Unless something completely unexpected happens, Kevin Durant is going to finish as the NBA’s scoring champion for the fourth time in five years, becoming only the fifth player in league history to finish on top of the scoring charts so many times, joining Allen Iverson, George Gervin, Wilt Chamberlain and Michael Jordan.
Durant is currently averaging 31 points per game, with LeBron James’ 26.2 being the closest to him. Carmelo Anthony, last year’s scoring leader, is averaging 26.1. In any case, it doesn’t seem like anyone is going to catch up with him, which will make it four for Durant, who is only in his 7th NBA season.
Allen Iverson – 4 Times
Allen Iverson is probably one of the least efficient great scorers in NBA history, finishing his career with a 42.5% completion rate from the field. He won all of his scoring titles (And his MVP) while playing for the Sixers before beginning his league wide tour, playing in Denver, Detroit, Memphis and Philadelphia again. He led the NBA in scoring four times: First in the shortened 1998-1999 season with 26.8 points per game (first year after Jordan’s second retirement); again in 2000-2001 with 31.4 points per game, completing back-to-back scoring titles in 2002 with 31.1 points a night. He won his fourth in the 2004-2005 season, averaging 30.7 points per game.
George Gervin – 4 Times
Gervin “wasted” the first four years of his pro career in the ABA, but he was never the top scorer in the league that later merged (or got swallowed to be more exact) by the NBA. He spent almost his entire NBA career in San Antonio before a finale season in Chicago (playing alongside Michael Jordan). He led the NBA in scoring four times, winning it in a span of five season. The first came in 1977-1978 averaging 27.2 points (finishing only 60 points ahead of David Thompson), followed by 1978-1979 with 29.6, 1979-1980 with 33.1 and in 1981-1982 with 32.3 points a night.
Wilt Chamberlain – 7 Times
Obviously, the player with the highest scoring game in NBA history is going to have quite a few scoring titles. Chamberlain won the scoring title seven consecutive times on his first seven seasons in the NBA, mostly playing for the Philadelphia / San Francisco Warriors before moving to the Philadelphia 76ers. He averaged 37.6 points in 1959-1960, 38.4 points in 1960-1961, 50.4 points in 1961-1962, 44.8 points in 1962-1963, 36.9 points in 1963-1964, 34.7 points in 1964-1965 and 33.5 points in 1965-1966. He won two NBA championships later in his career, but both came during seasons when he was no longer the best scorer in the league.
Michael Jordan – 10
Michael Jordan leads the NBA in career scoring average with 30.12 points per game, which is hurt by his two elderly years with the Wizards. If you count only his Chicago Bulls days, the “real” Michael Jordan years, you’ll get an improved 31.48 scoring average. Jordan needed a couple of years before beginning to dominate the scoring charts. He won it for the first time in the 1986-1987 season, averaging 37.1 points per game. He kept leading the league in scoring in the next six season, with his average generally dropping: 35, 32.5, 33.6, 31.5, 30.1 and then back up to 32.6 in his first retirement season. He won the scoring title three more times during his second three-peat years: 30.4, 29.6 and 28.7 from 1996 to 1998. He led the NBA in total points during his rookie season, but the scoring title went to Bernard King.