NBL All-Time Scoring History
The National Basketball League operated from 1937 through 1949 and
featured many of the leading professional basketball players of the
pre-NBA era.
Bobby McDermott finished as the NBL's all-time career
scoring leader with 3,583 points, followed by
Leroy Edwards with 3,221.
Among players with shorter but dominant NBL careers,
George Mikan posted the highest scoring average listed
here at approximately 19.9 points per game.
All-Time NBL Career Scoring Leaders
| Rank |
Player |
Teams |
Games |
Points |
PPG |
| 1 |
Bobby McDermott |
Fort Wayne / Chicago / Sheboygan / Tri-Cities |
287 |
3,583 |
12.5 |
| 2 |
Leroy Edwards |
Oshkosh |
322 |
3,221 |
10.0 |
| 3 |
Gene Englund |
Oshkosh |
238 |
2,600 |
10.9 |
| 4 |
Ed Dancker |
Sheboygan / Oshkosh |
321 |
2,490 |
7.7 |
| 5 |
Al Cervi |
Buffalo / Rochester / Syracuse |
187 |
2,326 |
12.4 |
| 6 |
Don Otten |
Buffalo / Tri-Cities |
168 |
2,292 |
13.6 |
| 7 |
Michael Novak |
Chicago / Sheboygan / Syracuse |
267 |
2,279 |
8.5 |
| 8 |
Bob Carpenter |
Oshkosh / Hammond |
209 |
2,140 |
10.2 |
| 9 |
George Glamack |
Akron / Rochester / Indianapolis / Hammond |
202 |
2,138 |
10.5 |
| 10 |
Jake Pelkington |
Akron / Fort Wayne |
226 |
1,949 |
8.6 |
All-Time NBL Scoring Leaders by Average
| Rank |
Player |
Points Per Game |
| 1 |
George Mikan
|
19.9 |
| 2 |
Mel Riebe |
18.9 |
| 3 |
Chuck Chuckovits |
13.7 |
| 4 |
Don Otten |
13.6 |
| 5 |
Arnie Risen |
13.0 |
Notes
Career totals shown here cover regular-season National Basketball
League games only.
Team names are expanded from the abbreviations used on the original
page to make the historical records easier to understand.
George Mikan scored 1,608 points in 81 NBL regular-season games,
an average of approximately 19.9 points per game.
The NBL merged with the Basketball Association of America following
the 1948-49 season, creating the league that became the modern NBA.
