- Only two players in NBA history have averaged over 30.0 points per game in their careers
- No player has ever averaged between 28.0 points per game and 29.9 points per game in their career
- There are a total of 29 players in NBA history to average at least 23.0 points per game in their careers
Just a few months ago, we decided to place the NBA players with the most career playoff points into tiers. This allowed a more in-depth and overall different look at those players as it pertains to where they stand among the game’s greatest scorers. As far as total points and longevity stats go, some people do not find them as valuable as per game stats. Well, look no further than the article below for those answers.
Below are the 29 NBA players with the highest career points per game by tiers. Whether they are current players whose averages are bound to change or NBA legends whose career points per game are long solidified, their achievements will be honored below as one of the game’s best scorers on a per-game basis. There are currently 29 players with a career scoring average of at least 23.0 points per game, and that is where we will begin our excitement today.
Tier 6: 23.0 PPG – 23.9 PPG
Devin Booker – 23.9 PPG
Shaquille O’Neal – 23.7 PPG
Kyrie Irving – 23.4 PPG
Rick Barry – 23.2 PPG
George Mikan – 23.1 PPG
Karl-Anthony Towns – 23.0 PPG
Starting things off are the players who averaged between 23.0 points per game and 23.9 points per game in their NBA careers. Karl-Anthony Towns just makes this tier with a career 23.0 points per game average. Towns will be heading into his ninth season with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2022-23 and is one of the more potent perimeter threats among big men. He has shot a career 39.5% from three and has eclipsed 24.0 points per game in a season five out of eight completed seasons in the NBA so far.
Lakers legend George Mikan averaged 23.1 points per game in his seven-year NBA career. He began his career in 1949 with his first career scoring title averaging 28.3 points per game. He would win two more in a row in 1950 and 1951 averaging 27.4 and 28.4 points per game respectively. Mikan would lead the Lakers to five NBA championships during his short career and shot the ball 40.4% overall as well as 78.2% from the foul line.
Rick Barry is one of the game’s greatest scorers and small forwards; there is no doubt about that. Barry played a total of 10 seasons in the NBA where he won his only career scoring title in 1967 with the Warriors averaging 35.4 points per game on 45.1% shooting. After a brief stint in the ABA, Barry returned to the NBA in 1973 to average 22.3 points per game. In 1975, he averaged 30.6 points per game on 46.4% shooting and led the Warriors to an NBA championship while claiming Finals MVP honors.
Although more recognized for his elite ball-handling skills, Kyrie Irving has quietly turned into one of the NBA’s greatest scorers. Irving averages 23.4 points per game for his career on 47.2%/39.1%/88.5% shooting splits. His career-high in scoring came in 2020 and 2022 with the Brooklyn Nets when he averaged 27.4 points per game in each of those two seasons. In 2021, Kyrie joined the 50/40/90 club averaging 26.9 points per game with the Nets as well.
Shaquille O’Neal is one of the most dominant scorers in NBA history. Aside from his incredible NBA Finals scoring records, O’Neal dominated the regular season as well. O’Neal would average over 29.0 points per game three times in his career with two of those seasons resulting in scoring titles with the Lakers in 2000 and with the Magic in 1995. O’Neal would also lead the NBA in field goal percentage 10 times in his career and shot 58.2% overall over the course of 19 seasons. His career-high came on his birthday back in 2000 when he dropped 61 points against the Clippers using the fact that he couldn’t secure tickets for friends and family as motivation.
The final member of Tier 6 is going to be Phoenix Suns shooting guard Devin Booker. Since his second season in 2017, Booker has averaged at least 22.0 points per game every season he has been on the court. In four of the last five seasons heading into 2023-24, Booker has averaged at least 26.5 points per game as well. In 2022-23, Booker averaged a career-high 27.8 points per game on 49.4% shooting overall.
