Not surprisingly, many of the best players in history are a big part of the all-time NBA records, from Wilt Chamberlain scoring 100 points in a game to Michael Jordan setting the playoff high to LeBron James scoring the most points in history.
But the all-time lists vary, from lesser-known players such as Larry Kenon, Scott Skiles and Bismack Biyombo holding NBA records to the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers winning the most championships to other teams advancing to the NBA Finals after finishing below .500 during the regular season.
The all-time NBA records come in many shapes and sizes, including those for the most points, 3-pointers, rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots. In addition, there are player awards, winning streaks, team championships and more.
To help bring some of the fun storylines together, below is in an index of different all-time NBA records, streaks and tidbits to highlight the world’s premier basketball league:
All-Time NBA Records
NBA Player Records
Most Career Points in NBA History / Most Points in a Game / Most Points in a Game by a Rookie / Most 3-Pointers in a Game / Most Rebounds in a Game / Most Assists in a Game / Most Steals in NBA History / Most Blocked Shots in NBA History / Highest-Paid Players in NBA History / Nikola Jokic: Career-Best Performances / Jimmy Butler: Career-Best Performances
NBA Team Records
Highest-Scoring Games in NBA Regular Season / Best Team Records in NBA History / Worst Team Records in a Season / Best Single-Season Home Records / Worst Single-Season Home Records / Biggest Blowouts in a Season / Longest Winning Streaks in NBA History / Longest Losing Streaks in NBA History
NBA Playoff Records
Teams With the Most NBA Championships / Single-Season Playoff Records / Most Points in a Playoff Game / Most Points in a Playoff Game by a Rookie / Most 3-Pointers in a Playoff Game / Most Rebounds in a Playoff Game / Most Assists in a Playoff Game / Most Steals in a Playoff Game / Most Blocked Shots in a Playoff Game / Highest-Scoring NBA Finals Games / Most Points in an NBA Finals Game / Most NBA Finals MVP Awards / Longest NBA Playoff Droughts / Biggest Blowouts in NBA Playoffs / Teams to Win NBA Playoff Series After Trailing 3-1 / Worst Teams to Make NBA Finals by Record
NBA PLAYER RECORDS
Most Career Points in NBA History
LeBron James has the most career points in NBA history, overtaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in February 2023 on his way to becoming the first player to surpass 40,000 career points. Kevin Durant of the Phoenix Suns also is an active player in the top 10 of the NBA’s all-time list of scorers.
Most Points in a Game
Among all-time NBA records, Wilt Chamberlain provided one of the more iconic images when he held up a piece of paper with “100” written on it, reflecting how he set the record for most points in a game against the New York Knicks. Kobe Bryant ranks No. 2 on the list, but Wilt fills the top 15 five other times.
Most Points in a Game by a Rookie
Wilt Chamberlain scored the most points in an NBA game by a rookie – and he did it twice. He leads a rare list that perhaps surprisingly doesn’t include the likes of Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Larry Bird or Shaquille O’Neal.
Most 3-Pointers in a Game
Of course, Stephen Curry leads the list of players with the most 3-point field goals in NBA history, but he’s enjoyed support by his Golden State Warriors teammates, including Klay Thompson sinking the most 3-pointers in a game. The Milwaukee Bucks hold the team record.
Most Rebounds in a Game
The great individual rivalries in NBA history include Wilt Chamberlain vs. Bill Russell, and that extended to a duel for the most rebounds in a game.
Most Assists in a Game
Point guards aren’t the only players setting up their teammates, but they still do it the best. Eight Orlando Magic players scored in double figures when Scott Skiles set the NBA record with 30 assists in a game, breaking Kevin Porter’s 12-year-old record with the New Jersey Nets. All-time greats Bob Cousy of the Boston Celtics and John Stockton of the Utah Jazz also are in the top five.
Most Steals in NBA History
It takes a thief, and NBA coaches love them on the defensive end, where a steal can change momentum quickly. Larry Kenon of the San Antonio Spurs and Kendall Gill of the New Jersey Nets picked the pockets of opposing players. They’re also in the record books among those with the most steals in NBA history, including a game, season and career.
