Who has the highest single-season PPG average for every NBA team?
In the NBA, getting buckets is the name of the game. We all look to see who is leading the NBA in points per game, though that doesn’t make you a lock to win the NBA. Increasingly, people realize there is more to the game than scoring. And yet, we watch the games to see players score, and dudes who get buckets tend to be really good players. Here are the players with the highest single-season PPG average for all 30 NBA teams. It must be noted that, in order to qualify, a player had to play in at least half of his team’s games.
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Atlanta Hawks: Bob Pettit
Carter is one of two players on this list to represent two teams. The other one will be less surprising than Vinsanity. While Kevin Durant could end up with this record if he returns to full health, the current Nets record was set back in New Jersey when Carter spent the 2004-05 season averaging 27.5 points.
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Boston Celtics: Larry Bird
No Celtics player has ever averaged 30 points per game, but Bird came as close as you can get. If only the third-point shot had been more popular in his day. Instead, Larry Legend had to settle for averaging “only” 29.9 points per game in the 1987-88 season. This was after his MVP, and title-winning, days, but Bird still had some magic left in him.
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Charlotte Hornets: Glen Rice
There is no surprise in this name, but we have to go back to before the glory days of the Bulls franchise for Jordan’s record-setting season. In the ‘80s, Jordan spent a lot of years carrying the offense for Chicago, and he put up some gaudy numbers. That includes a season (1986-87) where he averaged a whopping 37.1 points per game. That’s the third-highest total on this list.
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Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James
LeBron is actually not one of the two players to have the record for multiple teams. At least he holds the record for the Cavaliers, though. James had his record-setting campaign in the 2005-06 season, in only his third year in the NBA. LeBron notched 31.1 points a night but would have to wait a couple more years to win MVP (and one more to make a trip to the NBA Finals).
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Dallas Mavericks: Mark Aguirre
The Nuggets in the ‘80s were known for some gaudy numbers on the scoreboard. In Doug Moe’s 10 years as Denver’s head coach, they led the league in scoring six times. English was a benefactor of all that fast-paced action, and that includes a fine campaign in 1985-86 where he put up 29.8 points per contest.
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Detroit Pistons: Jerry Stackhouse
The record doesn’t belong to Isiah Thomas or Grant Hill. No, instead it belongs to Stack, who joined the Pistons after Hill left for Orlando and was basically given the keys to the offense. Stackhouse was an All-Star twice with Detroit, his only appearances, and everything went right for him during the 2000-01 season. Somehow, Stack managed to average 29.8 points per game that year. He would never average more than 21.5 after that.
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Golden State Warriors: Wilt Chamberlain
Steph Curry can take all the three-pointers he wants. He will never break Chamberlain’s franchise record. The kind of numbers Wilt was able to put up in his day are baffling. The man averaged 50.4 points per game in the 1961-62 season. That’s not a typo. It’s not a clerical error. No other franchise record is within 12 points of that.
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Houston Rockets: James Harden
He can’t score quite on Chamberlain’s level, but in recent years Harden has been the top points producer the NBA has seen since early in Jordan’s prime. In the 2018-19 season, Harden averaged 36.1 points per game, the highest PPG average since Kobe Bryant put up 35.4 in the 2005-06 season. It’s one of three seasons in which the Beard has led the league in scoring.
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Indiana Pacers: Billy Knight
Abdur-Rahim has the distinction of having the lowest average on this list. Surprisingly, no Grizzlies player has ever averaged more than the 23.0 points per game that Abdur-Rahim managed in the 1998-99 season, back when the team was still back in Vancouver. Maybe all that “Grit ‘N Grind” kept the point totals down?
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Miami Heat: Dwyane Wade
As great as LeBron is as a player, it feels fitting that Wade has the record for the Heat franchise. He’s the face of that team, and that will likely be true for years, if not decades. In the 2008-09 season, a couple of years before James and Chris Bosh made their way down to South Beach, Wade was averaging 30.2 points per game, the only time he crossed that vaunted 30-point threshold.
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Milwaukee Bucks: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
The year prior to the 1971-72 season, Kareem won the MVP and led the Bucks to their only title to date. That season, only his second in the league, Abdul-Jabbar averaged an impressive 31.7 points per game to lead the NBA. The next year, he upped that to 34.8. That’s a record worth chasing for Giannis Antetokounmpo.
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Minnesota Timberwolves: Kevin Love
Speaking of records within reach, we think it’s fair to say that before he retired Karl-Anthony Towns will have a scoring season better than the one Love had that got him this honor. Will it happen in Minnesota? That’s a different story. Stars don’t tend to stick around with the Timberwolves. Just ask Kevin Garnett or Love, who averaged 26.1 points per game in the 2013-14 season before heading to Cleveland to get a ring.
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New Orleans Pelicans: Anthony Davis
The Pelicans don’t have a long history, but they do have Davis as part of that history. Though he has since left for Los Angeles, yet another player on this list who joined forces with LeBron to win a ring, Davis had some great years in the Big Easy. That includes averaging 28.1 points per contest in the 2017-18 season.
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New York Knicks: Bernard King
King is a New York legend, which means we’re all pretty much aware of him because New York is not shy about talking about its favorite sons. To be fair, King was a top-notch scorer with the Knicks, making three of his four All-Star teams and his two All-NBA First Teams in his four seasons with the team. The peak was the 1984-85 season when King managed 32.9 points per game (though he was limited to 55 games that season).
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Oklahoma City Thunder: Kevin Durant
Many high-scoring players have gone through Oklahoma City, including Harden (before his prime) and Russell Westbrook (who has never been shy about trying to pad his stat totals). Still, neither of them could best Durant, a seven-footer with a sweet shot that has helped him dominate the NBA. In his best campaign with the Thunder, the current Nets player put up 32.0 points per game in the 2013-14 season.
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Orlando Magic: Tracy McGrady
McGrady famously lacked for playoff success, but he did not lack for scoring success. T-Max had a five-year stretch where he averaged over 25 points per game each season. That includes the four seasons he spent in Orlando, which was highlighted by a 32.1 points per contest year in 2002-03.
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Philadelphia 76ers: Wilt Chamberlain
Here’s a nice and fresh one. Lillard set Portland’s record just last season, the 2019-20 campaign. Even with the chaos of the bubble, Dame still managed to average an even 30.0 points per game, thanks in part to his incredible three-point range and fearlessness from beyond the arc.
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San Antonio Spurs: George Gervin
As promised, we get back to Carter. The way things ended in Toronto wasn’t great, but man were the good times good. It wasn’t just that one Slam Dunk Contest, either. In the 2000-01 season, Carter averaged 27.6 points per game. You might remember the record he set with the Nets was 27.5 points per game. Give the man credit for consistency.
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Utah Jazz: Pete Maravich
“Pistol” Pete never played in Utah, but he orchestrated things for the Jazz down in New Orleans. In addition to his spectacular flair, Maravich was a prolific bucket getter from his college days at LSU into the pros. During the 1976-77 season, Maravich put up 31.1 points per contest. Sure, it’s not quite the 45.5 he averaged in his final college campaign, but it’s something.
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Washington Wizards: Walt Bellamy
OK, there must have been something about the 1961-62 NBA season. Four players on this list set their franchise’s record that year. Bellamy is the last of those four. Playing for the then-Chicago Packers in their first year of existence, as well as his rookie campaign, Bellamy averaged 31.6 points per game. Yes, the man who has the record for PPG for the Wizards’ franchise set that record in the franchise’s inaugural season.