WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.000 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we are heading 00:00:02.000 --> 00:00:05.059 on to the court to talk about one of the most, 00:00:05.139 --> 00:00:09.820 I guess, shiny and often misunderstood awards 00:00:09.820 --> 00:00:14.439 in all of pro sports. It's the trophy that answers 00:00:14.439 --> 00:00:17.859 that really primal question in basketball. Who 00:00:17.859 --> 00:00:20.780 is the most unstoppable force on the planet right 00:00:20.780 --> 00:00:24.920 now? We are talking about the NBA scoring title. 00:00:25.399 --> 00:00:28.000 It really is the ultimate badge of individual 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:30.239 dominance, isn't it? Because you strip away all 00:00:30.239 --> 00:00:32.880 the narratives, the voting fatigue you get with 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:35.500 the MVP award. Right. The scoring title is supposed 00:00:35.500 --> 00:00:37.200 to be objective. It's supposed to be cold, hard 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:39.479 math. Either you put the ball in the basket more 00:00:39.479 --> 00:00:41.640 than everyone else or you didn't. Exactly. It's 00:00:41.640 --> 00:00:43.259 the get out of my way, I'm getting a bucket award. 00:00:43.500 --> 00:00:45.799 Yeah. And I think for most of us, you know, watching 00:00:45.799 --> 00:00:47.920 the games or just checking the box scores in 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:50.079 the morning, we assume it's pretty straightforward. 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:52.119 Yeah, you'd think so. You just count up all the 00:00:52.119 --> 00:00:54.039 points at the end of the year and the person 00:00:54.039 --> 00:00:55.609 with the biggest number. takes home the hardware? 00:00:55.770 --> 00:01:00.100 But as we look through the... comprehensive historical 00:01:00.100 --> 00:01:03.399 records of all the annual scoring leaders. And 00:01:03.399 --> 00:01:05.000 we went all the way from the league start in 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:09.859 1946 right up through the 2024 -25 season. We 00:01:09.859 --> 00:01:12.319 found the math isn't actually that simple. Not 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:14.760 at all. It's surprisingly messy. Oh, it gets 00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:16.980 complicated fast. We're talking about rule changes, 00:01:17.239 --> 00:01:20.400 statistical loopholes, and some really, really 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:23.260 weird historical quirks. We are. We're going 00:01:23.260 --> 00:01:25.159 to look at how the definition of scoring leader 00:01:25.159 --> 00:01:27.359 has actually shifted over the decades and how 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:29.640 that changed the way... the game is played. We'll 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:31.959 look at the myths around the award and the Titans 00:01:31.959 --> 00:01:34.120 who hold records that, and I really don't say 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:36.680 this lightly, will likely never be broken. And 00:01:36.680 --> 00:01:38.200 here's the hook for you listening right now. 00:01:38.659 --> 00:01:40.819 You probably think you know who the best scorers 00:01:40.819 --> 00:01:43.739 in history are, but there are seasons where the 00:01:43.739 --> 00:01:47.209 guy who scored the most baskets didn't actually 00:01:47.209 --> 00:01:49.230 win the title. That's right. Sometimes winning 00:01:49.230 --> 00:01:51.310 is just a matter of, you know, reading the fine 00:01:51.310 --> 00:01:53.790 print. Okay, let's unpack this. Yeah. Because 00:01:53.790 --> 00:01:55.569 this totally blew my mind when we were prepping. 