Most Blocked Shots in NBA History
Shaquille O’Neal blocked 15 shots in an NBA game. Manute Bol did it twice. Would you believe they don’t even hold the record for the most blocked shots in NBA history? Elmore Smith set the record with the Los Angeles Lakers more than 50 years ago.
Highest-Paid Players in NBA History
It’s good to be King James, as LeBron James will attest. He’s joined by the likes of Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and James Harden when it comes to the league’s highest career earnings. But as contract values continually grow, star players who followed LeBron into the league such as Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo are among the highest-paid players in NBA history.
Nikola Jokic: Career-Best Performances
The two NBA MVP Awards, a bunch of All-Star appearances and an NBA Finals MVP are telling. A look at Nikola Jokic’s career-best performances show why the Denver Nuggets star is one of the game’s best players.
Jimmy Butler: Career-High Performances
It always seems like NBA star Jimmy Butler gets hot at the right time of the season – in fact, in recent years he’s lifted the Miami Heat in the playoffs. A look at Butler’s career-best performances indicate how he’s become one of the more clutch players in the league.
NBA TEAM RECORDS
Highest-Scoring Games in NBA Regular Season
Let this score sink in: 186-184. No, it wasn’t an All-Star Game with no defense. It was the final score of the highest-scoring NBA game in history. The Detroit Pistons won that game – also claiming the most points by one team – and the losing team, the Denver Nuggets, have been a part of some of the NBA’s other all-time highest-scoring games.
Best Team Records in NBA History
Michael Jordan fueled the Chicago Bulls to 72 wins in the 1995-96 NBA season, followed by 69 more the next season. Untouchable? No, two decades later, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors established the best regular-season record in NBA history, incredibly keeping their losses to single digits. The Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers also are part of the top five.
Worst Team Records in a Season
How low did they go? In NBA history, 36 teams have won 20% or fewer of their games, compiling the list of the worst single-season records in a season. The list is fronted (“led,” if you will) by the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats, but who could forget the famed 73-loss Philadelphia 76ers team? Oh yes, another Sixers’ team nearly matched the misery.
Best Single-Season Home Records
Yup, you know the saying: Home, sweet home. Six teams in NBA history have finished with only one loss in a season, but the Larry Bird-led Boston Celtics in 1985-86 and the 2015-16 San Antonio Spurs share the record for best home winning percentage in a season. Adding to that storyline: Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan and the Spurs were denied perfection in their second-to-last home game.
Worst Single-Season Home Records
It’s not an all-time NBA record anyone will want, and the teams that are stuck with the worst single-season home records in history were not keeping their fans happy. Even Michael Jordan – the team owner, that is – couldn’t keep the 2011-12 Charlotte Bobcats off the list. The Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers know the list well.
Biggest Blowouts in a Season
Lopsided games of 20 or more points are typical in the NBA, but sometimes the margins blow up. In January 2024, the Oklahoma City Thunder won a game by 62 points, and that only tied for fifth among the biggest blowouts in an NBA regular season. The Thunder know blowouts – just over two years before the biggest win in franchise history, they were on the losing end of the largest margin in an NBA game.
Longest Winning Streaks in NBA History
Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors set the best record in an NBA regular season, but they didn’t quite catch the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers for the longest winning streak, either across a single season or on the road. One of the Lakers’ more star-studded rosters fueled that incredible streak.
Longest Losing Streaks in NBA History
You surely saw paper bags on some fans’ heads during the longest losing streaks in NBA history, but there’s no hiding from the losses that pile up. The Philadelphia 76ers first put together the league’s worst stretch over two seasons before the Detroit Pistons matched the 28 straight losses in a single season.
NBA PLAYOFF RECORDS
Teams With the Most NBA Championships
It’s probably easy to guess the Lakers and Celtics lead all teams with the most NBA championships. How they’ve stood the test of time reflects in their rosters, with the Lakers stretching from the likes of George Mikan to Jerry West to Magic Johnson to Kobe Bryant to LeBron James, and the Celtics from the Red Auerbach teams of Bill Russell and John Havlicek to Larry Bird to today’s contemporaries. Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls check in at No. 4 on the list of most NBA titles.
