Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant is trying to join an exclusive club of players who won scoring and NBA titles in the same year. Only five have done it and only two more than once. 5. Joe Fulks (1) » In the first year of play in the Basketball Association of America — the forerunner of the NBA — the 6-foot-5 forward scored 23.2 points per game, leading the Philadelphia Warriors to the title in 1946-47.
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4. Shaquille O’Neal (1) » He led the NBA in scoring in 1994-95, but his Orlando Magic team came up short against the Houston Rockets in the finals. Five years later, O’Neal (29.7 ppg) led the league in scoring and combined with 21-year-old Kobe Bryant (22.5 ppg) for the champion Lakers.
3. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1) ?» In his second season in the league, Abdul-Jabbar averaged 31.7 points to win his first of two scoring titles and lead the Milwaukee Bucks to the title with help from Oscar Robertson (19.4 ppg, 8.2 apg) and Bob Dandridge (18.4 ppg).
2. George Mikan (2) » In the infancy of the league, the 6-10 center scored 28.3 points per game to power the Minneapolis Lakers to the BAA title in 1948-49. The following year, after the BAA and National Basketball League merged, he led the Lakers to the NBA crown.
1. Michael Jordan (6) » The undisputed king of combining scoring and NBA titles. The Chicago Bulls guard won the scoring title four straight years before capturing his first NBA championship. After that, Jordan won the NBA title each time he led the league in scoring.
– Kevin Dunleavy