00:01:55.629 --> 00:01:57.689 There was a specific year where the definition 00:01:57.689 --> 00:02:00.670 of scoring leader completely flipped and it changed 00:02:00.670 --> 00:02:03.469 everything. It did. This is section one, the 00:02:03.469 --> 00:02:06.280 rules of engagement. If you were playing in the 00:02:06.280 --> 00:02:10.199 NBA before the 1969 -70 season, the scoring champion 00:02:10.199 --> 00:02:12.879 was just determined by total points. As simple 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:15.800 as that. It was an endurance test. If you played 00:02:15.800 --> 00:02:18.620 80 games and scored 2 ,000 points, you beat the 00:02:18.620 --> 00:02:21.659 guy who played 60 games and scored 1 ,800, regardless 00:02:21.659 --> 00:02:24.039 of who was actually scoring more on a nightly 00:02:24.039 --> 00:02:26.680 basis. So volume was king. It didn't matter if 00:02:26.680 --> 00:02:28.539 you were efficient. It just mattered that you 00:02:28.539 --> 00:02:30.580 showed up and put numbers on the board every 00:02:30.580 --> 00:02:32.900 single night. Precisely. But starting in that 00:02:32.900 --> 00:02:35.699 69 -70 season, the league pivoted. They switched 00:02:35.699 --> 00:02:38.240 the criteria to points per game, your average. 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:40.860 Ah, okay. They wanted to reward dominance over 00:02:40.860 --> 00:02:44.020 durability. The logic was, you know, if I'm scoring 00:02:44.020 --> 00:02:46.300 35 points a night, but I miss 10 games with a 00:02:46.300 --> 00:02:49.039 sprained ankle, am I really a worse scorer than 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:51.439 the guy averaging 25 who never misses a game? 00:02:51.539 --> 00:02:54.219 The league decided no. But this pivot created 00:02:54.219 --> 00:02:57.020 some fascinating historical ironies. I call it 00:02:57.020 --> 00:02:59.060 robbing the bank because you have these technically 00:02:59.060 --> 00:03:01.180 correct winners who walked away with a trophy 00:03:01.180 --> 00:03:03.939 despite scoring fewer total points. The very 00:03:03.939 --> 00:03:06.159 first year of the rule change is the perfect 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:10.620 example. 1969 -70. You had a rookie named Lou 00:03:10.620 --> 00:03:13.280 Alcindor, who we all now know as Kareem Abdul 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:16.099 -Jabbar. He was an absolute iron man. He played 00:03:16.099 --> 00:03:18.280 almost every game and scored the most total points 00:03:18.280 --> 00:03:22.129 in the league that year. 2 ,361. Which is a massive 00:03:22.129 --> 00:03:25.189 number. In any era, that's an MVP caliber season. 00:03:25.509 --> 00:03:27.830 It is. But he didn't win the scoring title. Jerry 00:03:27.830 --> 00:03:31.550 West did. West averaged 31 .2 points per game, 00:03:31.610 --> 00:03:33.750 which was just slightly higher than Alcindor's 00:03:33.750 --> 00:03:36.490 average. But wait. But here's the kicker. Jerry 00:03:36.490 --> 00:03:38.849 West played fewer games and had significantly 00:03:38.849 --> 00:03:41.550 fewer total points. So imagine scoring the most 00:03:41.550 --> 00:03:43.689 points in the entire league. You're the rookie 00:03:43.689 --> 00:03:46.370 sensation and you're told, sorry, your average 00:03:46.370 --> 00:03:48.270 is slightly lower because you played more games. 00:03:48.370 --> 00:03:50.840 Yeah. That feels like a punishment for being 00:03:50.840 --> 00:03:52.520 available. It really does. And this isn't just 00:03:52.520 --> 00:03:54.199 some old school quirk. This happens in the modern 00:03:54.199 --> 00:03:57.340 era too. Fast forward to 2002 -03. Kobe Bryant. 00:03:57.639 --> 00:03:59.960 He was an absolute machine that year. Played 00:03:59.960 --> 00:04:03.500 all 82 games and scored 2 ,461 total points. 00:04:03.539 --> 00:04:06.439 The most in the NBA. But he didn't win. Nope. 00:04:06.759 --> 00:04:09.819 The scoring title went to Tracy McGrady because 00:04:09.819 --> 00:04:12.300 TMAC had a higher nightly average despite playing 00:04:12.300 --> 00:04:14.719 fewer games and scoring fewer total points. Wow. 