List of National Basketball Association annual scoring leaders


In basketball, points are accumulated through free throws or field goals. The National Basketball Association's scoring title is awarded to the player with the highest points per game average in a given season. The scoring title was originally determined by total points scored through the 1968–69 season, after which points per game was used to determine the leader instead. Players who earned scoring titles before the 1979–80 season did not record any three-point field goals because the three-point line had just been implemented in the NBA at the start of that season. To qualify for the scoring title, the player must appear in at least 58 games. However, a player who appears in fewer than 58 games may qualify as annual scoring leader if his point total would have given him the greatest average, had he appeared in 58 games. This has been the requirement since the 2013–14 season, with requirements changing several times previously throughout history.
Wilt Chamberlain holds the all-time records for total points scored and points per game in a season; both records were achieved in the 1961–62 season. He also holds the rookie records for points per game when he averaged 37.6 points in the 1959–60 season. Among active players, James Harden has the highest point total and the highest scoring average in a season; both were achieved in the 2018–19 season.
Michael Jordan has won the most scoring titles, with ten. Jordan and Chamberlain are the only players to have won seven consecutive scoring titles. George Gervin, Allen Iverson and Kevin Durant have won four scoring titles in their career, and George Mikan, Neil Johnston and Bob McAdoo have achieved it three times. Paul Arizin, Bob Pettit, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O'Neal, Tracy McGrady, Kobe Bryant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden have each won the scoring title twice. Since the 1946–47 season, five players have won both the scoring title and the NBA championship in the same season: Fulks in 1947 with the Philadelphia Warriors, Mikan from 1949 to 1950 with the Minneapolis Lakers, Abdul-Jabbar in 1971 with the Milwaukee Bucks, Jordan from 1991 to 1993 and from 1996 to 1998 with the Chicago Bulls, and O'Neal in 2000 with the Los Angeles Lakers. Since the introduction of the three-point field goal, O'Neal is the only scoring leader to have made no three-pointers in his winning season. The longest interval separating multiple scoring title wins by the same player is 4 seasons, shared by Arizin and O'Neal in the seasons between 1952 and 1957 and 1995 to 2000 respectively.
At 21 years and 197 days, Durant is the youngest scoring leader in NBA history, averaging 30.1 points in the 2009–10 season. Russell Westbrook led the league with an average of 31.6 points in the 2016–17 season, when he also became the second NBA player to average a triple-double in a season. The most recent champion is James Harden.

Key

Scoring leaders

SeasonPlayerAgePosTeamGames
played		Field goals
made		3-point
field goals
made		Free throws
made		Total
points		Points per
game		Ref
*25F/CPhiladelphia Warriors60475—4391,38923.2
22G/FChicago Stags48373—2611,00721.0
*24CMinneapolis Lakers60583—5321,69828.3
* 25CMinneapolis Lakers68649—5671,86527.4
* 26CMinneapolis Lakers68678—5761,93228.4
*23F/GPhiladelphia Warriors66548—5781,67425.4
*23CPhiladelphia Warriors70504—5561,56422.3
* 24CPhiladelphia Warriors72591—5771,75924.5
* 25CPhiladelphia Warriors72521—5891,63122.7
*23F/CSt. Louis Hawks72646—5571,84925.7
* 28F/GPhiladelphia Warriors71613—5911,81725.6
*29F/GDetroit Pistons72673—6552,00127.8
* 26F/CSt. Louis Hawks72719—6672,10529.2
*23CPhiladelphia Warriors721,065—5772,70737.6
* 24CPhiladelphia Warriors791,251—5313,03338.4
* 25CPhiladelphia Warriors801,597—8354,02950.4
* 26CSan Francisco Warriors801,463—6603,58644.8
* 27CSan Francisco Warriors801,204—5402,94836.9
* 28CSan Francisco Warriors
Philadelphia 76ers		731,063—4082,53434.7
* 29CPhiladelphia 76ers791,074—5012,64933.5
*22FSan Francisco Warriors781,011—7532,77535.6
*24GDetroit Pistons79835—4722,14227.1
*23F/CSan Diego Rockets82930—4672,32728.4
*31GLos Angeles Lakers74831—6472,30931.2
*23CMilwaukee Bucks821,063—4702,59631.7
* 24CMilwaukee Bucks811,159—5042,82234.8
*24GKansas City-Omaha Kings801,028—6632,71934.0
*22C/FBuffalo Braves74901—4592,26130.6
* 23C/FBuffalo Braves821,095—6412,83134.5
* 24C/FBuffalo Braves78934—5592,42731.1
*29GNew Orleans Jazz73886—5012,27331.1
*25G/FSan Antonio Spurs82864—5042,23227.2
* 26G/FSan Antonio Spurs80947—4712,36529.6
* 27G/FSan Antonio Spurs781,024325052,58533.1
*24F/GUtah Jazz8090926322,45230.7
* 29G/FSan Antonio Spurs79993105552,55132.3
*29FDenver Nuggets8295924062,32628.4
* 27F/GUtah Jazz7980218132,41830.6
*28FNew York Knicks5569114261,80932.9
*26FAtlanta Hawks78888135772,36630.3
*23GChicago Bulls821,098128333,04137.1
* 24GChicago Bulls821,06977232,86835.0
* 25GChicago Bulls81966276742,63332.5
* 26GChicago Bulls821,034925932,75333.6
* 27GChicago Bulls82990295712,58031.5
* 28GChicago Bulls80943274912,40430.1
* 29GChicago Bulls78992814762,54132.6
*28CSan Antonio Spurs80840106932,38329.8
*22COrlando Magic7993004552,31529.3
* 32GChicago Bulls829161115482,49130.4
* 33GChicago Bulls829201114802,43129.6
* 34GChicago Bulls82881305652,35728.7
*23GPhiladelphia 76ers48435583561,28426.8
* 27CLos Angeles Lakers7995604322,34429.7
* 25GPhiladelphia 76ers71762985852,20731.1
* 26GPhiladelphia 76ers60665784751,88331.4
*23G/FOrlando Magic758291735762,40732.1
* 24G/FOrlando Magic676531743981,87828.0
* 29GPhiladelphia 76ers757711046562,30230.7
*27GLos Angeles Lakers809781806962,83235.4
* 28GLos Angeles Lakers778131376672,43031.6
^23FCleveland Cavaliers757941135492,25030.0
27GMiami Heat79854885902,38630.2
^21FOklahoma City Thunder827941287562,47230.1
^ 22FOklahoma City Thunder787111455942,16127.7
^ 23FOklahoma City Thunder666431334311,85028.0
^28FNew York Knicks676691574251,92028.7
^ 25FOklahoma City Thunder818491927032,59332.0
^26GOklahoma City Thunder67627865461,88628.1
^28GGolden State Warriors798054023632,37530.1
^ 28GOklahoma City Thunder818242007102,55831.6
James Harden^28GHouston Rockets726512656242,19130.4
James Harden^ 29GHouston Rockets788433787542,81836.1

Multiple-time leaders