NFL Salary Cap 10-Year Trend & NBA All-Time Scoring Leaders

Data-driven sports analysis — free to reference and cite. Last updated: July 2026

Data sourced from NFL Operations & Basketball Reference. Compiled by zflix.site.

🏈 NFL Salary Cap: 2017–2026

Annual Salary Cap (Millions USD) — Click bar for details

2017

$167.0M

2018

$177.2M

2019

$188.2M

2020

$198.2M

2021

$182.5M

2022

$208.2M

2023

$224.8M

2024

$255.4M

2025

$279.2M

2026

$301.2M

💡 Key Insight: The NFL salary cap has grown from $167M in 2017 to $301.2M in 2026 — an 80% increase over 10 years. The only dip occurred in 2021 ($182.5M) due to COVID-19 revenue losses. The 2026 figure marks the first time the cap has exceeded $300M.

🏀 NBA All-Time Scoring Leaders (Top 15)

Rank	Player	Points	Games	PPG	Career
1	LeBron James ACTIVE	43,440	1,622	26.8	2003-2026
2	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	38,387	1,560	24.6	1969-1989
3	Karl Malone	36,928	1,476	25.0	1985-2004
4	Kobe Bryant	33,643	1,346	25.0	1996-2016
5	Kevin Durant ACTIVE	32,597	1,201	27.1	2007-Present
6	Michael Jordan	32,292	1,072	30.1	1984-2003
7	Dirk Nowitzki	31,560	1,522	20.7	1998-2019
8	Wilt Chamberlain	31,419	1,045	30.1	1959-1973
9	James Harden ACTIVE	29,339	1,221	24.0	2009-Present
10	Shaquille O'Neal	28,596	1,207	23.7	1992-2011
11	Carmelo Anthony	28,289	1,260	22.5	2003-2022
12	Moses Malone	27,409	1,329	20.6	1976-1995
13	Elvin Hayes	27,313	1,303	21.0	1968-1984
14	Hakeem Olajuwon	26,946	1,238	21.8	1984-2002
15	Stephen Curry ACTIVE	26,467	1,053	25.1	2009-Present

💡 Key Insight: LeBron James stands alone at #1 with 43,440 career points — nearly 5,000 ahead of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Three active players remain in the top 15: LeBron James (#1), Kevin Durant (#5), and Stephen Curry (#15). Michael Jordan still holds the highest career PPG average (30.1) among the top 10.

Data: NFL Operations (operations.nfl.com), Basketball Reference (basketball-reference.com). Compiled July 2026.