Luka Doncic won the NBA scoring title last season by averaging 33.9 points per game for the Dallas Mavericks. It was the first time he had won it in his career and an account on X claimed that he was also the first White player to be named the scoring champ.
The post went viral on social media with over 20K likes, but the notion that Doncic is the first White player to win the scoring title is completely untrue. Quite a few White players won it long before he did.
For starters, every NBA scoring champion from 1946-47 to 1958-59 was White. Joe Fulks, Max Zaslofsky, George Mikan (thrice), Paul Arizin (twice), Neil Johnston (thrice), Bob Pettit (twice), and George Yardley were the ones who won it in those 13 seasons.
We had to wait a little bit for the next entrant, as Rick Barry became the eighth White player to be named the scoring champ in 1967. Then from the 1969-70 season, the NBA changed the criteria for the scoring title from total points to points per game and Jerry West won it that season itself by averaging 31.2 points per game.
Then in 1978, Pete Maravich became the 10th White player to win the award, putting up 31.1 points per game and he was the last one to win the award before Doncic. So, the Slovenian is actually the 11th White player to win the scoring title, not the first.
We had to wait nearly 50 years for another entrant to this list, but I don’t think the next one will take quite as long, especially with the NBA going global. I also believe Doncic will win more scoring titles himself, as he isn’t close to his prime just yet. The 25-year-old has now averaged over 30 points per game in each of the last two seasons and I don’t see any reason why he won’t continue to do so for the coming years.
The only question is just how many will Doncic win? I think there is a chance that he could end up with four scoring titles, which would leave him tied for third all-time with Kevin Durant, Allen Iverson, and George Gervin. He won’t catch Michael Jordan or Wilt Chamberlain, though, who won 10 and seven respectively.
I doubt Doncic has aspirations to match Jordan in terms of scoring titles either. What he probably does aspire to do, though, is win as many NBA titles as the Chicago Bulls icon. Jordan won six titles during his storied career and I do believe Doncic has what it takes to win multiple. He made the NBA Finals for the first time in his career in 2024 and I see more trips coming in the future.