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NBA: Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and the Top 20 Players with the Most Points in Playoff History
Kobe Bryant Is On His Way to Scoring the Most Points in Playoff History
The 2012 NBA playoffs are on…and they are hot, as usual. As of today’s post, LeBron James and Kobe Bryant are leading the 2012 postseason with 32 and 31 point games, respectively.
Neither, though, made yesterday’s list – the top 20 players with the most points in a playoff game. Bryant’s top postseason post is 50 points, while King James’ is 49.
But, Kobe, with his much lengthier playoff experience is third all time in total postseason points. He’s poised to pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and then Michael Jordan to become the most prolific postseason point scorer ever.
James should crack the top 20 soon. He stands at 27th, with 2,629 points, just passing Tony Parker on the all-time list tonight in Game 2 against the New York Knicks.
James and Parker are the only actives within earshot of this list, the top 20 players who have scored the most in the postseason. Bryant, Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki are active members.
Just for fun, I added each ballers’ regular season career totals, grand total points (reg. season + playoffs) and percentage of the grand total that came in the postseason.
Follow me on Twitter @VinGetz.
| PLAYER | PLAYOFFS | REG SEASON | TOTAL | PLAYOFFS/TOTAL | |
| 1. | Michael Jordan | 5,987 | 32,292 | 38,279 | 15.64% |
| 2. | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 5,762 | 38,387 | 44,149 | 13.05% |
| 3. | Kobe Bryant | 5,311 | 29,484 | 34,795 | 15.26% |
| 4. | Shaquille O’Neal | 5,250 | 28,596 | 33,846 | 15.51% |
| 5. | Karl Malone | 4,761 | 36,298 | 41,059 | 11.60% |
| 6. | Jerry West | 4,457 | 25,192 | 29,649 | 15.03% |
| 7. | Tim Duncan | 4,007 | 22,558 | 26,565 | 15.08% |
| 8. | Larry Bird | 3,897 | 21,791 | 25,688 | 15.17% |
| 9. | John Havlicek | 3,776 | 26,395 | 30,171 | 12.52% |
| 10. | Hakeem Olajuwon | 3,755 | 26,946 | 30,701 | 12.23% |
| 11. | Magic Johnson | 3,701 | 17,707 | 21,408 | 17.29% |
| 12. | Scottie Pippen | 3,642 | 18,940 | 22,582 | 16.13% |
| 13. | Elgin Baylor | 3,623 | 23,149 | 26,772 | 13.53% |
| 14. | Wilt Chamberlain | 3,607 | 31,419 | 35,026 | 10.30% |
| 15. | Dirk Nowitzki | 3,239 | 24,134 | 27,373 | 11.83% |
| 16. | Kevin McHale | 3,182 | 17,335 | 20,517 | 15.51% |
| 17. | Dennis Johnson | 3,116 | 15,535 | 18,651 | 16.71% |
| 18. | Julius Erving | 3,088 | 18,364 | 21,452 | 14.39% |
| 19. | James Worthy | 3,022 | 16,320 | 19,342 | 15.62% |
| 20. | Reggie Miller | 2,972 | 25,279 | 28,251 | 10.52% |
Photo: sneakernews.com
NBA Basketball: Michael Jordan and Top 20 Players with the Most Points in a Playoff Game
Michael Jordan Scores Most Points in a Playoff Game: 63
Michael Jordan, and Michael Jordan…and Michael Jordan three more times. Kobe Bryant? He scored 50 points in a playoff game once, back in 2006.
Bryant failed to make this list of the top 20 players with the most points in a playoff game ever. Jordan, however, not only has the best offensive postseason appearance (63 points) but also five of the 10 best. And one more for good measure at 11th.
Would you believe the Bulls lost despite that 63-point effort!
Ray Allen is the only active player present, and the only other one on the losing side of the decision.
Enjoy the 2012 NBA Playoffs!
