While it is often said that defense wins championships, fans usually remember the greatest offensive players in NBA history more vividly. Being able to score points in a dominant fashion from the perimeter or the paint puts players in a special category of basketball history.
While most players would say that they prioritize winning NBA championships over scoring titles, there is something to be said in NBA history for being the type of scorer that led teams to victory each regular season.
The first scoring title trophy was won by “Jumping” Joe Fulks in the 1946-1947 season. He averaged 23.2 points per game that same season. That scoring average may not seem like that much today, but keep in mind that the three-point shot was not adopted in the NBA until the 1979-1980 regular season.
Legendary NBA Scoring Champion Trophy Winners
The 1960’s
Wilt Chamberlain
It’s hard to think of NBA scoring records and not think of Wilt Chamberlain. He averaged 30.1 points over his 15-year career while playing for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors(this was before they became the Golden State Warriors), the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Los Angeles Lakers. He won the scoring title seven times in his career, including the 1961-1962 season where he set a record. Wilt Chamberlain holds the single-season record for points per game in a year with 50.4. He amassed gaudy scoring totals while being just a 51.1% career free-throw shooter.
Elvin Hayes And Jerry West
Towards the end of the decade, Elvin Hayes started off his career with an absolute bang playing for the San Diego Rockets(who would later become the Houston Rockets). In his rookie season in the league, Hayes scored the most total points in the league, and won the scoring title with an average of 28.4 points per game in 1968-1969.
While Hayes bounced around the league in his career, Jerry West spent his entire career with the Los Angeles Lakers. He’s better known to the current generation as a brilliant general manager, but he was a tremendous scorer. “The logo” as he is known, led the league in scoring in 1969-1970 with 31.2 points per game average. West was also a terrific clutch player who came up big in the playoffs.
The 1970’s
The 1970s was a notable decade for some of the league’s most legendary scorers. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won two scoring titles early on in the decade and has the most total points scored out of any player in NBA history. Bob McAdoo was a scoring machine for the Buffalo Braves in the middle of the decade and captured three straight scoring crowns. Perhaps the most flashy and exciting NBA scoring champion of the 1970s was New Orleans Jazz forward Pete Maravich, who played the game with a flair rarely seen in league history.
George Gervin
However, the NBA was in for a special treat towards the end of the 1970s when San Antonio came into the league from the ABA. The San Antonio Spurs had one of the greatest scorers of all time in George Gervin, who was infamous for his patented “finger rolls” that would swish into the basket over giants like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He won three straight scoring crowns in the ’70s and added another one to his mantle in the early 1980s. Had he spent his entire career in the league, his assault on the NBA scoring record books could have begun much earlier.
The 1980’s
Even though the ’80s were primarily known as a decade dominated by stars like Larry Bird and Magic Johnson and teams like the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, the decade featured some of the most revered prolific scorers in the league history. Before the John Stockton and Karl Malone era got underway with the Utah Jazz, it was Adrian Dantley who was lighting up NBA scoring sheets.
He won scoring titles in the 1980-1981 and 1983-1984 seasons. Alex English of the Denver Nuggets and Bernard King of the New York Knicks have also accomplished scorers, as they each would win a scoring title in the ’80s. Perhaps best known for dunking, Atlanta Hawks superstar forward Dominique Wilkins could score all over the floor, as he won the scoring crown in 1985-1986.
But all of this pales in comparison to…
Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan’s level of NBA dominance goes unrivaled in NBA history. He may not be the career total points leader in league history like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but his stretch of winning 10 scoring titles in 12 years may never be seen again. Other players could do very little to stop Michael Jordan (Chicago Bulls) when he got hot, and his excellence in the playoffs is well documented.
Even though active players might view Kobe Bryant or LeBron James as their idols, it was Michael Jordan who elevated the NBA to a whole new level of popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain are the only players in NBA history to average 37 points per game or more in a regular season.
The Rest of The 1990’s
Michael Jordan didn’t leave much room for anyone else to get attention in the ’90s, but there were a few players who were able to win scoring titles during seasons where Jordan wasn’t in the league. San Antonio added another scoring champion in 1993-1994, as David Robinson paced the league averaging 29.8 points per game. Shaquille O’Neal won two scoring titles with two different teams, the Orlando Magic and the Los Angeles Lakers. O’Neal’s size, strength, and touch around the rim made him an extremely difficult cover.
The 2000’s
While Shaquille O’Neal kept centers relevant in the scoring title conversation in the ’90s, he was the last true big man to lead the league in points per game. The next decade ushered in scoring champions like Allen Iverson from the Philadelphia 76ers, Tracy McGrady from the Orlando Magic, Kobe Bryant from the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Kevin Durant from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Iverson won three scoring crowns in the decade, while Kobe Bryant won two after O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat.
It might surprise some to think that James has only won one scoring title, and did not win any in his prime while he was with the Miami Heat. James is fast ascending up the career list in total points scored, and it is his longevity rather than individual regular season performance that will be his claim to fame.
The 2010’s through the Present
For a small-market franchise, the Oklahoma City Thunder have been well represented in the scoring champion department. Kevin Durant started the 2010’s with a bang, winning two straight scoring titles, and Russell Westbrook won two scoring crowns later in the decade.
Westbrook’s 2016-2017, was especially historic, as he won the scoring title, and became the first player to average a triple-double for an entire season since Oscar Robertson. From 2017-2020, Houston Rockets guard James Harden captured three straight titles with his unique ability to make step-back three-pointers and get to the free-throw line. With his barrage of three-pointers, it is somewhat surprising that Stephen Curry has only managed to win two scoring crowns in his career.
But as one of the premier active players in the game, he is well on his way to winning a couple more before his career is through. While playing for the New York Knicks, Carmelo Anthony was also able to win a scoring title in the last decade; he is ninth in all-time points scored.
Who has scored 3000 points in a season?
Only Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan managed to score more than 3000 points. Chamberlain managed to repeat this feat three times, once scoring over 4000 points. Michael Jordan managed 3041 points in the 1986-87 season.
Who has the most scoring titles in NBA history?
Wilt Chamberlain with seven consecutive titles.
