James Harden passed Shaquille O’Neal for ninth place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
The LA Clippers guard made a 3-pointer early in the third quarter Monday night against the Charlotte Hornets at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, pushing his career total to 28,598 points in his 1,187th regular-season game. O’Neal had 28,596 points in 1,207 games over 19 years.
Harden, who began the night 14 points behind O’Neal, finished with 32 points in the Clippers’ 117-109 win against the Hornets. He had 13 points in the first half — including 11 in the first quarter — and scored 11 in the third and eight in the fourth to increase his scoring total to 28,614.
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Harden entered averaging 25.6 points, his highest since the 2019-20 season (34.3) when he won the last of three straight league scoring titles.
Harden, who is in his 17th season, faces a steep climb to the next spot. Wilt Chamberlain is eighth with 31,419 points, in only 1,045 games over 14 years. LeBron James is the all-time leader with 42,623 points after scoring 22 in the Los Angeles Lakers‘ loss at Sacramento on Monday. Following him are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant.
Harden recently moved up to 12th on the all-time assists list. The 11-time All-Star also ranks second all time in 3-pointers made, behind Stephen Curry.