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:18.019 And even more recently, LeBron James in 2017 00:04:18.019 --> 00:04:21.540 -18. He played all 82 games, the only time in 00:04:21.540 --> 00:04:23.560 his career he's ever done that, and had the highest 00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:26.240 total. But finished third in the scoring race 00:04:26.240 --> 00:04:29.040 based on average. That's crazy. It really highlights 00:04:29.040 --> 00:04:32.079 a philosophical shift. The NBA decided that... 00:04:32.220 --> 00:04:35.540 Peak performance matters more than total accumulation. 00:04:36.259 --> 00:04:39.399 But they realized this creates a danger. Right. 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:41.980 If it's only about average, what stops someone 00:04:41.980 --> 00:04:45.079 from playing one game, scoring 50, and then quitting 00:04:45.079 --> 00:04:47.079 the season and claiming the title with a 50 -point 00:04:47.079 --> 00:04:49.040 average? The I quit while I'm ahead strategy. 00:04:49.180 --> 00:04:51.459 I'd try it. Well, they instituted a guardrail. 00:04:51.500 --> 00:04:53.959 It's the qualification hurdle. In the modern 00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:56.160 NBA, to technically qualify for the scoring title, 00:04:56.379 --> 00:04:59.800 a player has to appear in at least 58 of 82 games. 00:04:59.959 --> 00:05:01.939 Which seems fair. You have to play about 70 % 00:05:01.939 --> 00:05:04.660 of the season. Yeah. But looking at our source 00:05:04.660 --> 00:05:06.600 material, there's a loophole here, a kind of 00:05:06.600 --> 00:05:08.720 mathematical exception clause that I find fascinating. 00:05:08.980 --> 00:05:12.459 It is a very specific, very rare exception. If 00:05:12.459 --> 00:05:15.500 a player appears in fewer than 58 games, they 00:05:15.500 --> 00:05:18.199 aren't automatically out. The league takes their 00:05:18.199 --> 00:05:21.180 total points and divides it by 58. Oh, wow. As 00:05:21.180 --> 00:05:23.180 if they had played those missing games and scored 00:05:23.180 --> 00:05:25.560 zero points in all of them. So they dilute your 00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:28.139 average. They basically treat those missed games 00:05:28.139 --> 00:05:31.439 as goose eggs. Exactly. And if that diluted average 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:33.959 is still higher than everyone else's regular 00:05:33.959 --> 00:05:36.779 average, you win the title. That sounds incredibly 00:05:36.779 --> 00:05:39.000 hard to pull off. Yeah. Has anyone ever actually 00:05:39.000 --> 00:05:41.579 survived that math? It's nearly impossible because 00:05:41.579 --> 00:05:44.519 the penalty of taking a zero is just so high. 00:05:44.800 --> 00:05:46.850 We actually saw how strict these... rules can 00:05:46.850 --> 00:05:50.529 be very recently. Look at the 2023 -24 season 00:05:50.529 --> 00:05:52.790 with Joel Embiid. Oh, right. He was having a 00:05:52.790 --> 00:05:54.910 historic run. I mean, he was averaging a massive 00:05:54.910 --> 00:05:58.389 34 .7 points per game. That is a runaway number. 00:05:58.550 --> 00:06:01.509 Usually like 30 or 31 wins it comfortably. 34 00:06:01.509 --> 00:06:04.649 .7 is a blowout. It absolutely is. But he only 00:06:04.649 --> 00:06:07.370 played 39 games because of an injury. So he didn't 00:06:07.370 --> 00:06:09.750 meet the 58 game threshold. And the loophole 00:06:09.750 --> 00:06:12.410 didn't save him. No. Even if you tried to apply 00:06:12.410 --> 00:06:15.430 it. Taking his total points and dividing by 58, 00:06:15.649 --> 00:06:18.689 the zeros dragged him way down below the other 00:06:18.689 --> 00:06:21.110 leaders. So he was just erased from the leaderboard. 