Nobody Cares About the NBA’s Scoring Title

You hear quite frequently that NBA players, fans, and front offices are preoccupied with scoring average. In fact, some have suggested that this misplaced passion has brought the league to the verge of destruction. Funny, then, that I don’t think anyone’s talking at all about this year’s scoring crown, despite the fact that LeBron, Kobe, and Wade are all putting up points at a furious clip. We’ve almost become numb to it, and these superstars seem to feel pretty much the same way.↵
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↵From The Plain Dealer:↵↵⇥After Wade led for most of the season, James stepped up to challenge him this month. It has changed hands six times in February and been tied once. James surged ahead with his 55 points in Milwaukee last week and then Wade took it back with a 50-point game Sunday in Orlando. At the moment, Wade has a small lead, 28.8 points a game to James’ 28.5.↵⇥
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↵⇥“For the fans, if they are excited about it, then yeah, it will be fun to watch,” James said. “For me, I just want to win basketball games. We’re trying to get the No. 1 seed. The scoring title, it means nothing to me.”↵↵On second thought, how many times are players referred to as “former scoring champ?” Maybe McGrady sometimes. Still, in baseball leading the league in something is a big deal. Shouldn’t being a season’s most prolific scorer count for something, especially when the competition is so stiff?↵↵My only explanation is that fans are more moved by individual games. We remember the big games James or Wade had during a season where there scoring was consistently high. Then again, with so many players dropping 50 this season, the bar might be raised even on that. Yes, it’s possible that the NBA, and us fans, have gotten over scoring. Or maybe we were spoiled by Kobe’s 81 -- and by the feeling that LeBron could go off for 100 ... if he felt like it. ↵

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