Who Leads Scoring in the NBA?
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Who Leads Scoring in the NBA? We take a look at the top five scorers in the league and make our predictions for who will take home the scoring title this season.
Introduction
In the National Basketball Association (NBA), points are used to measure the success of a player or team through scoring. The player or team that scores the most points during a game is said to have “won” the game by “outscoring” the opposing side. Points can be accumulated through free throws or field goals. A free throw, worth 1 point, is awarded to a player who is fouled while shooting by the opposing team. A field goal, worth 2 or 3 points depending on where it is shot from, is awarded to a player who throws the ball through the basket on their own accord.
Current leading scorers in the NBA
Entering the 2019-2020 season, here are the current leading scorers in the NBA:
1. James Harden – Houston Rockets
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo – Milwaukee Bucks
3. Trae Young – Atlanta Hawks
4. Damian Lillard – Portland Trail Blazers
5. Kemba Walker – Boston Celtics
All-time leading scorers in the NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional men’s basketball league in North America, composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). It is widely considered to be the premier men’s professional basketball league in the world.
The all-time leading scorer in NBA history is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who scored 38,387 points during his 20-year career with the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers.
Karl Malone is second on the list with 36,928 points, while LeBron James is third with 34,241 points. Michael Jordan (32,292), Kobe Bryant (33,643) and Dirk Nowitzki (31,560) round out the top six.
Wilt Chamberlain, Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O’Neal, Moses Malone and Oscar Robertson are also among the all-time leading scorers in NBA history.
Factors that contribute to scoring in the NBA
Several factors contribute to scoring in the NBA. The first is pace, or the number of possessions a team has per game. The second is offensive efficiency, or the number of points a team scores per 100 possessions. The third is free throw rate, or the number of free throws a team takes per 100 field goal attempts. The fourth is turnover rate, or the number of turnovers a team commits per 100 possessions.
The fifth and final factor is usage rate, or the percentage of team possessions a player uses while he is on the court. Players with high usage rates tend to score more points because they have the ball in their hands more often. However, players with high usage rates also tend to have lower offensive efficiency because they often take bad shots when they are fatigued.
The following table shows the top 10 scorers in the NBA as of February 8, 2021, along with their team’s pace, offensive efficiency, free throw rate, turnover rate, and usage rate.
Conclusion
The answer may surprise you but, as of right now, LeBron James leads the NBA in points per game with 28.1. He is followed by Kevin Durant with 27.4 and James Harden with 26.8.
