Michael Jordan won the first of his many scoring titles in 1987 after averaging a staggering 37.1 points per game. However, unlike most players, Jordan didn’t really see it as a meaningful achievement. If anything, he perceived it as a reason for people to criticize him.
In fact, the Chicago Bulls legend kept downplaying his remarkable feat, wanting people not to conclude that he was just a one-dimensional player.
“I think that my offensive game has reached its peak right now in the way that I’m playing and the confidence that I have in my offensive game,” Jordan assessed. “But I think… It’s easy to stereotype you as an offensive player by scoring so many points.”
Jordan just happened to be his team’s best scorer
Just by the numbers alone, it’s already easy to see that the Bulls‘ offense was all about Jordan. In that season, MJ didn’t miss a single game and averaged a whopping 28 field goal attempts, converting 13 of them. He also averaged 10 made free throws per game on 12 attempts.
It’s worth noting that the entire team averaged 104.8 points per contest that year, which means that over 35 percent of the Bulls’ per-game scoring production was courtesy of MJ.
Despite the undeniable imbalance in the Bulls’ offense, Jordan insisted that it was just the result of the team’s game plan. He explained that he happened to be the most effective scorer on the squad but he never intended to top anybody.
“I was [my entire team’s offense this season] in the sense that we had to expand a lot of other players’ roles offensively and it took some time for them to do that,” MJ said. “[But] You know, I don’t like to lead the league in scoring, I think that stereotypes you as an offensive player.”
Jordan never cared about scoring titles
Even though Jordan was somewhat reluctant to finish each season as the league’s scoring leader, that ended up being the case for the next six years since he first won the title in 1987. He only stopped winning the scoring title when he retired in 1993 after his father’s tragic death. In his return, Jordan won three consecutive scoring titles again from 1996 to 1998.
Still, MJ reiterated that winning scoring titles was the least of his concerns as a player.
“I’m not really into stats, except if they can help maintain the drive for me,” Jordan said. “For instance, scoring championships. Sure, I know what it takes to win one. I can average 32 points a game and know I’ll win. Eight points a quarter. Three baskets, two free throws. It’s as easy as that. I’m down four, I can get 12 the next quarter. But I don’t let anything like that take away from what the team is trying to do.”
“If it came down to me needing a basket to win the scoring title, I would only take it if the team was where it needed to be,” he added.
Jordan won 10 scoring titles throughout his career, the most in NBA history. Ironically, he did that while avoiding being labeled as a pure scorer.