How difficult is it to score 3,000 points in a single season? NBA history has only appeared 4 times, and no one can do it in active service

In the ended 2025 Finals G2, Alexander, the MVP+ scoring leader of this season, played another wonderful solo performance after G1. In this game, he made 11 of 21 shots, scoring 34 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals and 1 block. Under his leadership, the Thunder also successfully equalized the series' big score. In addition, after this game, Alexander's total score this season (regular season + playoffs) also officially broke the 3,000-point mark. In NBA history, only 11 players have achieved this feat. In addition to him, Harden, Durant and Doncic are all on this list.

As one of the few players in the NBA who have scored more than 3,000 points in a single season, the scoring ability of Harden, Durant, Doncic and Alexander is obvious to everyone, among which Harden and Durant have been elected as the scoring champion many times. Especially Harden, he averaged 36.1 points per game in the 2018-2019 season, which is also the highest average score per game for players in a single season since Jordan.

However, even Harden had to break through 3,000 points with his total score in the regular season + playoffs. At that time, only looking at the regular season, Harden's total score was 2,815 points. Therefore, even though he played 82 games that season, his total score in the regular season was still unable to exceed 3,000 points. From this, we can see how difficult it is to score more than 3,000 points in the regular season alone.

Looking at the NBA history, this feat has only happened four times. Obviously no one can do it at the current service. The last time people witnessed this performance with their own eyes was traced back to the 1986-1987 season. Then let’s take a look at which players scored more than 3,000 points in the regular season alone!

1. Chamberlain (1960-1961 season)

Average of 38.4 points, 27.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists in the regular season, with a shooting percentage of 50.9%

In the league at that time, Chamberlain's talent was really a dimensional reduction strike on the court. His wingspan was 2.34 meters tall, and his dynamic talent was also full. In this case, most defensive players had no choice but to face him. Therefore, Chamberlain averaged 37.6 points, 27 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game in the rookie season. Therefore, he was not only selected for the All-A-Team, but also won the regular season MVP + scoring + rebounding champion.

However, after losing to the Celtics in the 1960 playoffs, Chamberlain once had the idea of ​​retirement, and the defeat of the loss almost made him choose to give up his career. Fortunately, Chamberlain chose to stick with it in the end. Then in the 1960-1961 season, he performed better. He averaged 38.4 points, 27.2 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game in the regular season, so he also won the scoring and rebounding champion for the second consecutive year.

It was this season that Chamberlain achieved the first feat of 3,000 points in the regular season. His score was 3,033 points this year, and he also contributed 2,149 rebounds. Unfortunately, the team was eliminated earlier this season than last season. In the first round, they lost to the National Team with a big score of 0-3.

2. Chamberlain (1961-1962 season)

Average of 50.4 points, 25.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists in the regular season, and his shooting percentage was 50.6%

The successive losses undoubtedly made Chamberlain more exciting. So in the 1961-1962 season, he played the craziest personal performance of his career. He averaged 48.5 minutes per game in the regular season and scored 50.4 points and 25.7 rebounds. Looking at the entire NBA history, no one except him has even averaged 40+ games in the regular season. From this, we can see how exaggerated his performance in the regular season this year.

Chamberlain scored less than 30 points in 2 games in the regular season. In the remaining games, he scored 15 games, 30+, 18 games, 40+, 30 games, 50+, 12 games, 60+, and 2 games, and 70+. In another game against the Knicks, Chamberlain made crazily shot 63 times and scored 100 points in a single game. No one has been able to reproduce this performance since then. Later, Kobe's 81 points in a single game was the closest to Chamberlain.

In the end, Chamberlain's total regular season score was frozen at 4,029 points, which has undoubtedly become one of the most difficult records to break in NBA history. It is worth mentioning that even though Chamberlain's performance that season was unique, he still failed to get the MVP in the end.

3. Chamberlain (1962-1963 season)

Average of 44.8 points, 24.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists in the regular season, with a shooting percentage of 52.8%

In the 1962-1963 season, Chamberlain was still the best scorer in the league, and he still led the other players with an average of 44.8 points per game. This year, Chamberlain played the most 80 games in the league, and at the same time, he averaged 47.6 minutes of playing time per game, and in the end he scored 3,586 points, so he locked in the regular season scoring award early. In addition to Chamberlain this season, Elgin Baylor ranked second in the league in the regular season total score. He scored 2,719 points and was also 400+ points ahead of the third place, but obviously the gap between him and Chamberlain is more obvious..

In his subsequent career, although Chamberlain never played 3,000+ points in the regular season, he still won the regular season scoring champion for four consecutive seasons after 1963, and his average score per game has never been lower than 30+. In addition, he has scored 2,500+ points in the year with the lowest regular season scores in a single season.

4. Michael Jordan (1986-1987 season)

Average of 37.1 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 2.9 steals and 1.5 blocks in the regular season, with a shooting percentage of 48.2%

Apart from Chamberlain, the only player in NBA history who has a season of scoring more than 3,000 points in the regular season was Jordan. After entering the league in 1984, he quickly realized his talent and averaged 28.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 2.4 steals in a rookie season. Then in the second year of his career, facing the Celtics, Jordan even set a single-game score record for playoff players in G2. In that game, he played in 53 minutes, 41 shots and scored 63 points, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks.

By the 1986-1987 season, Jordan, who had completely recovered his health, played the most gorgeous scoring feast of his career. He averaged a career-high 37.1 points per game in the regular season. At the same time, we can also see from his other data that his performance in defense and passing is also very comprehensive. In the end, Jordan played 82 games this season, so his total score was as high as 3,041 points. Inglish ranked second in the league in the regular season total score that year, and he scored 2,345 points at the time.