00:06:21.250 --> 00:06:23.209 It's brutal. You could be the best scorer when 00:06:23.209 --> 00:06:24.750 you're on the floor. But if you aren't on the 00:06:24.750 --> 00:06:27.529 floor enough, the record books don't care. Availability 00:06:27.529 --> 00:06:30.230 is the best ability, as they say. The rule ensures 00:06:30.230 --> 00:06:33.069 that the scoring champ is a fixture of the season, 00:06:33.110 --> 00:06:36.069 not just, you know, a guest star. OK, so speaking 00:06:36.069 --> 00:06:39.470 of fixtures and just pure, unadulterated dominance. 00:06:40.589 --> 00:06:42.730 We have to talk about the Titans, the guys whose 00:06:42.730 --> 00:06:44.870 records just look like typos. You can't talk 00:06:44.870 --> 00:06:47.209 scoring without talking Wilt. Wilt Chamberlain. 00:06:47.209 --> 00:06:49.410 I was reading through the breakdown of his 1961 00:06:49.410 --> 00:06:53.269 -62 season and the numbers. I mean, they represent 00:06:53.269 --> 00:06:55.209 a level of activity I don't think humans are 00:06:55.209 --> 00:06:57.490 capable of anymore. They really don't look real. 00:06:57.529 --> 00:07:01.970 We talk about a great season now as like... Averaging 00:07:01.970 --> 00:07:05.750 30 points per game? Yeah. In the 1961 -62 season, 00:07:05.910 --> 00:07:08.850 Wilt Chamberlain averaged 50 .4 points per game. 00:07:08.990 --> 00:07:12.430 50 .4. That means he was cutting up a half century 00:07:12.430 --> 00:07:15.209 every single night on average. And he scored 00:07:15.209 --> 00:07:18.870 4 ,029 total points that season. To give you 00:07:18.870 --> 00:07:21.310 some context, even in today's high -scoring, 00:07:21.310 --> 00:07:23.850 three -point -heavy seasons, getting to 2 ,500 00:07:23.850 --> 00:07:27.009 is rare. 4 ,000 is extraterrestrial. And people 00:07:27.009 --> 00:07:28.790 always say, oh, the pace was faster back then. 00:07:28.870 --> 00:07:31.740 The pace was faster. That's true. Here's the 00:07:31.740 --> 00:07:34.379 stat that just breaks that argument for me. Walt 00:07:34.379 --> 00:07:37.660 averaged 48 .5 minutes per game that season. 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:39.920 Wait, there were only 48 minutes in a game? He 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:42.980 played every minute of every game, plus overtime. 00:07:43.100 --> 00:07:46.220 He never sat down. So yes, the pace was high, 00:07:46.339 --> 00:07:48.680 but the stamina required to run that much for 00:07:48.680 --> 00:07:51.639 48 minutes and score 50. That's not just era 00:07:51.639 --> 00:07:54.500 inflation. That is a level of physical dominance 00:07:54.500 --> 00:07:56.939 we will likely never see again. And it wasn't 00:07:56.939 --> 00:07:59.180 a one -off. He won seven consecutive scoring 00:07:59.180 --> 00:08:02.439 titles. That feels untouchable. But there is 00:08:02.439 --> 00:08:04.199 one other name that matches that consistency. 00:08:04.439 --> 00:08:07.420 His airness. Michael Jordan. The GOAT. If Wilt 00:08:07.420 --> 00:08:10.100 owns the single season peaks, Jordan owns the 00:08:10.100 --> 00:08:12.660 career consistency. Michael Jordan holds the 00:08:12.660 --> 00:08:14.740 record for the most scoring titles in NBA history 00:08:14.740 --> 00:08:17.319 with 10. 10. 10 scoring titles. That's a full 00:08:17.319 --> 00:08:18.939 decade of being the best scorer in the world. 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:22.000 It is. And like Wilt, he won seven of them consecutively. 