Tier 5: 24.0 PPG – 24.9 PPG
Dominique Wilkins – 24.8 PPG
James Harden – 24.7 PPG
Stephen Curry – 24.6 PPG
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar – 24.6 PPG
Donovan Mitchell – 24.6 PPG
Larry Bird – 24.3 PPG
Adrian Dantley – 24.3 PPG
Pete Marvich – 24.2 PPG
Anthony Davis – 24.0 PPG
On Tier 5 will be the players who averaged between 24.0 and 24.9 points per game of which there are nine players. The leader of this tier is former Human Highlight Reel, Dominique Wilkins. He played 15 seasons in the NBA, most notably with the Hawks from 1983 through 1994. In 1986, Wilkins took home his only career scoring title with 30.3 points per game on 46.8% shooting. He would also have one other season with over 30.0 points per game in 1988 and 10 seasons in total with over 25.0 points per game.
Everyone remembers James Harden’s torrid scoring pace with the Houston Rockets during the 2010s. From 2013 through 2020 with the Rockets, he averaged 29.6 points per game in those eight seasons while shooting 44.3% overall and 36.2% from three. From 2018 through 2020, Harden would claim three straight scoring titles as well, with three straight seasons of over 30.0 points per game. This included a 36.1 points per game season in 2019.
Not only is Stephen Curry the greatest three-point shooter that ever lived, but he is also one of the 25 best scorers in NBA history. Curry has averaged at least 24.0 points per game every season over the last decade which has resulted in two MVP awards and four NBA championships. He won his first career scoring title in 2016 when he averaged 30.1 points per game and won the NBA’s only unanimous MVP. He would take home another in 2021 when he averaged 31.0 points per game with another near 50/40/90 season.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was formerly the NBA’s all-time leading scorer. While his name now sits at number two on that list, he ranks 18th in NBA history with a career 24.6 points per game. Kareem was a much better all-around scorer in his first few seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks. He won two scoring titles in 1971 and 1972 averaging over 30.0 points per game. In his six seasons with the Bucks, he averaged 30.4 points per game on 54.7% shooting. Over his next 14 seasons with the Lakers, he averaged 22.1 points per game on 56.7% shooting.
Donovan Mitchell may be one of the few surprises you see so high up on this list. Mitchell is heading into his seventh NBA season and has already put on some all-time great scoring performances. He scored a career-high 71 points in a game in 2022-23 and averaged a career-high 28.3 points per game overall in his first season in Cleveland last season. In his previous five years with the Utah Jazz, Mitchell averaged 23.9 points per game on 44.1% shooting overall and 36.1% from three.
Larry Bird is one of two players who finished their careers with a scoring average of 24.3 points per game. Bird never won a scoring title in his 13 seasons in the NBA but he didn’t need to. He did average over 25.0 points per game four times however, and won three MVP awards, three NBA championships, and three Finals MVP awards. He led the NBA four times in free throw shooting percentage and recorded back-to-back 50/40/90 shooting seasons in 1987 and 1988.
Adrian Dantley is the other player who averaged 24.3 points per game for his career. Dantley played 15 seasons in the NBA for seven different teams from 1977 through 1991. His best years came with the Jazz from 1980 through 1986. Over those seven seasons, Dantley averaged 29.6 points per game overall and won two scoring titles in 1981 and 1984 averaging 30.7 and 30.6 points per game respectively. From 1981 through 1984, Dantley averaged at least 30.0 points per game every season and shot 54.0% from the field overall in his career.
From his days at college at LSU, it was well-known that Pistol Pete Maravich was one of the nation’s best at scoring the basketball. Maravich played 10 seasons in the NBA for three different teams. From 1971 through 1974, Maravich averaged 24.3 points per game on 44.8% shooting with the Atlanta Hawks. Over his next six seasons with the New Orleans/Utah Jazz, he averaged 25.2 points per game on 43.4% shooting. In 1977, he won his only career scoring title averaging 31.1 points per game on 43.3% shooting from the field. We can only imagine what his numbers would look like if he had the luxury of a three-point line for all of his career.
The final member of Tier 5 with an exact career scoring average of 24.0 points per game is The Brow, Anthony Davis. Davis is heading into his 12th season in the NBA in 2023-24 and his fifth season with the Los Angeles Lakers. He played his first seven seasons in New Orleans with the Pelicans where he averaged 23.7 points per game on 51.7% shooting. Over the last four with the Lakers, he has been even better offensively averaging 24.6 points per game on 52.4% shooting overall. He has also added an NBA championship and a selection to the NBA’s Top 75 list to his resume during that time.
