The NBA if league leaders were counted based on totals rather than per game

I went back through every season of the NBA since 1974 (the first season blocks and steals were recorded) and tabled up all of the league leaders in totals for the five major statistical categories to find out any surprises and to see if anyone’s legacy would be majorly impacted.

Leaders (total)	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks
2026	Luka Doncic	Donovan Clingan	Nikola Jokic	Cason Wallace	Wemby
2025	SGA	Ivica Zubac	Trae Young	Dyson Daniels	Wemby
2024	Luka Doncic	Domantas Sabonis	Tyrese Haliburton	SGA + De’Aaron Fox	Wemby
2023	Jayson Tatum	Domantas Sabonis	Trae Young	OG Anunoby	Brook Lopez
2022	Trae Young	Nikola Jokic	Trae Young	Dejounte Murray	JJJ
2021	Steph Curry	Rudy Gobert	Russell Westbrook	TJ McConnell	Rudy Gobert
2020	James Harden	Rudy Gobert	LeBron James	James Harden	Hassan Whiteside
2019	James Harden	Andre Drummond	Russell Westbrook	Paul George	Myles Turner
2018	LeBron James	Andre Drummond	Russell Westbrook	Victor Oladipo	Anthony Davis
2017	Russell Westbrook	Andre Drummond	James Harden	John Wall	Rudy Gobert
2016	James Harden	Andre Drummond	Rajon Rondo	Steph Curry	Hassan Whiteside
2015	James Harden	DeAndre Jordan	Chris Paul	Steph Curry	Anthony Davis
2014	Kevin Durant	DeAndre Jordan	John Wall	Ricky Rubio	Serge Ibaka
2013	Kevin Durant	Omer Asik	Greivis Vasquez	Mike Conley	Serge Ibaka
2012	Kevin Durant	Dwight Howard	Steve Nash	Chris Paul	Serge Ibaka
2011	Kevin Durant	Kevin Love	Steve Nash	Chris Paul	Serge Ibaka
2010	Kevin Durant	Dwight Howard	Steve Nash	Rajon Rondo	Dwight Howard
2009	Dwyane Wade	Dwight Howard	Chris Paul	Chris Paul	Dwight Howard
2008	Kobe Bryant	Dwight Howard	Chris Paul	Chris Paul	Marcus Camby
2007	Kobe Bryant	Dwight Howard	Steve Nash	Shawn Marion	Marcus Camby
2006	Kobe Bryant	Dwight Howard	Steve Nash	Chris Paul	Andrei Kirilenko
2005	Allen Iverson	Kevin Garnett	Steve Nash	Allen Iverson	Marcus Camby
2004	Kevin Garnett	Kevin Garnett	Stephon Marbury	Shawn Marion	Theo Ratliff
2003	Kobe Bryant	Ben Wallace	Jason Kidd	Allen Iverson	Theo Ratliff
2002	Paul Pierce	Tim Duncan	Andre Miller	Jason Kidd	Ben Wallace
2001	Jerry Stackhouse	Ben Wallace	Jason Kidd	Doug Christie	J O’Neal + Shawn Bradley
2000	Shaq O’Neal	Dikembe Mutombo	Gary Payton	Eddie Jones	Alonzo Mourning
1999	Shaq O’Neal	Dikembe Mutombo	Jason Kidd	Kendall Gill	Alonzo Mourning
1998	Michael Jordan	Dennis Rodman	Rod Strickland	Brevin Knight	Dikembe Mutombo
1997	Michael Jordan	Dikembe Mutombo	Mark Jackson	Mookie Blaylock	Dikembe Mutombo
1996	Michael Jordan	David Robinson	John Stockton	Gary Payton	Dikembe Mutombo
1995	Shaq O’Neal	Dikembe Mutombo	John Stockton	Scottie Pippen	Dikembe Mutombo
1994	David Robinson	Dennis Rodman	John Stockton	Nate McMillan	Dikembe Mutombo
1993	Michael Jordan	Dennis Rodman	John Stockton	Michael Jordan	Hakeem Olajuwon
1992	Michael Jordan	Dennis Rodman	John Stockton	John Stockton	David Robinson
1991	Michael Jordan	David Robinson	John Stockton	Alvin Robertson	David Robinson
1990	Michael Jordan	Hakeem Olajuwon	John Stockton	Michael Jordan	Hakeem Olajuwon
1989	Michael Jordan	Hakeem Olajuwon	John Stockton	John Stockton	Manute Bol
1988	Michael Jordan	Charles Oakley	John Stockton	Michael Jordan	Mark Eaton
1987	Michael Jordan	Charles Oakley	Magic Johnson	Alvin Robertson	Mark Eaton
1986	Alex English	Bill Laimbeer	Magic Johnson	Alvin Robertson	Manute Bol
1985	Michael Jordan	Moses Malone	Isiah Thomas	M. Ray Richardson	Mark Eaton
1984	Adrian Dantley	Bill Laimbeer	I. Thomas + Norm Nixon	Rickey Green	Mark Eaton
1983	Alex English	Moses Malone	Magic Johnson	Rickey Green	Tree Rollins
1982	George Gervin	Moses Malone	Johnny Moore	M. Ray Richardson	George Johnson
1981	Adrian Dantley	Moses Malone	Kevin Porter	M. Ray Richardson	George Johnson
1980	George Gervin	Swen Nater	M. Ray Richardson	M. Ray Richardson	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1979	George Gervin	Moses Malone	Kevin Porter	Norm Nixon + Eddie Jordan	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1978	George Gervin	Truck Robinson	Kevin Porter	Ron Lee	George Johnson
1977	Pete Maravich	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Don Buse	Don Buse	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1976	Bob McAdoo	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	Slick Watts	Slick Watts	Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
1975	Bob McAdoo	Bob McAdoo	Kevin Porter	Rick Barry	Elmore Smith
1974	Bob McAdoo	Elvin Hayes	Ernie DiGregorio	Larry Steele	Elmore Smith

