Missed shot leaders in the NBA
It's widely known that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the all-time leading scorer in the NBA, and LeBron stands a good chance of passing him when all is said and done.
What I've never seen before, is who is the all-time missed shots scoring leader? As in, who has missed the most points worth of shooting?
| Missed | Scored | Net | ||
| 1 | Kobe Bryant | 34,314 | 33,643 | -671 |
| 2 | LeBron James | 31,566 | 34,985 | 3,419 |
| 3 | Dirk Nowitzki | 29,357 | 31,560 | 2,203 |
| 4 | Elvin Hayes | 29,264 | 27,313 | -1,951 |
| 5 | Vince Carter | 29,200 | 25,728 | -3,472 |
| 6 | Karl Malone | 28,990 | 36,928 | 7,938 |
| 7 | John Havlicek | 28,054 | 26,395 | -1,659 |
| 8 | Carmelo Anthony | 27,897 | 26,794 | -1,103 |
| 9 | Kareem Abdul-Jabbar | 27,549 | 38,387 | 10,838 |
| 10 | Wilt Chamberlain | 27,437 | 31,419 | 3,982 |
| 11 | Michael Jordan | 27,332 | 32,292 | 4,960 |
| 12 | Allen Iverson | 26,995 | 24,368 | -2,627 |
| 13 | Paul Pierce | 26,927 | 26,397 | -530 |
| 14 | Dominique Wilkins | 26,179 | 26,668 | 489 |
| 15 | Ray Allen | 25,754 | 24,505 | -1,249 |
| 16 | Julius Erving | 25,215 | 30,026 | 4,811 |
| 17 | Elgin Baylor | 24,584 | 23,149 | -1,435 |
| 18 | Rick Barry | 24,277 | 25,279 | 1,002 |
| 19 | Jamal Crawford | 24,180 | 19,419 | -4,761 |
| 20 | Moses Malone | 23,867 | 29,580 | 5,713 |
Through the beginning of this season, LeBron is averaging 1,815 missed points per year. At that rate, he will pass Kobe next season.
Active players in the top 50:
| Missed | Scored | Net | ||
| 2 | LeBron James | 31,566 | 34,985 | 3,419 |
| 30 | Russell Westbrook | 22,560 | 20,759 | -1,801 |
| 43 | James Harden | 21,146 | 21,549 | 403 |
| 50 | Kevin Durant | 19,831 | 23,491 | 3,660 |
Surprises
I would have guessed that Kareem was the leader - it takes so many field goal attempts to score that many, you're going to have a lot of missed shots too. But not having taken a lot of 3-pointers really bails him out. They're lower-percentage shots, and worth more, so you're in double jeopardy if you take a lot of threes.
Missed-shot-Kobe would be 4th on the regular scoring list.
I was surprised with how many guys were underwater: 23 out of the top 50. Since the NBA/ABA merger, the player deepest in the hole is #23 Jason Kidd, at -5,711.
Kareem is the leader in net score, and it seems unlikely anyone is going to catch him, at least without the game changing dramatically - say, different three point rules.
Information courtesy Basketball-Reference.com. Stats reflect games played through February 17, 2021.