Single-Season Playoff Records
The 1982-83 Philadelphia 76ers didn’t quite accomplish Moses Malone’s “fo’, fo’, fo’” prediction of sweeping through the NBA playoffs, but they’re among the teams with the best playoff runs in terms of winning percentage. The Golden State Warriors particularly turned on the proverbial switch in the 2016-17 playoffs – perhaps not surprising after Kevin Durant joined the nucleus of Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.
Most Points in a Playoff Game
That the Chicago Bulls won six NBA titles behind Michael Jordan reflects in how he often took over games offensively. Not only does he hold the record for most points scored in an NBA playoff game with 63, he’s responsible for six of the top-16 performances in postseason history.
Most Points in a Playoff Game by a Rookie
Wilt Chamberlain gained a sweep of all-time NBA records when he added the most points in a playoff game by a rookie to what he did in his first regular season with the Philadelphia Warriors. Magic Johnson is in the top five, setting the rookie scoring record for an NBA Finals game.
Most 3-Pointers in a Playoff Game
Damian Lillard built up a resume of great playoff moments for the Portland Trail Blazers, including two series-winning buzzer-beaters. His 12 3-pointers against Denver in 2021 are the most 3-pointers in an NBA playoff game. Golden State Warriors Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson share the record for 3s in a postseason.
Most Rebounds in a Playoff Game
Similar to their work on the glass in the regular season, Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell had a duel for the most rebounds in a playoff game.
Most Assists in a Playoff Game
John Stockton and Magic Johnson had so much fun setting the NBA playoff record with 24 assists in a game, each nearly matched his big performance with 23 dimes in another game.
Most Steals in a Playoff Game
Allen Iverson was a big-time scorer, of course, but he also excelled on the defensive end, and no player has ever had as many steals in an NBA playoff game. And while Robert Horry is known for being on championship teams, he also holds the record for steals in the NBA Finals.
Most Blocked Shots in a Playoff Game
Defense takes on added precedence in the NBA playoffs, so it’s not surprising to see some of the more-skilled big men on the all-time leaderboard of blocked shots. Hakeem Olajuwon is tied for the most blocked shots in a playoff game, and the likes of Bill Walton, Patrick Ewing, Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan are among those with the NBA Finals high.
Highest-Scoring NBA Finals Games
The rival Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers flip-flopped wins in two of the highest-scoring NBA Finals games in history, but a 1967 matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and San Francisco Warriors stands clear of the rest, with six future Hall of Famers fueling the point-fest.
Most Points in an NBA Finals Game
It turned out Michael Jordan and Rick Barry could drive 55, but Elgin Baylor didn’t while setting the record for the most points in an NBA Finals game. Not surprisingly, the all-time list of scoring performances extends into recent seasons with the likes of LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Most NBA Finals MVP Awards
Hold ‘em high – the NBA Finals MVP Awards, that it. Those to claim the most in history include a “Who’s Who” list of all-time greats, with Michael Jordan at No. 1 to LeBron James to Magic Johnson to Shaquille O’Neal to Tim Duncan and beyond.
Longest NBA Playoff Droughts
Not exactly storied franchises, the Charlotte Hornets, Los Angeles Clippers, Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards have combined for some of the longest NBA playoff droughts. They’re on the kind of lists a team doesn’t want to be on.
Biggest Blowouts in NBA Playoffs
Come the second season, teams love to bring the hammer down on their opponents, and it reflects in the biggest blowouts in NBA playoff history. The Minneapolis Lakers and Denver Nuggets won playoff games by 58 points, while Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls laughed their way to a 42-point blowout of the Karl Malone- and John Stockton-led Utah Jazz in the NBA Finals.
Teams to Win NBA Playoff Series After Trailing 3-1
While no team has won four straight playoff games after dropping the first three of a series, there have been a select few that have rallied back to win Games 5, 6 and 7. The NBA’s 3-1 playoff comebacks include LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers rallying against a Golden State Warriors squad that posted the NBA’s best regular-season record.
Worst Teams to Make NBA Finals by Record
Teams that barely stay above the .500 mark during the regular season are usually an after-thought to win the NBA championship. A trio, most recently the Houston Rockets, posted losing records en route to becoming the worst teams to make the NBA Finals. While they didn’t quite finish the job, their postseason runs were remarkable.
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