A few interesting things I noticed

Kobe Bryant would have 4 scoring titles, currently has 2
Kevin Durant took Carmelo Anthony’s only scoring title, would have had 5 in a row
Chris Paul goes from 5 assist titles and 6 steals titles to 3 assist titles and 5 steals titles
Tracy McGrady ends up with zero scoring titles, they go to Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant
Allen Iverson would have just one scoring title, currently has 4
Dikembe Mutombo goes from 2 rebounding titles and 3 block titles to 4 rebounding titles and 5 block titles
Shawn Marion takes both of Baron Davis’ steals titles
Michael Jordan somehow goes from 10 scoring titles to 11, because why not

CutLonzosHair2017 | LAL

39 | 4 hours ago

The Cavs play by play used to call Shaq, “Shaq O’neal” during broadcasts and it used to irrationally annoy me. Its either Shaq or Shaquille O’Neal.

the_j_tizzle

14 | 4 hours ago

This might be the first time I’ve heard or seen “Shaq O’Neal”, and it’s driving me batty, too. :)

Vegetable-Ti1

3 | 4 hours ago

Ive never heard Shaq o Neal lmao

CutLonzosHair2017 | LAL

1 | 4 hours ago

2010 Cavs are forever ingrained in my mind because of it.

buttons_the_horse

1 | an hour ago

Shayquellin?!!

hufshjnd

26 | 5 hours ago

Harden scored more points than Curry in ¹⁵⁄₁₆. Curry led the league and played 79 games.

Checked. Harden scored 1 more point and played 3 more games.

GloryCloud | Minneapolis Lakers

6 | 3 hours ago

That’s a crazy stat actually

LonesomeWulf | Timberwolves

15 | 4 hours ago

I have been thinking about this lately too, how basketball is the only sport that does not use totals for a lot of its main stats.

I get it on some level, in hockey it sounds better to score 50 goals than .6 goals per game, versus basketball 2000 points is harder for people to contextualize than 30 points per game I suppose.

I mainly struggle with the stuff OP points out, where a player is in the top spot on a per game basis but plays way less and other players end up with higher actual stats. Like Jokic is touted for leading the league in rebounds and assists this season … but this is not true if you look at totals - for Rebound totals it is Clingan #1, KAT #2, Gobert #3, Jokic #4.

Hopefully normalizing total stats becomes a thing.

Odoaiden | Timberwolves

9 | 3 hours ago

I think it’s also because of the long season baseball does have total runs rbi and home runs but they use stats like average OPS (I know these are different things) as well with the longer season.

ASK_ABT_MY_USERNAME | Warriors

1 | 2 hours ago

basketball is the only sport that does not use totals for a lot of its main stats.

In baseball it’s mostly about batting average, and ERA.

Jokic absolutely deserves to be considered the leader in rebounds and assists, injuries should not hurt a person’s accolades.

GrapeNo3164

2 | an hour ago

Baseball is so stat focused that it’s both—200 hits is a huge deal for example on the batting front and 300 strikeouts for pitchers. In any event, 2 of the 3 triple crown categories for hitters and pitchers are counting stats

the_j_tizzle

10 | 4 hours ago

It’s wild that Michael Jordan would end up with more. With all the talk of longevity, that man played at least 78 games in 11 seasons. He received DPOY votes in ten of those seasons and was NBA All Defense in nine, demonstrating he was not saving himself for offensive stats. Absolutely bonkers.

HucktoMe

0 | 2 hours ago

Maybe the greatest thing Jordan did for the league was usher in the era of elite physical fitness. Dudes were smoking in the locker rooms and the only weights they used were 12 oz curls when he came in and now everybody works out for hours every single day and has since high school. Jordan is the reason for that more than anybody.

the_j_tizzle

1 | an hour ago

I remember an old interview with Danny Ainge. He said his first day at the Boston practice facility he was given a gym card in case he wanted to work out. He asked where the gym was but the Celtics staffer had no idea. That’s crazy!

jacarter6767

7 | 5 hours ago

Greivis Vasquez being the leader in any category is something I never thought even remotely close to being true.

Hell even knowing who that player is could be it’s own trivia question.

ha_x5

5 | 3 hours ago

For post season awards I would always find it weird to not go for totals actually.

You need per game stats for comparability during the season. “Player A has 450 points and thus is better than Player B who has 420 points ” Makes no sense when both have 30PPG and one has played 15 and the other one 14 games.

In the end, when everything is said and done, stats are cumulated, no more games are played: Yes, the player who has scored 2000 points should be scoring champ, and not the one who has 1999 points. 2000 > 1999 points.

I will die on the hill, that the NBA does this wrong.

Wemban_yams_it

3 | 2 hours ago

Lebron loses his 2008 title but gets the 2018 one..

third0burns

2 | 3 hours ago

I think totals should be used when considering post season awards. You can drop the 65 game rule entirely, because if you don’t play much you’ll be pretty low in most stat categories. The problem takes care of itself. I don’t know if advanced stats would be impacted necessarily, but if you sit out a bunch and you’re like 28th in points and 35th in rebounds, that probably doesn’t look like an all nba season.

curtiswaynemillard | NBA

1 | 23 minutes ago

1986 Alex English!

socialist_butterfly0 | Wizards

1 | an hour ago

Growing up a Terps fan Vasquez was like my favorite player. Totally forgot he had a 14/9/4 season. Good for him.