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:24.660 But what's so fascinating about Jordan is that 00:08:24.660 --> 00:08:26.740 he did it at both ends of his career. You know, 00:08:26.740 --> 00:08:29.579 we mentioned Wilt's rookie dominance, but Jordan 00:08:29.579 --> 00:08:32.000 adapted his game as he aged. In fact, Jordan 00:08:32.000 --> 00:08:34.399 is the oldest scoring leader in history. Oh, 00:08:34.419 --> 00:08:36.059 really? I would have guessed someone like Curry 00:08:36.059 --> 00:08:39.460 recently. Nope, it's Jordan. In the 1997 -98 00:08:39.460 --> 00:08:42.240 season, the last dance year, he won the title 00:08:42.240 --> 00:08:46.299 at age 35, averaging 28 .7 points. Wow. So you 00:08:46.299 --> 00:08:49.320 have Wilt dominating with pure physical force 00:08:49.320 --> 00:08:51.919 in his 20s. And then you have Jordan dominating 00:08:51.919 --> 00:08:54.600 with skill, footwork, and that mid -range precision 00:08:54.600 --> 00:08:57.200 in his mid -30s. That longevity is just incredible. 00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:00.210 Most high -volume scorers. Their legs are burned 00:09:00.210 --> 00:09:03.429 out by 32. Jordan reinvented how he scored to 00:09:03.429 --> 00:09:05.690 keep the trophy. But, you know, sometimes the 00:09:05.690 --> 00:09:07.789 scoring title isn't decided by a decade of dominance. 00:09:07.850 --> 00:09:09.769 Sometimes it comes down to the very last day 00:09:09.769 --> 00:09:12.070 of the season. The photo finishes. The great 00:09:12.070 --> 00:09:14.009 shootouts. Yeah. This is my favorite part of 00:09:14.009 --> 00:09:15.570 the history. There are these moments where the 00:09:15.570 --> 00:09:18.590 math of the average rule just creates incredible 00:09:18.590 --> 00:09:22.350 drama. The most famous one has to be 1978. The 00:09:22.350 --> 00:09:24.769 duel between George Gervin the Iceman and David 00:09:24.769 --> 00:09:28.960 Thompson. This story is wild. So. It's the last 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:31.299 day of the season. The race is neck and neck. 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:35.120 David Thompson plays first. And he clearly decided, 00:09:35.259 --> 00:09:38.419 I am not losing this. He went nuclear. He scored 00:09:38.419 --> 00:09:41.970 73 points. Which in 1978 was... basically unheard 00:09:41.970 --> 00:09:44.750 of. It was. So Girvin plays later that night. 00:09:44.850 --> 00:09:47.289 He hears the news. He knows the math. To win 00:09:47.289 --> 00:09:50.590 the scoring title, he needs 58 points just to 00:09:50.590 --> 00:09:52.889 tie. Right. Now, for most players, if you hear 00:09:52.889 --> 00:09:54.850 you need 58, you just congratulate the other 00:09:54.850 --> 00:09:56.730 guy and go home. Right. You say, good season, 00:09:56.809 --> 00:09:59.370 Dave. Enjoy the trophy. But Girvin, he went out 00:09:59.370 --> 00:10:02.389 and scored 63. But the detail that always gets 00:10:02.389 --> 00:10:04.649 me is the second quarter. Thompson had set a 00:10:04.649 --> 00:10:07.070 record earlier that day by scoring 32 points 00:10:07.070 --> 00:10:10.000 in a single quarter. Oh, wow. Girvin, in his 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:12.600 game, scored 33 in the second quarter to break 00:10:12.600 --> 00:10:15.080 the record Thompson had set just hours before. 00:10:15.379 --> 00:10:17.240 Talk about anything you can do, I can do better. 00:10:17.379 --> 00:10:20.299 That is just petty in the absolute best way. 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:22.480 And the final margin. Girvin won the scoring 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:26.200 title by an average of 3 .06 points, the closest 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:28.779 finish ever. That is razor thin. We almost saw 00:10:28.779 --> 00:10:30.980 a repeat of that in 2012, didn't we? With Kevin 00:10:30.980 --> 00:10:33.639 Durant and Kobe Bryant. We did. It was the second 00:10:33.639 --> 00:10:35.659 closest race in history. Going into the final 00:10:35.659 --> 00:10:37.879 game, Durant was slightly ahead in the averages. 