brutality.

He was just the most dominant center in the history of the game.

Moreover, even though he never shot a three-point through his playoff career, he still is inside the fifth NBA all-time leading scorers in playoffs.

To think of how he dominated the paint throughout his career. No one could stop him from getting to the paint.

As a result, he scored 5,250 points in the playoffs. Further, he has appeared in 17 playoff games while playing 216 games.

Likewise, he has only missed 3 playoff appearances through his 19-year career.

Aside from that, he is a four-time NBA champion with two teams, the Lakers and the Heats.

To elaborate, he won three consecutive NBA titles with the Lakers from 2000 to 2002.

Not to mention, he also won all three NBA Finals MVPs.

Further, his fourth championship came with the Heats in the 2006 playoffs.

Again, he was a huge reason for the victory.

4. Kobe Bryant

The late Mamba was a scoring machine.

His mentality of getting a bucket no matter what made him a fan favorite.

He has 5,762 playoff career points making him the fourth NBA all-time leading scorer in playoffs.

Altogether he has played in 15 playoffs.

Likewise, he has played 220 playoff games throughout his 20-year NBA career.

Also, he is a five-time NBA champion who was also three-peated from 2000 to 2002.

Similarly, they also repeated in the 2009 and 2010 playoffs.

However, they failed to three-peat for the second time due to the Spurs dynasty.

Nevertheless, Bryant is one of four members in the top five of the NBA all-time points leaders in playoffs.

If the super team of Steve Nash, Dwight Howard, and Paul Gasol had worked, he might just have more rings and more playoff appearances.

3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ranks third in the list of NBA all-time leading scorers in playoffs with total points of 5,762.

He scored these points in 18 playoffs appearance with 237 playoff games.

Out of 237 games, he has won 154 games.

Not to mention, he just missed 2 playoffs appearance throughout his career.

Likewise, out of 18 playoffs, he got past the first round 14 times.

Jabar played with two teams, the Milwaukee Bucks and the Lakers.

He has six NBA championships and two final MVP awards altogether.

Further, he only won one championship with the Bucks.

The rest of the five championships came with the Lakers which took the league by storm.

He was a crucial part of the Laker Showtime ear with Magic Johnson, James Worthy, and many more.

2. Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan is the only player with six of the most consecutive NBA rings.

He achieved this feat in 13 playoffs appearance.

As a result, he has just missed two playoffs throughout his 15-year career.

He was a late bloomer when appearing in the NBA finals.

Moreover, his first NBA final appearance was in the 1992 playoffs.

Similarly, his last final appearance was during the 1998 playoff, which the Bulls won.

All of his playoff appearances have been with the Chicago Bulls.

No wonder why he is known to be the Bulls legend.

If Jordan had not retired early, he would probably have increased the number of playoff appearances and NBA championships.

Nonetheless, his 13-game appearance led him to 5,987 points. Likewise, he played about 179 playoff games.

Furthermore, he is just the six-player in NBA history to have more than 5000 playoff points throughout their career.

In the early 90s, not seeing Jordan in the playoffs was a strange kind of like not seeing LeBron during the current playoff.

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1. LeBron James

By the time LeBron retires from the NBA, he will be leading in every stat available like rebounds, assists, scoring, and especially playoff.

He has appeared in 15 playoffs as of now. James had twelve consecutive playoff appearances from 2006 to 2018.

He missed his first playoff games in 2019 due to multiple injuries.

Likewise, the King has the longest consecutive NBA final appearance with eight.

From 2011 to 2018, he always appeared in the NBA Finals.

Overall, James has just missed 4 playoff appearances in his career until now.

Similarly, he has played about 266 playoff games, the highest in the league’s history.

He is the only active player in the top eight of the NBA all-time leading scorers playoffs.

Hence, when it comes to playoff knowledge, no one can compete with LeBron as he is simply the greatest athlete to have ever played the game of basketball.

Furthermore, his total points in playoffs accumulate to 7,631.

This is a record that any other player might just never break.

Out of his 15 appearances, he has won 4 playoffs successfully.

Also, he is the only NBA player to have won the Finals MVP with three different teams.

Undoubaltley, he is the greatest NBA all-time leading scorer in playoffs.

Further, if he keeps up his game, he will in no time be the leading scorer or all-time regular and playoffs.