{"id":31492,"date":"2020-06-17T07:00:44","date_gmt":"2020-06-17T11:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/?p=31492"},"modified":"2020-06-17T06:41:22","modified_gmt":"2020-06-17T10:41:22","slug":"the-best-scoring-small-forwards-in-nba-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2020\/06\/17\/the-best-scoring-small-forwards-in-nba-history\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Scoring Small Forwards in NBA History"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Everybody knows that you will only go far as your wing player in the playoffs. The best three players in the NBA play on the wing. They are <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jamesle01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">LeBron James<\/a><\/strong>, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/duranke01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Durant<\/a><\/strong>, and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/leonaka01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kawhi Leonard<\/a><\/strong>.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>All three players were Finals MVPs in the past couple of years and they have dominated the competition time and time again. The wing player is the most exciting position in the NBA. The best scoring small forwards in NBA history have inspired us because they can do the impossible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Some are high flyers and some can take over games with their shot-creating ability. Small forwards that can score at a high-level period are hard to find. These small forwards though were able to realize their potential and dominate the game and are the top five scoring small forwards on the all-time scoring list in NBA history.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Best Scoring Small Forwards in NBA History<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">Best Scoring Small Forwards #5: Vince Carter<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">One of the longest-tenured players in NBA history is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cartevi01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Vince Carter<\/strong><\/a>. Carter played his last season this year after 20 years. At every level, he was able to excel. Currently, he is 19th on the All-Time list with 25,728 points. Carter was known as a high flyer earlier in his career. He was able to break games open with his ability to dunk over people. He has arguably the best dunk in basketball history when he dunked on 7\u20192&#8221; French center Frederic Weis.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Vince Carter Top 40 Plays of Career\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3ii5T-JOZH4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Carter was able to eventually step out from the three-point line and create his own shot from there. The ability to create his own shot extended his stardom. For his career, Carter averaged 16.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists. He shot 37.1 percent from three. Carter is one of the unforgettable legends of the game.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">#4: Carmelo Anthony<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/a\/anthoca01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Carmelo Anthony<\/strong><\/a> had a down couple years after the disaster with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/oklahoma-city-thunder\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Oklahoma City Thunder<\/a>. One should not forget Anthony\u2019s talent though. We have seen a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/story\/_\/id\/28234156\/carmelo-anthony-feels-belongs-again-trail-blazers\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">revival now<\/a> while he has been on the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/portland-trail-blazers\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Portland Trail Blazers<\/a>. When his career is over though he will be known as one of the greatest scorers ever. He is 17th on the all-time scoring list with 26,314 points.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Carmelo Anthony&#039;s Top 10 Plays of his Career\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/a5LMozhAeUg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Anthony has the ability to pull up mid-range and be efficient from there all game. His three-point shot is flawless and he has been able to take over games singlehandedly. Anthony averages 23.6 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 2.9 assists so far in his career. The sharpshooter is not done yet.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">#3: Paul Pierce<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/p\/piercpa01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Paul Pierce<\/strong><\/a> is a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/nba-teams\/boston-celtics\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Boston Celtics<\/a> legend. One of the many. He is the first player on this list that was able to win a championship. In 2008 as a long time member of the Celtics he was able to take the illustrious franchise back to glory. He was the Finals MVP also. Pierce is 15th on the all-time list with 26,397 points.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Paul Pierce Top 34 Plays Of His Career!\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lh0YxMd3FfU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Pierce had a three-point point shot that was used to break a lot of hearts. He was able to finish runs off with dagger three-pointer after another. Pierce is ninth in NBA history in terms of three-pointers made with 2,143. For his career, he averaged 19.7 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.5 assists. Pierce is the last Boston Celtic great.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">#2: Dominique Wilkins<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/wilkido01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong>Dominique Wilkins<\/strong><\/a> is the only Hall of Famer on this list. He is one of the greatest scorers in NBA history. He is 13th on the all-time list with 26,668 points. Wilkins was able to score efficiently. For his career, he shot 46.1 percent from the field. He was known as the human highlight film. He has plenty of highlights of him dunking over opponents.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Dominique Wilkins CRAZY Dunk Reel! Over 10 Minutes Of Highlights\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/AS5putGxdcI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Wilkins was a highly productive player even though he never won a championship.\u00a0 He averaged 24.8 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.5 assists for his career. Wilkins was one of the greatest players of the 80s and 90s. His Hall of Fame honor was well deserved.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"p1\"><strong><span class=\"s1\">#1: LeBron James<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Nobody has been able to stay <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/2019\/06\/20\/top-five-small-forwards-of-all-time-in-nba-history\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">consistent<\/a> as long as LeBron James. While James is not a score-first player he is still the third scorer all-time with 34,087 points currently. James has been able to pass his predecessors on the list in <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jordami01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Jordan<\/a><\/strong> and <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bryanko01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kobe Bryant<\/a><\/strong>. The top spot is not a far reach either. He has the most rings out of anybody on this list with three.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Best Of LeBron James | 2019-20 NBA Season\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/N1SLd93oF5w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">The three-point line is not his strongest suit but he has been able to reinvent himself and knock it down well enough. Putting his back to the basket has also extended his career. He is averaging 27.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 7.4 assists right now for his career. Those numbers are ridiculous. James is the ultimate all-around player.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<br \/>\n<a id=\"b-Nl7EPDQxF_u8WeMLbsJA\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1174970091\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'b-Nl7EPDQxF_u8WeMLbsJA',sig:'fppHrI1WF4VfpKW5i4wtdG59xeTbjU7m4WTEvBlu8_U=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1174970091',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Everybody knows that you will only go far as your wing player in the playoffs. The best three players in the NBA play on the wing. They are LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Kawhi Leonard.\u00a0 All three players were Finals MVPs in the past couple of years and they have dominated the competition time and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2667,"featured_media":31510,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[67,2064,168,69,38,361,933],"class_list":["post-31492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","tag-carmelo-anthony","tag-dominique-wilkins","tag-kawhi-leonard","tag-kevin-durant","tag-lebron-james","tag-paul-pierce","tag-vince-carter"],"modified_by":"Tyler Marling","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2667"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}