00:10:38.159 --> 00:10:41.840 He finished his season at 28 .03. And Kobe had 00:10:41.840 --> 00:10:44.379 one game left. Kobe needed 38 points in that 00:10:44.379 --> 00:10:47.320 final game to overtake Durant. Now for Kobe Bryant, 00:10:47.539 --> 00:10:50.480 scoring 38 was just a Tuesday. He could have 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:52.200 done it. He probably would have done it if this 00:10:52.200 --> 00:10:54.860 was, say, 2006. But he didn't. He chose to sit 00:10:54.860 --> 00:10:57.659 out, rested for the playoffs. Durant won the 00:10:57.659 --> 00:10:59.700 title, his third in a row at that point. That 00:10:59.700 --> 00:11:01.600 shows a massive shift in priorities, doesn't 00:11:01.600 --> 00:11:04.129 it? Kobe wanted the ring more than the scoring 00:11:04.129 --> 00:11:06.919 trophy. But speaking of Durant, we should mention 00:11:06.919 --> 00:11:09.639 he holds a pretty special age -related record, 00:11:09.700 --> 00:11:12.980 too. He does. In the 2009 -10 season, Kevin Durant 00:11:12.980 --> 00:11:15.179 became the youngest scoring leader in NBA history. 00:11:15.320 --> 00:11:19.059 He was just 21 years and 197 days old, averaging 00:11:19.059 --> 00:11:22.659 30 .1 points. 21. I was barely figuring out how 00:11:22.659 --> 00:11:24.899 to do my laundry at 21, and he's leading the 00:11:24.899 --> 00:11:27.279 entire NBA in scoring. It really signaled the 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:29.559 arrival of a new generation. But this brings 00:11:29.559 --> 00:11:32.539 us to the big elephant in the room, the empty 00:11:32.539 --> 00:11:36.230 calories argument. There's this myth, or maybe 00:11:36.230 --> 00:11:39.309 it's not a myth, that if you have the scoring 00:11:39.309 --> 00:11:41.389 leader on your team, you're not winning the championship. 00:11:41.529 --> 00:11:44.169 Right. That one guy is just taking too many shots 00:11:44.169 --> 00:11:46.509 and the team suffers. It's a very persistent 00:11:46.509 --> 00:11:48.490 narrative. And when you look at the data, it 00:11:48.490 --> 00:11:51.379 kind of holds water. We analyzed the records 00:11:51.379 --> 00:11:55.419 from 1947 all the way to 2025, winning the scoring 00:11:55.419 --> 00:11:57.960 title and the NBA championship in the same season. 00:11:58.019 --> 00:11:59.899 It's incredibly rare. How rare are we talking? 00:11:59.960 --> 00:12:03.340 Since 1947, only six players have ever done it. 00:12:03.399 --> 00:12:06.460 Six in almost 80 years. Just six. You've got 00:12:06.460 --> 00:12:10.379 the early pioneers. Joe Fulks in 47. George Mikan 00:12:10.379 --> 00:12:13.759 did it in 49 and 50. Then Kareem Abdul -Jabbar 00:12:13.759 --> 00:12:16.759 in 1971. Okay, so the absolute giants of the 00:12:16.759 --> 00:12:18.279 game. And then you have a 20 -year gap where 00:12:18.279 --> 00:12:20.360 nobody could do it. Until Michael Jordan, he 00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:22.159 did it six times, all six of his championship 00:12:22.159 --> 00:12:24.399 years. Of course he did. He's the exception to 00:12:24.399 --> 00:12:26.320 every single rule. Then Shaquille O 'Neal did 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:30.129 it in 2000. And then... A massive drought. For 00:12:30.129 --> 00:12:31.990 a quarter of a century, nobody could pull off 00:12:31.990 --> 00:12:34.590 the double. Not Kobe, not Iverson, not Durant, 00:12:34.590 --> 00:12:37.590 not Harden. It became known as the scoring champion 00:12:37.590 --> 00:12:41.289 curse. The logic being that heliocentric offense 00:12:41.289 --> 00:12:43.830 where everything revolves around one star just 00:12:43.830 --> 00:12:46.970 doesn't work in the playoffs. But that curse 00:12:46.970 --> 00:12:49.789 was finally broken recently. It was. And we have 00:12:49.789 --> 00:12:52.049 to shout out the newest member of that exclusive 00:12:52.049 --> 00:12:55.350 club, Shy Gilchrist Alexander. Yes. The 2024 00:12:55.350 --> 00:12:59.070 -25 season. Shy really broke the quote -unquote 00:12:59.070 --> 00:13:02.870 curse. He averaged 32 .7 points to win the scoring 00:13:02.870 --> 00:13:05.370 title and led the Oklahoma City Thunder to the 00:13:05.370 --> 00:13:08.110 championship