Original Dataset
Top 15 NBA scorers — 2023–24 regular season
Data sourced from NBA.com official statistics. Includes per-game averages and team regular-season win totals.
Players tracked
15
top scorers
Average PPG
27.5
points per game
Average TS%
60.9%
true shooting
Avg Team Wins
47.1
regular season
| # | Player | Team | PPG | APG | RPG | FG% | 3P% | TS% | Team W |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luka Doncic | DAL | 33.9 | 9.8 | 9.2 | 48.7 | 38.2 | 62.1 | 50 |
| 2 | Giannis Antetokounmpo | MIL | 30.4 | 6.5 | 11.5 | 61.1 | 27.4 | 64.5 | 49 |
| 3 | Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | OKC | 30.1 | 6.2 | 5.5 | 53.5 | 35.3 | 63.7 | 57 |
| 4 | Jalen Brunson | NYK | 28.7 | 6.7 | 3.6 | 47.9 | 40.1 | 61.8 | 50 |
| 5 | Devin Booker | PHX | 27.1 | 6.9 | 4.5 | 49.8 | 36.9 | 61.3 | 36 |
| 6 | Kevin Durant | PHX | 27.1 | 5.0 | 6.6 | 52.3 | 41.3 | 64.7 | 36 |
| 7 | Jayson Tatum | BOS | 26.9 | 4.9 | 8.1 | 47.1 | 37.6 | 60.6 | 64 |
| 8 | De'Aaron Fox | SAC | 26.6 | 5.9 | 3.7 | 50.6 | 34.1 | 60.3 | 46 |
| 9 | Donovan Mitchell | CLE | 26.6 | 6.1 | 5.1 | 47.9 | 38.7 | 61.0 | 48 |
| 10 | Stephen Curry | GSW | 26.4 | 5.1 | 4.5 | 45.0 | 40.8 | 62.8 | 46 |
| 11 | LeBron James | LAL | 25.7 | 8.3 | 7.3 | 54.0 | 41.0 | 64.1 | 47 |
| 12 | Trae Young | ATL | 25.7 | 10.8 | 2.8 | 43.1 | 34.3 | 58.2 | 36 |
| 13 | Anthony Edwards | MIN | 25.9 | 5.1 | 5.4 | 46.1 | 35.6 | 58.6 | 56 |
| 14 | Damian Lillard | MIL | 24.3 | 7.3 | 4.4 | 42.4 | 37.0 | 58.9 | 49 |
| 15 | Paolo Banchero | ORL | 22.6 | 5.4 | 6.9 | 46.4 | 33.1 | 56.4 | 47 |
Chart 1 of 3
Scoring output by player
Who scores the most — and by how much?
Chart 01
Points per game — top 15 NBA scorers
A ranked horizontal bar chart reveals the scoring gap between the elite tier (30+ PPG) and the rest of the pack.
Analysis & Argument
A clear break exists between the "elite" scoring tier — Doncic (33.9), Giannis (30.4), and SGA (30.1) — and the rest of the top 15, who cluster tightly between 22–29 PPG. Luka's margin over second place is nearly 3.5 points, suggesting an outlier level of volume scoring that's rarely seen in the modern era. The horizontal bar chart is the ideal format here because it makes ranked comparisons immediate and readable — the eye can track length differences far more accurately than angles or areas.
Chart 2 of 3
Scoring vs. efficiency
Do the highest scorers actually shoot well — or is it all volume?
Chart 02
PPG vs. True Shooting % — efficiency of top scorers
A scatter plot tests whether scoring volume and shooting efficiency correlate positively or negatively.
Analysis & Argument
Contrary to the assumption that volume scorers sacrifice efficiency, the scatter plot shows the opposite: the players scoring the most — Giannis (64.5%), SGA (63.7%), Durant (64.7%), and LeBron (64.1%) — also post the highest true shooting percentages. Meanwhile, lower-volume scorers like Trae Young (58.2%) and Banchero (56.4%) fall well below the group average. This reveals a counterintuitive truth: elite scoring and elite efficiency correlate positively at the NBA's top level. The scatter plot is the ideal chart type here because it makes the relationship between two continuous variables visually legible — a pattern that a table of numbers would completely obscure.
Chart 3 of 3
Individual scoring vs. team wins
Does having the league's best scorer guarantee team success?
Chart 03
PPG vs. team regular-season wins — does a scorer win games?
A bubble chart maps individual scoring output against team win totals to test the "superstar = winning" hypothesis.
Analysis & Argument
The most striking finding in the dataset: the highest scorer (Luka Doncic, 33.9 PPG) plays on a team that won just 50 games, while Jayson Tatum — a comparatively modest 26.9 PPG — plays on the best team in the league at 64 wins. SGA and OKC at 57 wins come closest to pairing elite scoring with elite team performance, but even that's not the league's best record. The flat, scattered distribution in this chart visually argues the point without needing much explanation: there is no clean upward trend between individual scoring and team success. Roster depth beats hero ball.
Conclusion
What the data argues
Together, these three charts build a coherent argument: scoring volume alone does not drive winning. The best scorers are also — surprisingly — the most efficient (Chart 2 undermines the "hero ball is wasteful" narrative). Yet that individual efficiency fails to translate cleanly into team wins (Chart 3). The true differentiator for championship contention appears to be roster construction and depth — not the PPG of any single player. Tatum's Celtics, the best team in the league, had no player in the top five of individual scoring. The star who makes teammates better consistently outperforms the star who simply scores more.