Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden hit a major career milestone while playing against one of his former teams on Monday night. With his point production in the first half of the game against the Philadelphia 76ers, Harden eclipsed 28,000 career points.
James Harden becomes 11th player ever to score 28,000 points
Harden is just the 11th player in NBA history to reach the 28,000-point plateau. The other 10 players are LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, Dirk Nowitzki, Wilt Chamberlain, Kevin Durant, Shaquille O'Neal and Carmelo Anthony.
Congrats to @JHarden13 of the @LAClippers on surpassing 28,000 career points! Pic.twitter.com/IvbISkPQUh
— NBA (@NBA) November 18, 2025
All of those players are Hall-of-Famers, or surefire Hall-of-Famers, and Harden will ultimately join those ranks when he eventually hangs up his signature Adidas sneakers. He's not quite ready to do that, though.
Harden is currently No. 11 on the NBA's all-time scoring list, but he needs less than 300 points to pass Anthony and move into the top 10. Barring a serious injury, that will happen later this season. He should also have an opportunity to pass O'Neal later this season if he maintains his current level of production.
Clearly, Harden is one of the best scorers that the game has ever seen, so it's only fitting that he'll be remembered that way in the history books.
The impressive thing about Harden is that he's been almost equally as productive when it comes to passing the rock. He's currently 13th in NBA history in all-time assists, but he'll have an opportunity to climb up that list, too. He needs less than 100 to pass Andre Miller and move up to 12th.
Harden is in the midst of his 16th season in the league, but his production – and workload – remain high. This season he's averaging 26.0 points, 9.0 assists, and 6.3 rebounds in 36.1 minutes per game for the Clippers.