in 2025. It's amazing because for 00:13:08.110 --> 00:13:10.769 years, the analytics people said, you can't win 00:13:10.769 --> 00:13:13.279 if your point guard is scoring 30 a night. Shai 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:15.360 proved them all wrong. He did. He joined Jordan, 00:13:15.500 --> 00:13:18.440 Shaq, Kareem, and Mikan. That is the VIP room 00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:20.620 of basketball history. Now, you mentioned Shaq 00:13:20.620 --> 00:13:23.019 a second ago, and that transitions us perfectly 00:13:23.019 --> 00:13:25.240 to how the game itself has physically changed. 00:13:25.340 --> 00:13:27.120 Because if you look at how Shaq won his scoring 00:13:27.120 --> 00:13:30.659 titles versus how guys win them today, it's practically 00:13:30.659 --> 00:13:33.600 a different sport. It really is. We are so deep 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:36.519 in the three -point era. But Shaq stands as... 00:13:36.990 --> 00:13:39.529 This massive, incredible anomaly in the history 00:13:39.529 --> 00:13:41.769 books. I love this stat from the research. Since 00:13:41.769 --> 00:13:43.950 the three -point line was introduced in the 1979 00:13:43.950 --> 00:13:47.429 -80 season, Shaquille O 'Neal is the only scoring 00:13:47.429 --> 00:13:49.990 leader to go an entire championship season without 00:13:49.990 --> 00:13:52.350 making a single three -pointer. Not one. Not 00:13:52.350 --> 00:13:54.210 even a heave at the buzzer or anything. Zero. 00:13:54.629 --> 00:13:58.049 In his 2000 MVP and scoring title season, he 00:13:58.049 --> 00:14:01.509 dominated exclusively from the paint. Now, contrast 00:14:01.509 --> 00:14:04.110 that with Stephen Curry in 2015 -16. Revolution. 00:14:04.759 --> 00:14:07.100 Curry led the league with 30 .1 points per game, 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:10.820 but the way he did it, he made 402 three -pointers 00:14:10.820 --> 00:14:13.679 that season, and he joined the 50 -40 -90 club 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:16.480 shooting 50 % from the field, 40 % from three, 00:14:16.639 --> 00:14:18.919 and 90 % from the free -throw line. He was the 00:14:18.919 --> 00:14:21.360 first scoring leader ever to do that. It's efficiency 00:14:21.360 --> 00:14:24.799 plus volume from a distance. It's the exact opposite 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:26.820 of Shaq. Shaq physically moved you out of the 00:14:26.820 --> 00:14:29.000 way. Curry makes you chase him until you're exhausted. 00:14:29.179 --> 00:14:31.600 Exactly. And Curry kept doing it. He won another 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:35.159 scoring title in 2020 -21 at age 32, making him 00:14:35.159 --> 00:14:38.039 the oldest leader since Jordan. And we can't 00:14:38.039 --> 00:14:40.539 talk about volume scoring in the modern era without 00:14:40.539 --> 00:14:43.919 mentioning James Harden. The beard. His run in 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:46.200 the late 2010s was historically significant, 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:50.279 specifically that 2018 -19 season. Harden averaged 00:14:50.279 --> 00:14:54.129 36 .1 points per game. 36 .1. That's the highest 00:14:54.129 --> 00:14:56.289 average we've seen in the modern era. Among the 00:14:56.289 --> 00:14:58.269 active players mentioned in our source material, 00:14:58.570 --> 00:15:01.129 yes. It's the closest anyone has gotten to those 00:15:01.129 --> 00:15:04.309 Jordan or Wilt type numbers in a long, long time. 00:15:04.649 --> 00:15:06.850 It showed that with a three -point shot and the 00:15:06.850 --> 00:15:09.230 ability to draw fouls, a single player can just 00:15:09.230 --> 00:15:11.669 generate an immense amount of offense. But again, 00:15:11.769 --> 00:15:13.409 Harden didn't win the championship that year. 00:15:13.509 --> 00:15:15.610 He fell victim to that empty calories narrative, 00:15:15.809 --> 00:15:19.789 which makes what Shai did in 2025 even more impressive. 