Michael Jordan still holds the record for most scoring titles in NBA history with 10.
It’s a record that’s unlikely to be broken or matched anytime soon, as the closest active NBA player is Kevin Durant with four. The other two are James Harden with three and LeBron James, who only has one scoring title to his name.
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Some fans have used this huge gap as a knock on James in the ongoing NBA GOAT debate between him and Jordan. While the argument has a valid point, 1986 NBA Coach of the Year Mike Fratello once came up with a logical reason why James failed to dominate that category.
According to Fratello, Jordan’s feat was undeniably incredible, but LeBron shouldn’t be viewed as an underperformer because of that.
Instead, Fratello wanted fans to realize that it was James’ style of play and circumstances that prevented him from touching MJ’s record.
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“Though Jordan and James entered the league with reputations of not being the greatest of shooters, they got better each year and became capable of leading the league in scoring,” Fratello once assessed in 2010.
“However Jordan held the title for a whopping ten years,” he continued. “With sharpshooters like Kevin Durant in the mix, it will be tough for LeBron to touch that record, especially now that he’ll be giving up shots to help teammates Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh get shots.”
MJ and LeBron’s take on winning scoring titles
Even though James didn’t win the scoring title as much as Jordan did during his time (he only won it once in 2008), it never bothered The King. In fact, LeBron even once made it clear that he wasn’t after scoring titles as it wasn’t what he came to the NBA for.
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James even claimed that he could become the scoring champion whenever he wanted to. However, his priority has always been to win NBA championships.
“If it happens, it happens. It is not important to me at all. Right now, our team is in a position to clinch (home-court advantage) for the whole Playoffs, and that is more important,” James said in 2010. “If I really wanted to, if I really wanted to win the scoring title, I could win it every single year. Every single year, I could really do it. But it doesn’t matter to me.”
Whether it’s just a coincidence or pure greatness, Jordan was also not focused on offense and winning scoring titles. From Jordan’s standpoint, fans would just be quick to label him as a one-dimensional player whenever he wins a scoring title which was never the case.
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“I don’t like to lead the league in scoring,” MJ once said. “I think that just stereotypes you as an offensive player. I think other parts of my game were not acknowledged as well as they should have been.”
LeBron’s untouched records
Truth be told, Coach Fratello was right. James may never be able to catch Jordan in scoring titles but LeBron himself also holds some records that are untouched by any player to this day.
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As it stands, James is currently the NBA’s all-time leading scorer with 42,184 points heading into the 2025-26 season. The next active player on the list is Durant, who is almost 12,000 points behind.
Apart from that, James is also the only player in NBA history who has won three NBA Finals MVPs with three different teams (Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, and Cleveland Cavaliers).
The only active NBA player who could possibly match that is Kawhi Leonard who has won one Finals MVP with the San Antonio Spurs and one with the Toronto Raptors.
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This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Sep 17, 2025, where it first appeared in the Off The Court section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.