In the long history of the National Basketball Association, only twenty-one players have scored 25,000 points or more. To emphasize how special that is; there is twice the number of players that have scored 20,000 points than have scored hit the 25,000 point milestone.

The list is filled with many players you’d expect; players you can refer to by just their first names or by their nicknames: Kareem, Michael, Karl, Wilt, Kobe, Dirk and Moses. You also have Melo, KD, Shaq, Big O, KG, and Reggie. Here’s the full lisrt of all 23 players that have reached the 25,000 point milestone in their regular season careers.

I’m shocked to see Dirk so high up on the list; the 7-0 sharpshooter is #7 on this list. Barring injuries, Nowitzki will surpass Shaquille O’Neal for #6 ALL-TIME before 2016 despite never leading the league in scoring. Also, a bit of a surprise to see Paul Pierce on the list too. He’s never sniffed being the league leader in points (so hasn’t fellow 25K-member Kevin Garnett), so here’s to being a sustained performer.

Points are great and obviously a critical part of the game, and this list is full of NBA champions. In fact, only four players on this exclusive list never won an NBA championship: Karl Malone, Dominique Wilkins, Reggie Miller and Alex English. Four of the next five players that are short of 25,000 points also didn’t win a championship – Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Allen Iverson and Vince Carter.

The list also doesn’t include some big names that are usually in the discussion for the best NBA players of all time: Magic Johnson, Bill Russell and Larry Bird immediately come to mind.

The Youngest NBA Player to Score 25,000 Points

We’ve been all over the “youngest” record and how age has very little to do with “fastest” so we won’t get into it again. That said, not only was LeBron James the “youngest” to 20,000 NBA points, but he also became the “youngest” player to join the 25K club when he scored his 25,000th point at 30 years, 307 days old, “breaking” the Kobe Bryant’s “record” by 209 days. Bryant hit 25K at 31 years, 151 days old — Lebron turns 31 on December 30th. If Kevin Durant can remain healthy, look for LeBron’s “youngest” records to fall.

For a longer look and list of the NBA players that were the youngest and fastest to 25,000 points, click here.

Related Basketball Milestones Posts: LeBron James is youngest, but not fastest NBA player to score 30,000 points, Dirk is “Slowest” to 30,000 points, LeBron hits 28,000 points, Kobe Bryant Youngest, not Fastest NBA player to 30,000 points, The 40+ fastest players to score 20,000 NBA points, Carmelo scores 20,000 points