The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in the United States and Canada. It consists of 30 teams, and each team plays 82 regular season games. The NBA is considered the premier professional basketball league in the world and features some of the most talented players in the world. Every season, the league awards its Most Valuable Player (MVP) to the player who has had the most impact on the court.
In the history of the NBA, only a select few players have been able to average 50 points per game for an entire season. Here, we take a look at who these players are and what their accomplishments were.
Wilt Chamberlain: The Most Prolific Scorer in NBA History
Wilt Chamberlain was a 7-foot-1-inch center who played for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Los Angeles Lakers from 1959 to 1973. He is widely regarded as the greatest scorer in NBA history, and he averaged 50.4 points per game during the 1961-62 season. During that season, Chamberlain scored an astonishing 100 points in a single game against the New York Knicks, an unbreakable record that still stands today. He was also the first player in NBA history to score more than 4,000 points in a single season, and he did it twice, in 1962 and 1964.
Kobe Bryant: The “Black Mamba”
Kobe Bryant was an 18-time All-Star who played for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1996 to 2016. He was one of the most iconic players in NBA history, and he is widely considered to be one of the greatest players of all time. During the 2005-06 season, Bryant averaged 35.4 points per game and became only the second player in NBA history to average more than 35 points in a season. The following season, he upped his scoring average to an astonishing 35.4 points per game, becoming the youngest player ever to average more than 30 points per game for an entire season. He also became the first player since Chamberlain to average more than 50 points per game for an entire season, when he averaged 50.2 points per game in 2006-07.
Michael Jordan: The Greatest of All Time
Michael Jordan is a six-time NBA champion who played for the Chicago Bulls from 1984 to 1998. He is widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time and is the only player in NBA history to win the MVP award five times. During the 1986-87 season, Jordan averaged 37.1 points per game and became the first player since Chamberlain to average more than 37 points in a single season. He also became the first player since Chamberlain to average more than 50 points in a single season, when he averaged 50.7 points per game in the 1986-87 season.
Conclusion
In the history of the NBA, only three players have been able to average 50 points per game for an entire season: Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jordan. Chamberlain is the most prolific scorer in NBA history, and he averaged an astonishing 50.4 points per game during the 1961-62 season. Bryant became the first player since Chamberlain to average more than 50 points per game for an entire season, when he averaged 50.2 points per game in 2006-07. Jordan also achieved the feat, averaging 50.7 points per game in the 1986-87 season. All three of these players are regarded as some of the greatest basketball players of all time, and their incredible scoring feats will never be forgotten.