James Harden gets real on passing Shaq on the NBA all-time scoring list

INGLEWOOD, CA — James Harden and the Los Angeles Clippers continued their strong play on Monday night, defeating the Charlotte Hornets who had won three of their previous five games, including a win agains the defending NBA Champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

The night started with Harden’s 11 first-quarter points, placing him just four points away from passing Shaquille O’Neal for ninth on the NBA’s All-Time Scoring List. Harden struggled in the second quarter, finishing with just two points on 1-of-7 shooting, but reached the milestone when he scored 11 points in the third quarter on 4-of-8 shooting.

With this bucket, James Harden has surpassed Shaq for 9th on the all-time scoring list pic.twitter.com/D4HZIQgQSi https://t.co/zai5Ndgv99

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) January 13, 2026

Harden finished the game with 32 points, four rebounds, 10 assists, and four steals, making it the 109th time in hia NBA career that he recorded a 30+ point, 10+ assist game. The Clippers star discussed passing Shaq on the all-time scoring list after the game.

“It’s definitely special just because you grew up watching these players,” Harden said after the Clippers’ 117-109 victory. “Some you played against, some you watched as a younger kid, so it’s definitely special. Shaq is someone that I’ve watched being a hometown kid in L.A., watched him, Kobe, and the Lakers do some special things here for the city. He’s the most dominant center of all time, so it’s definitely an honor and it’s special.”

James Harden on passing Shaq for 9th on the NBA's All-Time Scoring list:

“It's definitely special just because you grew up watching these players. Some you played against, some you watched as a younger kid, so it's definitely special. Shaq is someone that I've watched being a… pic.twitter.com/P3rGYmUN7t

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) January 13, 2026

James Harden, who grew up in Los Angeles and went to high school in Artesia, grew up watching the Los Angeles Lakers win three NBA Championships led by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal in the early 2000’s. The Clippers guard was drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the third pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, and has gone on to have a stellar, 17-year NBA career that has seen him play 1,187 regular season games and 173 playoff games.

At 36 years of age, James Harden is tied for the sixth oldest player in the NBA, with guys like LeBron James (41), Kevin Durant (37), Stephen Curry (37), and Russell Westbrook (37) right there alongside him.

In the Clippers’ victory over the Hornets, Harden also extended his lead in 30-point, 10-assist games with the 109th such game of his career. That’s second in NBA history behind only Oscar Robertson, who has 227 of them in his career.

Does that particular statistic mean anything to him?

“Yeah! I worked my butt off,” Harden replied. “I felt like I work hard. You don’t understand how hard it is to work and then the longevity of it. It’s a handful of guys that understand it and know it. A couple of them are still playing at a high level, which is a beautiful thing to see. And for the young guys to understand, the NBA and basketball, you’ve really got to cherish it because it can get you to different places that we never dreamed that we could be in. It’s opened up doors, built relationships with people we’d never thought we’d meet. Cherish it, embrace it, love it, because once it’s over, it’s over.

“You’re watching guys like LeBron [James], Stepheb [Curry], [Kevin Durant], and Russell [Westbrook] do their thing at the highest levels, still, at our age. It’s a beautiful thing to see. It’s a testament to those guys and the work that we’ve put in to still be doing it this long.”

James Harden praised LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and Russell Westbrook when I asked him about recording his 109th career game of 30+ points and 10+ assists:

“Yeah! I worked my butt off. I felt like I work hard. You don't understand how hard it is to work and then… pic.twitter.com/5Vni139peY

— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) January 13, 2026

Up next for James Harden — with 28,614 career points — on the all-time scoring list is Wilt Chamberlain, who sits in eighth place with 31,419 career points. The only active players ahead of the Clippers star on the all-time scoring list are Kevin Durant (31,486) and LeBron James (42,654).

The post James Harden gets real on passing Shaq on the NBA all-time scoring list appeared first on ClutchPoints.