00:15:20.360 --> 00:15:22.440 he found the balance that Harden couldn't quite 00:15:22.440 --> 00:15:25.100 nail down. Yeah, if we connect this to the bigger 00:15:25.100 --> 00:15:27.460 picture, the scoring title really tells the story 00:15:27.460 --> 00:15:29.960 of basketball's evolution. It started as a game 00:15:29.960 --> 00:15:32.600 of total accumulation in the 50s, then it became 00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:34.919 about efficiency and average in the 70s, it was 00:15:34.919 --> 00:15:37.059 dominated by centers, then by shooting guards 00:15:37.059 --> 00:15:39.460 like Jordan and Kobe, and now we see these diverse 00:15:39.460 --> 00:15:42.320 scorers winning rings while dropping 32 a night. 00:15:42.519 --> 00:15:45.700 It really is the history of the league told through 00:15:45.700 --> 00:15:49.379 just one trophy. So let's recap the big takeaways 00:15:49.379 --> 00:15:51.980 for everyone listening. Sure. First, the math 00:15:51.980 --> 00:15:54.700 isn't simple. That shift from total points to 00:15:54.700 --> 00:15:57.419 average in 1969 created a world where you can 00:15:57.419 --> 00:16:00.120 score the most points and still lose. Second, 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:03.159 Wilt Chamberlain is a statistical alien with 00:16:03.159 --> 00:16:05.379 his 50 -point average, and Michael Jordan is 00:16:05.379 --> 00:16:08.620 the king of longevity with 10 trophies. And third... 00:16:08.889 --> 00:16:10.750 The rarity of the double winning the scoring 00:16:10.750 --> 00:16:13.090 title in the championship in the same year. It's 00:16:13.090 --> 00:16:15.350 the Holy Grail, achieved by only six players, 00:16:15.509 --> 00:16:18.149 with Shai Gilgis -Alexander being the one to 00:16:18.149 --> 00:16:20.590 finally break that 25 -year drought. Exactly. 00:16:20.590 --> 00:16:22.889 Which brings us to the end. But before we go, 00:16:23.029 --> 00:16:25.350 we need that final thought. What should we be 00:16:25.350 --> 00:16:26.990 looking for next? Well, here's what I'm thinking 00:16:26.990 --> 00:16:29.870 about. We just saw Shai break that scoring champion 00:16:29.870 --> 00:16:32.950 curse. For decades, the logic was if one player 00:16:32.950 --> 00:16:35.370 scores too much, the team suffers. But look at 00:16:35.370 --> 00:16:38.309 the trends. Embiid, Luka Doncic, Shy, they're 00:16:38.309 --> 00:16:41.190 all posting massive scoring numbers, high 30s. 00:16:41.190 --> 00:16:43.129 The averages are creeping up across the board. 00:16:43.330 --> 00:16:46.580 They are. So the question is, was Shai's championship 00:16:46.580 --> 00:16:50.639 an outlier, kind of like Shaq in 2000? Or, with 00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:53.019 the skill level in the league today where everyone 00:16:53.019 --> 00:16:55.899 can cheat, everyone can pass, are we entering 00:16:55.899 --> 00:16:58.620 a new golden age where high -volume individual 00:16:58.620 --> 00:17:01.539 scoring is finally compatible with winning championships 00:17:01.539 --> 00:17:04.079 again? That is a great question. Are we going 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:07.519 to see another 25 -year drought? Or are the floodgates 00:17:07.519 --> 00:17:10.640 open? Can you drop 35 a night and still lift 00:17:10.640 --> 00:17:13.609 the Larry O 'Brien trophy? History says it's 00:17:13.609 --> 00:17:16.130 hard, but the future might be different. I wouldn't 00:17:16.130 --> 00:17:17.849 bet against the talent in the league right now. 00:17:17.930 --> 00:17:19.829 Neither would I. Thank you all for listening 00:17:19.829 --> 00:17:22.009 to this deep dive into the buckets, the math 00:17:22.009 --> 00:17:23.990 and the myths. Always a pleasure. We'll catch 00:17:23.990 --> 00:17:24.549 you on the next one.