Ranking the 3 greatest seasons of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's NBA career in terms of points per game
LeBron James might be lining up to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the NBA's all-time scoring leader in the next few years. To reach that top spot, he will have to surpass Abdul-Jabbar's 38,387 career regular-season points.
The six-time NBA MVP (a record) had a unique basketball career and has been the all-time scoring leader since surpassing Wilt Chamberlain on April 5th, 1984.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dominated high school and college before entering the NBA in 1969. He led the Milwaukee Bucks to an NBA title in 1971 as a sophomore. In the 1970-71 season, Abdul-Jabbar won the NBA MVP award and also took home Finals MVP honors.
After appearing in the NBA Finals in 1974, with the Milwaukee Bucks losing to the Boston Celtics, Abdul-Jabbar joined the LA Lakers in 1975. He started a great run with the team once Magic Johnson arrived via the NBA Draft in 1979.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's top 3 seasons based on points per game
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won three MVPs with the Milwaukee Bucks and three more with the LA Lakers. Moreover, he won five NBA championships with the 'Showtime' Lakers and appeared in eight editions of the NBA Finals with the team.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's résumé is definitely one of the greatest in NBA history. It includes two NBA Finals MVPs, two scoring titles, 19 All-Star games (record), 15 All-NBA selections and 11 All-Defensive selections, among other accolades.
However, in this article, we will list Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's top 3 seasons in terms of points per game in the regular season. He averaged 24.6 points per game (15th-best of all time and second-best among centers) in 1,560 career regular-season appearances. He also made 55.9% of his field goals throughout his NBA career.
Without further ado, let us begin.
#3 1972-73 NBA season
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won back-to-back NBA MVPs in the 1970-71 and 1971-72 seasons. He followed those achievements up with the third-best scoring campaign of his entire NBA career.
In the 1972-73 NBA campaign, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar averaged 30.2 points per game, making 55.4% of his field goals and 71.3% of his free throws. He led the Milwaukee Bucks to the top seed of the Western Conference (yes, they played in the West from 1970 to 1980), at 60-22. His overall numbers included 16.1 rebounds and five assists per game.
However, the postseason was not successful for the Bucks, as they fell in the Conference semi-finals, which was the first round of the postseason back then.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar finished second in scoring in the 1972-73 NBA season, behind Nate 'Tiny' Archibald.
#2 1970-71 NBA season
After winning the NBA Rookie of the Year award in the 1969-70 season, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then named Lew Alcindor) won the NBA MVP in the 1970-71 campaign. He eventually led the Milwaukee Bucks to the title that season, beating the Baltimore Bullets in the NBA Finals.
During the 1970-71 regular season, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the league in scoring with 31.7 points. He also recorded 16 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. The 31.7 points per night are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's second-highest average of points per game in his career.
Apart from winning the first of his six NBA MVPs, Abdul-Jabbar also won the Finals MVP award (the first of his two).
#1 1971-72 NBA season
The Milwaukee Bucks' brilliant 1970-71 NBA season was followed by another NBA MVP-winning campaign for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Abdul-Jabbar and the Bucks were tremendous in the 1971-72 NBA regular season, boasting a 63-19 record, only behind the 69-13 LA Lakers (the best record ever at the time).
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar won his second consecutive NBA MVP award that year after averaging a career-high 34.8 points, along with 16.6 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.
In terms of total points, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's 1971-72 NBA season was his best, as he scored a league-high 2,822 points.
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