Clippers' James Harden joins rare NBA scoring club

James Harden doesn't often come to mind when listing the top players in NBA history. But there is one thing you can't doubt about Harden: The man can score with the best of them.

Harden moved into 10th place on the NBA's career scoring list when he fittingly hit a pair of free throws in the third quarter of the Los Angeles Clippers' 109-106 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday. The second free throw gave Harden 28,290 points, one more than Carmelo Anthony, a former teammate with the Houston Rockets. 

Harden, who was 20 points shy of Anthony before the game vs. the Timberwolves, finished with 34 points.

James Harden is still playing at an elite level

A 6-foot-5 guard, Harden is having a bit of a renaissance season. He entered Saturday averaging 26.5 points per game, the most since 2019-20, the last of his three consecutive seasons averaging 30 or more points when he put up a career-best 34.3 points per game. That was also the last of his three straight seasons leading the NBA in scoring.

Harden has been a mercurial NBA star. Now in his 17th season, Harden has played for five teams, including the Clippers for the last three. After being drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2009 draft out of Arizona State, Harden was traded just before the 2012-13 season to the Rockets.