Tier 4: 25.0 PPG – 25.9 PPG
Oscar Robertson – 25.7 PPG
Damian Lillard – 25.2 PPG
Karl Malone – 25.0 PPG
Kobe Bryant – 25.0 PPG
There are only four players who fall into Tier 4 which includes players that averaged between 25.0 and 25.9 points per game in their NBA careers. The leader of this tier is none other than the Big O, Oscar Robertson, who tore defenses apart from 1961 through 1974. Over his first 10 seasons with the Cincinnati Royals, Robertson would average 29.3 points per game with six seasons of over 30.0 points per game and one NBA scoring title in 1968 averaging 29.2 points per game. In his final four seasons with the Bucks, he averaged 16.3 points per game but won his only NBA championship in 1971.
Damian Lillard is one of the greatest shooting point guards in NBA history. Nobody lights up a scoreboard quite like him when he gets red-hot from the field. Over the last 12 seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, he has averaged 25.2 points per game on 43.9% shooting overall and 37.2% from three. In 2022-23, he averaged a career-high 32.0 points per game in 58 games played. He added a 71-point performance to remember forever as well against the Rockets while Portland was in the middle of the playoff chase at the time. It was just the second time that Lillard reached 30.0 points per game in a season in his career.
Two of the NBA’s top-five scorers of all-time when it comes to total points also fall into Tier 4. Karl Malone is the NBA’s third-leading scorer for his 19-year career with the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers. Malone was as consistent as they come, averaging at least 25.0 points per game every year from 1988 through 1998. During that time, he won two MVP awards and averaged 27.6 points per game on 53.1% shooting. He averaged over 30.0 points per game once in 1990 and over 25.0 points per game 12 times in 19 years.
The final member of Tier 4 is none other than Kobe Bean Bryant who happens to rank fifth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. Bryant played 21 seasons in the NBA, all for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1996 through 2016. In his prime, there were no better three-level scorers in the NBA. He averaged over 30.0 points per game three times in his career which included his back-to-back scoring title seasons in 2006 and 2007. He averaged 35.4 points per game in 2006 to win his first scoring title and 31.6 points per game in 2007 to follow it up. Bryant would win five NBA championships, two Finals MVPs, and an MVP in his career with the Lakers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syaXep_G9Ig
Tier 3: 26.0 PPG to 26.9 PPG
Allen Iverson – 26.7 PPG
Bob Pettit – 26.4 PPG
George Gervin – 26.2 PPG
The next three tiers are where we begin to find the truly elite scorers in NBA history. Allen Iverson is not supposed to be in this category considering his six-foot frame that usually didn’t dominate the NBA the way he did. With four NBA scoring titles to his name, he smashed all expectations with a 26.7 points per game scoring average for his career. Iverson also had four different seasons with at least 30.0 points per game and won all four of his scoring titles between 1999 and 2005 averaging 29.1 points per game during that stretch.
Bob Pettit was ahead of his time when it comes to power forwards who could score in the NBA. Pettit played just 11 seasons in the NBA but it was enough to be considered one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history. Pettit won two scoring titles during his career, and both resulted in MVP awards for the Hawks big man. In 1956, he averaged 25.7 points per game to win the scoring title and did the same in 1959 with 29.2 points per game. He eclipsed 30.0 points per game once in 1962 and averaged at least 25.0 points per game seven out of 11 seasons in the NBA.
George Gervin is another one of the most talented scorers in NBA history who played 10 seasons in the NBA after coming over from the ABA. Gervin would win all four of his scoring titles in a five-year span from 1978 through 1982 when he averaged 29.8 points per game on 51.9% shooting during that stretch. Gervin would surpass 30.0 points per game twice in his career while averaging over 25.0 points per game seven times. Somehow, Gervin’s greatness has been lost amongst the modern-day NBA fans but one look at his offensive numbers would propel him right back into relevancy.
