Check out the shooting guards who recorded the highest-scoring seasons in NBA history including Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, James Harden, and Allen Iverson.
Throughout NBA history, some of the most talented scorers the game has ever seen have occupied the shooting guard position. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, James Harden, and Allen Iverson are all widely regarded as top five or top 10 shooting guards in the history of the game as well as some of its most talented scorers. Below, just as we did with point guards a little over a week ago, we will present to you the 10 highest-scoring seasons by a shooting guard in NBA history.
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Unlike point guards, however, all 10 of these seasons will come with 32.5 points per game or better. One player owns half of the seasons in which we will be talking about including the highest-scoring season by a shooting guard in NBA history. We will break down how each of these incredible players was able to achieve such a high-scoring season as well as break down the shooting statistics and performances that led to these historical outputs.
Get ready for some high-flying action that lit up scoreboards all over the NBA for seasons at a time. These are the 10 highest-scoring seasons by a shooting guard in NBA history.
10. Michael Jordan – 32.5 PPG – 1988-89 Season
The 1988-89 NBA season was Michael Jordan’s fifth season in the NBA. He was coming off one of his greatest individual seasons, winning MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and the NBA scoring title in 1987-88. Jordan would win his third straight scoring title this season, averaging 32.5 points per game on 53.8% shooting while leading the NBA in minutes played at 40.2 minutes per game. He also shot 85.0% from the foul line and just 27.6% from three.
Jordan was as masterful as ever when it came to scoring the basketball in 1988-89. He would record 50 30-point games, 15 40-point games, and five 50-point games. His season-high would be 53 points in a loss to the Phoenix Suns. The Bulls would win 47 games behind Jordan’s incredible scoring output but suffer a loss to the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals. In the 1989 NBA playoffs, he would average 34.8 points per game on 51.0% shooting as well.
9. Michael Jordan – 32.6 PPG – 1992-93 Season
A few seasons after his 1988-89 season, Jordan would surpass it with 32.6 points per game in 1992-93. The scoring barrage would lead to Michael Jordan’s seventh consecutive scoring title, the most in NBA history since Wilt Chamberlain did so in the first seven seasons of his NBA career. Jordan would average those 32.6 points per game on 49.5% shooting from the field, 35.2% shooting from three, and 83.7% shooting from the free throw line.
Although he would lose out on the MVP award to Charles Barkley, Jordan had a historical run during the 1992-93 season. He recorded 46 30-point games, 14 40-point games, and four games with at least 50 points as well. His season-high would come in a loss to the Orlando Magic with 64 points on 55.1% shooting from the field. Jordan would lead the Bulls to 57 wins and eventually, a spot in the NBA Finals to avenge his MVP loss against Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns.
In those NBA Finals, Jordan would make more history as he led the Bulls to their third straight NBA championship, the first three-peat in the NBA since Bill Russell’s Celtics of the 1960s. In the series, he would average 41.0 points per game on 50.8% shooting from the field overall and 40.0% shooting from three. Claiming his third straight Finals MVP award, Jordan’s 41.0 points per game in the series is an NBA Finals record that still stands today and may never be broken.
8. Allen Iverson – 33.0 PPG – 2005-06 Season
Allen Iverson is one of the most impressive scorers in NBA history. You can talk about his inefficiency as a shooter all you want but four scoring titles at just 6’0’’ tall is all the evidence you need for where he stands in the annals of NBA history. Surprisingly enough, the 2005-06 season where he averaged a career-high 33.0 points per game was not one of those four in which he won the scoring title.
Iverson averaged 33.0 points per game in 2005-06 on 44.7% shooting from the field overall, 32.3% from three, and 81.4% from the free throw line. During that season, Iverson recorded 49 30-point games, 15 40-point games, and a season-high 53 points in a loss to the Atlanta Hawks on 54.8% shooting or 17-31 from the field. Unfortunately, the 76ers were not so good outside of Iverson and only won 38 games, missing the NBA playoffs altogether. It would be the last full season in which Iverson would be in Philadelphia as he was traded to the Denver Nuggets midway through the 2006-07 season.
7. George Gervin – 33.1 PPG – 1979-80 Season
Credit: Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
George “Iceman” Gervin is another one of the most talented scorers in NBA history, and also one of the most underrated. The 1979-80 season was Gervin’s fourth in the NBA after coming over to the San Antonio Spurs after spending four seasons in the ABA. Gervin remained with the Spurs after the merger and the 1979-80 season would be the third season in a row in which he took home the NBA’s scoring title.
Gervin averaged 33.1 points per game that season on 52.8% shooting from the field overall, 31.4% from three, and 85.2% from the free throw line. He recorded 52 30-point games on the season as well as 18 40-point games and two games with at least 50 points scored as well. His season-high would be 55 points on 65.6% shooting in a blowout win over the Indiana Pacers. The Spurs would finish the season with a 41-41 record but sneak into the NBA playoffs.
Their hopes of an NBA championship would come to an end in the first round with a 2-1 series loss to the Houston Rockets. Gervin averaged 33.3 points per game in that series on 50.0% shooting from the floor.
6. Michael Jordan – 33.6 PPG – 1989-90 Season
The third time that Michael Jordan appears on this list would be for his 33.6 points per game during the 1989-90 season. Jordan achieved this high-scoring season while playing all 82 games for the Chicago Bulls, winning a steals title, and shooting 52.6% from the field. He would win his fourth straight NBA scoring title, shoot a great 37.6% from three, and 84.8% from the foul line as well.
