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Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid earned the NBA scoring title this season after posting an unbeatable 30.6 points-per-game average. Embiid became the first true center since Shaquille O'Neal in the 1999-00 season with the LA Lakers to lead the league in scoring.
The scoring average was Embiid's career high (in his sixth season). And he finally managed to stay relatively healthy throughout the season.
Along with the 30.6 ppg, Embiid also posted a career-high in games played (68) and a career-best 4.2 assists per game. He also put up a 49/37/81 shooting split, which was strong for the center.
Listing the only five players who have won the scoring title and the NBA championship in the same season
Obviously, Joel Embiid is a clear candidate for the award, but the main goal for his Philadelphia 76ers (51-31) is definitely the title. Along with James Harden, Embiid will go for it in the playoffs, starting with the Toronto Raptors (48-34) in the first round.
In the previous 74 NBA seasons, only five players managed to win the scoring title in the regular season and then win the title.
In this article, we will give you a list of those five players.
Without further ado, let us take a look.
No. 5: Shaquille O'Neal, 1999-2000
The most recent center to win the scoring title before Joel Embiid, Shaquille O'Neal, is also the most recent player to do so and lead his team to championship glory.
O'Neal did it in the 1999-2000 season with the LA Lakers. Arguably the most physically dominant player ever seen in the NBA, O'Neal averaged 29.7 points per game in 79 appearances.
He earned Most Valuable Player honors of the regular season and then won the first title of his career. The LA Lakers defeated the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals.
In those finals, O'Neal averaged 38 points, 16.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game in the six-game series.
No. 4: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1970-71
En route to winning the first of his six titles, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then named Lew Alcindor) led the Milwaukee Bucks to a historic regular season (franchise-best 66-16).
He led the league in scoring in the regular season with 31.7 points per game in his sophomore campaign. Moreover, he averaged 16.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game while making 57.7% of his shots.
He won the regular-season MVP award and then won the 1971 NBA title alongside legendary point guard Oscar Robertson.
No. 3: Joe Fulks, 1946-47 (BAA)
In the first season of the league (then known as the Basketball Association of America), the Philadelphia Warriors became the first champions. Hall of Fame power forward Joe Fulks led the league in scoring and also led his team to collective glory.
Fulks averaged 23.2 points per game in 1946-47 BAA after making a shocking 30.5% of his field goals.
Back then (and until the 1968-69 season) the scoring champion was decided in terms of totals and not averages. Fulks led the league in both categories that year, and then averaged 22.2 points per game in the postseason (league-high).
In eight seasons, Fulks averaged 16.4 ppg and made 30% of his field goals (fifth-worst in league history among players with 2,000 missed field goals).
No. 2 George Mikan, twice
The league's first superstar was George Mikan, and he definitely earned that status. He led the Minneapolis Lakers to five BAA/NBA titles between 1949 and 1954.
In the first two championships of that Lakers dynasty, Mikan led the league in scoring during the regular season, with 1,698 and 1,865 points, respectively. Those years, he averaged 28.3 and 27.4 points per game.
Those seasons were also his first two in the league. He led the league in scoring again in 1950-51, but the Lakers fell in the Western Division finals against the Rochester Royals.
No. 1: Michael Jordan, six times
Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls broke through in the 1991 NBA Finals to win their first title. Until then, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (in 1971) was the most recent scoring champion to win the main title at the end of the season.
Many criticized Jordan and argued that the scoring champion would not be able to guide a team to the NBA title when it mattered the most. However, Jordan repeated the feat during all of his six titles with the Chicago Bulls.
From 1991 to 1993, the Bulls were champions, and Jordan led in scoring for all three years. (He had a combined average of 31.4 points in the regular season and 36 in the finals).
From 1996 to 1998, Jordan and the Bulls did it again. To win the eighth, ninth and 10th scoring titles of his career (record), Jordan averaged a combined 29.6 points ppg, and averaged 31 in the three NBA Finals.
