The seven-in-a-row run (1987-93)

Jordan’s first scoring title came in 1986-87 when he averaged 37.1 points per game — one of only four players ever to average 35+ in a season (Wilt did it three times; James Harden did it once in 2018-19). He followed it with 35.0 in 1987-88, 32.5 in 1988-89, 33.6 in 1989-90, 31.5 in 1990-91, 30.1 in 1991-92, and 32.6 in 1992-93. The streak ended only because he retired after his father’s murder in summer 1993 to play minor-league baseball.

During that seven-year window, the Bulls also won three NBA titles (1991, 1992, 1993). Jordan is one of only two players in league history to lead the league in scoring AND win the championship in the same season — and he did it five times (1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1998). The other player to do it was Shaquille O’Neal, once, in 2000.

The three after the comeback (1996-98)

Jordan returned in March 1995 too late to catch Shaq for the scoring title. The next three years he won three more in a row: 30.4 in 1995-96, 29.6 in 1996-97, and 28.7 in 1997-98 — his 10th and final crown. Each of those seasons also produced a championship and a Finals MVP. He retired again after the 1998 Finals.

His 1997-98 title at age 34 made him the oldest scoring champion in NBA history at the time. Karl Malone almost caught him; Shareef Abdur-Rahim almost caught him. Jordan won the title by playing all 82 games — only the third time in his career he managed to. The volume reps mattered: he averaged 38.8 minutes a night and never sat in the fourth quarter unless the game was decided.

Where Wilt fits, and the modern field

Wilt Chamberlain won seven scoring titles in a row from 1959-60 through 1965-66, including his famous 50.4 PPG average in 1961-62 — the year of the 100-point game. Wilt voluntarily stopped trying to score the way he had once he started chasing assist titles (he led the league in assists in 1967-68, the only center to do so). He could have caught Jordan if he’d kept gunning.

Among modern players: Kevin Durant won four straight from 2009-10 to 2013-14, with one more in 2017-18 making five. James Harden won three in a row (2017-19). Kobe Bryant won two. LeBron James won one — in 2008. Joel Embiid won back-to-back in 2022 and 2023. None are realistic to catch Jordan; closing the gap to seven would require a player to win four in a row from age 30 onward, in an era of load-managed minutes and increasing parity.

Background facts cross-referenced with the Wikipedia article on List of National Basketball Association scoring leaders and Pro-Football-Reference / Basketball-Reference public records. Lead image via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).