During this season, Jordan would have 51 30-point games, 22 40-point games, and three games with at least 50 points scored. His season-high would be a scintillating 69-point game that was accompanied by 18 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 steals in a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. This led the Bulls to 55 wins and a trip to the NBA playoffs.
In the NBA playoffs, Jordan would average 36.7 points per game on 51.4% shooting from the field. He would lead the Bulls to an appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons. Unfortunately, that series would end in seven games in favor of the Bad Boys but it would be the final time Jordan would fall to Detroit in the NBA playoffs.
5. James Harden – 34.3 PPG – 2019-20 Season
James Harden’s historic run as scoring champion from 2018 through 2020 is one of the most impressive runs by a shooting guard in NBA history. The 2019-20 season marked the third season in a row with a scoring title for James Harden with 34.3 points per game on 44.4% shooting overall, 35.5% from three, and 86.5% shooting from the foul line. It was also the third season in a row in which Harden led the NBA in total threes made with 299.
In 2019-20, he recorded 44 30-point games, 21 40-point games, and five games with at least 50-point games. His season high would come in a blowout 47-point win over the Hawks. Harden scored 60 points on 66.7% shooting in the contest. The Rockets would win 44 games out of 72 as the NBA season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the NBA playoffs, the Rockets would fall to the eventual NBA champions, the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round.
4. Michael Jordan – 35.0 PPG – 1987-88 Season
The 1987-88 season would be one of the greatest individual seasons by any player in NBA history. Jordan would win his second NBA scoring title in a row with 35.0 points per game, taking home the NBA MVP award as well as the Defensive Player of the Year award while leading the NBA in steals with 3.2 per game.
Jordan’s 1988 season would come with 59 30-point games, 18 40-point games, and four 50-point games as well. His season high in scoring would be 59 points on 77.8% shooting against the Detroit Pistons in a win on the road. Jordan helped the Bulls cap off his incredible season with 50 wins as a team and a trip to the NBA playoffs.
In the playoffs, Jordan would lead the Bulls to their first playoff victory since joining the team in 1984-85 with a 3-2 series win over the Cavaliers. Unfortunately, the fun would be short-lived for Chicago as they would be dismantled by the Pistons in the next round in five games. Jordan would average 36.3 points per game in those NBA playoffs on 53.1% shooting.
3. Kobe Bryant – 35.4 PPG – 2005-06 Season
The only reason that Allen Iverson did not win the NBA scoring title in the 2005-06 season that we covered earlier is because of the existence of Kobe Bean Bryant. In 2005-06, Bryant would claim the first scoring title of his career by averaging 35.6 points per game on 45.0% shooting overall, 34.7% from three, and 85.0% from the foul line.
Bryant would make history by becoming the first player since Michael Jordan to average at least 35.0 points per game in a season. He recorded 56 30-point games, 35 40-point games, and six games with at least 50 points scored. His season high would be the legendary 81-point game at Staples Center in front of his grandmother who had come to watch him play for the first time.
Despite a lackluster roster, Bryant led the Lakers to 45 wins and a trip to the NBA playoffs. Bryant would put on another memorable performance in the first round against the Phoenix Suns but ultimately, it was not enough as Phoenix advanced in seven games. Bryant had averaged 27.9 points per game on 49.7% shooting in the series.
2. James Harden – 36.1 PPG – 2018-19 Season
James Harden’s memorable run from 2018 through 2020 as a scorer was sandwiched in the middle by his career-high 36.1 points per game in 2018-19. Harden would win his second straight scoring title by shooting 44.2% from the field overall, 36.8% from three, and 87.9% from the foul line.
Harden would record 57 30-point games, 28 40-point games, and an incredible nine games with at least 50 points scored. Harden would have two separate games with 61 points as his season high in 2018-19, both coming in wins over the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs. Harden would also lead the NBA with 265 made three-pointers and 624 free throws.
Harden and the Rockets would win 53 games and advance to the NBA playoffs. In the playoffs, Harden would average 36.1 points per game in two rounds of play. After defeating the Utah Jazz in five games, the Rockets would run into a buzzsaw known as the Golden State Warriors who were about to win their third NBA title in four seasons after defeating Houston in six games.
1. Michael Jordan – 37.1 PPG – 1986-87 Season
You guessed it. The highest-scoring season by a shooting guard in NBA history belongs to Michael Jordan’s incredible 37.1 points per game in 1986-87. Jordan’s 37.1 points per game would be the fifth-highest-scoring season by any player in NBA history and the highest-scoring one by a player not named Wilt Chamberlain. It was Jordan’s first career scoring title as he shot 48.2% overall from the field, 18.2% from three on 0.8 attempts, and 85.7% from the foul line.
During this historical season, Jordan would start and play all 82 games for the Chicago Bulls. He recorded 67 30-point games, 37 40-point games, and eight games with at least 50 points. He achieved his season high of 61 points twice. Once in a win over the Pistons and another in a loss to the Hawks. The Bulls would win 40 games that season and sneak into the NBA playoffs with Jordan’s second-best scorer being Charles Oakley with 14.5 points per game.
The Bulls would run into one of the greatest dynasties and teams in NBA history in the 1987 Boston Celtics that postseason in the first round which resulted in a 3-0 series sweep by Boston. In the series, Jordan would average 35.7 points per game on 41.7% shooting but was no match for the trio of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, and Robert Parish.