Follow me on Twitter @VinGetz.
| PLAYER | PTS | FOR | AGAINST | WHEN | GM | |
| 1. | Michael Jordan | 63 | Chicago Bulls | Boston Celtics | 1986 Eastern Conference First Round | 2 |
| 2. | Elgin Baylor | 61 | Los Angeles Lakers | Boston Celtics | 1962 NBA Finals | 5 |
| 3. | Wilt Chamberlain | 56 | Philadelphia Warriors | Syracuse Nationals | 1962 Eastern Division Semifinals | 5 |
| 3. | Michael Jordan | 56 | Chicago Bulls | Miami Heat | 1992 Eastern Conference First Round | 3 |
| 3. | Charles Barkley | 56 | Phoenix Suns | Golden State Warriors | 1994 Western Conference First Round | 3 |
| 6. | Rick Barry | 55 | San Francisco Warriors | Philadelphia 76ers | 1967 NBA Finals | 3 |
| 6. | Michael Jordan | 55 | Chicago Bulls | Cleveland Cavaliers | 1988 Eastern Conference First Round | 2 |
| 6. | Michael Jordan | 55 | Chicago Bulls | Phoenix Suns | 1993 NBA Finals | 4 |
| 6. | Michael Jordan | 55 | Chicago Bulls | Washington Bullets | 1997 Eastern Conference First Round | 2 |
| 6. | Allen Iverson | 55 | Philadelphia 76ers | New Orleans Hornets | 2003 Eastern Conference First Round | 1 |
| 11. | John Havlicek | 54 | Boston Celtics | Atlanta Hawks | 1973 Eastern Conference Semifinals | 1 |
| 11. | Michael Jordan | 54 | Chicago Bulls | New York Knicks | 1993 Eastern Conference Finals | 4 |
| 11. | Allen Iverson | 54 | Philadelphia 76ers | Toronto Raptors | 2001 Eastern Conference Semifinals | 2 |
| 14. | Wilt Chamberlain | 53 | Philadelphia Warriors | Syracuse Nationals | 1960 Eastern Division Semifinals | 3 |
| 14. | Jerry West | 53 | Los Angeles Lakers | Boston Celtics | 1969 NBA Finals | 1 |
| 16. | Jerry West | 52 | Los Angeles Lakers | Baltimore Bullets | 1965 Western Division Finals | 2 |
| 16. | Allen Iverson | 52 | Philadelphia 76ers | Toronto Raptors | 2001 Eastern Conference Semifinals | 5 |
| 18. | Sam Jones | 51 | Boston Celtics | New York Knicks | 1967 Eastern Division Semifinals | 4 |
| 18. | Eric “Sleepy” Floyd | 51 | Golden State Warriors | Los Angeles Lakers | 1987 Western Conference Semifinals | 4 |
| 18. | Ray Allen | 51 | Boston Celtics | Chicago Bulls | 2009 Eastern Conference First Round | 6 |
Photo: nba.com (getty)
What is PER? Players with the Best Player Efficiency Rating in NBA History
Michael Jordan - GOAT - Also Has the Highest Player Efficiency Rating (PER) (blog.fansaloon.com)
You hear about this Player Efficiency Rating in basketball all the time. Well, what the heck is PER anyway?
ESPN’s John Hollinger came up with it. It’s an attempt to go beyond the basic stats like points per game or offensive rebounds, much like sabermetrics looks past home runs and batting average in baseball.
The goal is to reach as true and honed a determination of a player’s value as possible.
PER is “a rating of a player’s per-minute productivity.” The formula is uber-complicated for us laypeople.
The result is an all-time list that is less spot-on (Michael Jordan at the top) than seemingly way off (Dwyane Wade fifth? Kobe Bryant and Larry Bird 18th and 19th?). Who would you rather have – Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant or Larry Bird?
Follow me on Twitter @VinGetz.
| 1. | Michael Jordan | 27.91 |
| 2. | LeBron James | 27.14 |
| 3. | Shaquille O’Neal | 26.43 |
| 4. | David Robinson | 26.18 |
| 5. | Wilt Chamberlain | 26.13 |
| 6. | Dwyane Wade | 25.68 |
| 7. | Bob Pettit | 25.35 |
| 8. | Chris Paul | 25.28 |
| 9. | Tim Duncan | 24.78 |
| 10. | Neil Johnston | 24.63 |
| 11. | Charles Barkley | 24.63 |
| 12. | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 24.58 |
| 13. | Magic Johnson | 24.11 |
| 14. | Karl Malone | 23.90 |
| 15. | Dirk Nowitzki | 23.64 |
| 16. | Hakeem Olajuwon | 23.59 |
| 17. | Julius Erving | 23.57 |
| 18. | Kobe Bryant | 23.54 |
| 19. | Larry Bird | 23.50 |
| 20. | Kevin Garnett | 23.37 |
| 21. | Oscar Robertson | 23.17 |
| 22. | Yao Ming | 23.02 |
| 23. | Jerry West | 22.90 |
| 24. | Elgin Baylor | 22.70 |
| 25. | Dwight Howard | 22.39 |