Tier 2: 27.0 PPG to 29.9 PPG
Elgin Baylor – 27.4 PPG
Kevin Durant – 27.3 PPG
Joel Embiid – 27.2 PPG
LeBron James – 27.2 PPG
Jerry West – 27.0 PPG
Only seven players in NBA history have ever averaged more than 27.0 points per game for their careers and five of them did not even surpass 28.0 points per game. Elgin Baylor is the leader of Tier 2 with his torrid scoring as a member of the Lakers from 1959 through 1972. Baylor never won a scoring title but he did average over 35.0 points per game eight times. From 1961 through 1963, he averaged 34.0 points per game or more each season which included a career-high 38.3 points per game in 1962. Baylor may have lost all eight NBA Finals he was a part of but he still holds some of the most unbreakable NBA Finals records ever.
Kevin Durant is arguably the greatest scorer we have ever seen in terms of efficiency and volume. Durant has won a total of four scoring titles in his career, all with the Thunder from 2010 to 2014. He averaged 29.3 points per game on that five-year stretch and 27.4 points per game in nine seasons with Oklahoma City. In 2014, he took home his only MVP averaging 32.0 points per game. In three seasons with Golden State, he averaged 25.8 points per game, and then averaged 29.0 points per game in three seasons with the Nets as well. In 2022-23, he became the first player in NBA history to shoot 55/40/90 in a season and averaged 29.1 points per game.
Joel Embiid has made his way up the list over the past few seasons while putting the 76ers on his back. In 2021, he became the first center since Shaq to win the NBA’s scoring title averaging 30.6 points per game on 49.9% shooting. In 2022-23, he followed that up with his first MVP award averaging 33.1 points per game on 54.8% shooting. He has averaged at least 28.0 points per game in each of his last three seasons heading into 2023-24 and shows no signs of slowing down in the near future.
LeBron James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer ranks sixth in NBA history with a career 27.2 points per game scoring average. James became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer in 2023 after knocking down a fadeaway against the Thunder during a February matchup. James has failed to average less than 25.0 points per game over the last 19 seasons of his career and has averaged at least 30.0 points per game three times. In 2008, James claimed his only league scoring title with 30.0 points per game on 48.4% shooting.
The final member of Tier 2 is the Logo himself, Jerry West. Armed with a serious jump shot and the highest of basketball IQs, West went on to conquer the NBA at the highest level. Sure he was 1-8 in the NBA Finals but that was no fault of his own. West averaged at least 25.0 points per game in nine of his 12 seasons in the NBA and won his only scoring title in 1970 averaging 31.2 points per game. He eclipsed the 30.0 points per game mark four times over the years and is considered to be one of the greatest playoff performers ever with a 29.1 points per game average in the playoffs in his career.
Tier 1: 30.0+ PPG
Michael Jordan – 30.1 PPG
Wilt Chamberlain – 30.1 PPG
Only two players in NBA history have ever averaged 30.0 points per game or more in their NBA careers. The GOAT Michael Jordan won an NBA record 10 scoring titles in his career with all 10 of them coming between 1987 and 1998. He won seven in a row from 1987 through 1993 averaging 33.2 points per game on 51.8% shooting. From 1996 through 1998, he won three more, averaging 29.6 points per game on 48.2% shooting. Jordan would lead the Bulls to six NBA championships and win all six Finals MVP awards by way of two three-peats from 1991 through 1993 and 1996 through 1998.
The amount of scoring records held by Wilt Chamberlain in just 13 seasons of work is incredible. Chamberlain was a man amongst boys who won seven scoring titles in his career which all came in his first seven seasons in the NBA. In 1962, Chamberlain set the single-season scoring record for points per game when he averaged an insane 50.4 points per game on 50.6% shooting. Chamberlain led the NBA in shooting percentage nine times in 13 years and led the NBA in minutes played nine times as well with some of the most minutes played in a season ever.
No matter who has come along in the past, or who may break into the NBA in the future, we will never see two players like Michael Jordan or Wilt Chamberlain on a basketball court ever again.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
