NBA
Luka Doncic to rewrite record books, 24 years after Shaquille O’Neal
The Dallas Mavericks point guard could make history if he goes on to win the 2024 NBA championship against the Boston Celtics.
Since the turn of the century, the NBA has seen a surge in scoring and has been home to some of the greatest offensive talents. Players like Allen Iverson, Tracy McGrady, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Joel Embiid have all finished the regular season as scoring leaders, yet none of them have won the championship in the same year.
What NBA record is Doncic chasing?
Now, Luka Doncic is on the brink of breaking the scoring champion’s curse. The Dallas Mavericks point guard will face the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals after averaging 33.86 points per game in the regular season, enough to lead the league in scoring.
The last player to lead the NBA in scoring during the regular season and hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy was Shaquille O’Neal in 2000. The center finished the 1999-00 season with an average of 29.7 points, which earned him the league MVP and a spot on the All-NBA First Team. His outstanding performance continued in the playoffs, where he secured his first title with the Lakers, averaging 30.7 points and 15.4 rebounds.
This achievement was a hallmark of Michael Jordan throughout the 1990s, as he led the league in scoring during each of the six championship seasons with the Chicago Bulls. His scoring averages were 31.46 in 1991, 30.05 in 1992, 32.58 in 1993, 30.38 in 1996, 29.65 in 1997, and 28.74 in 1998.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is another player who led the league in scoring and finished the season as a champion. Though it may seem surprising, ‘Cap’ achieved this feat in 1971 with the Milwaukee Bucks, not with the Los Angeles Lakers. George Mikan also belongs to this elite group, having done so in 1949 and 1950 with the Minneapolis Lakers.
Who was the first scoring and NBA champion?
The first player to be both the scoring champion and an NBA champion in the same year was Joe Fulks, a forward for the Philadelphia Warriors in the 1946-47 season, the inaugural season of the league then known as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). The Hall of Famer was the only Warriors player to average double digits during the regular season with 23.2 points per game and maintained a high level of performance in the postseason, thanks in part to the efforts of his teammate Angelo Musi.