Basically, the highest PPG, APG, RPG, SPG, and BPG vs the lowest it took to lead the NBA in each of those categories.

Side note, I’m gonna be counting it from the 60s on, as in the late 40s and 50s they were still figuring out scoring and assisting (blocks and steals weren’t counted yet).

Points per game:

Highest - Wilt Chamberlain 1962, 50.4 PPG

Second in scoring that year was Walt Bellamy at 31.6 PPG

Lowest - Allen Iverson 1999, 26.8 PPG

Second in scoring that year was Shaq at 26.3 PPG

Assists per game:

Highest - John Stockton 1990, 14.5 APG

Second in assists that year was Magic at 11.5 APG

Lowest - Kevin Porter 1975, 8 APG

Second in assists that year was Dave Bing at 7.7 APG

Rebounds per game:

Highest - Wilt Chamberlain 1961, 27.2 RPG

Second in rebounds that year was Bill Russell at 23.9 RPG

Lowest - Domantas Sabonis 2023, 12.3 RPG

Second in rebounds that year was Nikola Jokic at 11.8 RPG

Blocks per game:

Highest - Mark Eaton 1985, 5.6 BPG

Second in blocks that year was Hakeem Olajuwon at 2.7 BPG

Lowest - Jaren Jackson Jr. 2022, 2.3 BPG

Second in blocks that year was Robert Williams at 2.2 BPG

Steals per game:

Highest - Alvin Robertson 1986, 3.7 SPG

Second in steals that year was Michael Ray Richardson at 2.7 SPG

Lowest - OG Anunoby 2023, 1.9 SPG

Second in steals that year was Jimmy Butler at 1.8 SPG

That’s every category. 2022 and 2023 are two quite recent years that account for 3 of the 5 categories for the lowest it took to lead the league in something.

Edit: Worded the title incorrectly, I wanted to compare the highest vs the lowest seasons a player led in each category, not the highest “it took”

Advanced_Art_233 | Lakers

73 | 5 hours ago

What the fuck was Mark Eaton on in 85’

greatflicks

55 | 5 hours ago

He was on being 7”4” when that was a rarity, absolute behemoth of a guy.

asonkidd

12 | 5 hours ago

Average center height was taller then.

greatflicks

2 | 5 hours ago

Bull it was virtually identical to now.

Vegetable-Baker6362 | Knicks

12 | 4 hours ago

https://www.thehoopsgeek.com/average-nba-height/

6’11.1” vs 6’10.8” in 2026

If you wanna argue that’s an insignificant margin, that still doesn’t address Eaton being any more of a rarity than Yao Ming, Wemby, Ralph Samson, Manute Bol, Bol Bol, Tacko Fall, or Zach Edey

asonkidd

8 | 5 hours ago

It’s true. Since the 80s, every position group has gotten slightly shorter on average except for PG which has gotten taller. It makes sense too considering the advent of small ball and the less reliance on traditional bigs overall for bigger wings who populate the PF position now as well as the phasing out of smaller PG initiators.

SteveJavieWasRight

1 | 2 hours ago

I’d say it’s just that shooting and offensive skill is so much more valuable. Small ball is simply responding to that fact. Bigger players today are taught those skills so it balances out a bit, but there’s a lot more tall guys who can’t shoot or pass than there are guys who can. It was easier to be an immobile big 20 years ago.

whitedawg | DET

2 | 3 hours ago

It was also a time when a ton more shots were attempted in the paint. That’s why blocks are much lower now - more jump shots, and even the shots in the paint tend to be drives and layups rather than shooting over or through a big guy.

howdouspellreddit

14 | 5 hours ago

He avg over 4 blocks for 4 straight years lol

wvtarheel

8 | 5 hours ago

He was a great shot blocker until he got old. He had 4 a game for years. Funny thing is he was never a great rebounder.

whitedawg | DET

5 | 2 hours ago

I never watched Eaton play, but sometimes guys who chase blocks get themselves out of rebounding position.

SteveJavieWasRight

1 | 2 hours ago

True. A non TOV block isn’t that valuable and guys who raise team DReb numbers are arguably more valuable. It’s why Jokic grades out so much better than people expect- turnovers and plays that end possessions are much more valuable than defense that gives up another shot or leads to a better shot.

Wallaby_Straight

1 | 5 minutes ago

There was a couple years where Kevin Love was the opposite in Minnesota. He made his money being known as a great rebounder, and when the team was dog shit he’d chase rebounds at the expense of contesting at the rim.

asonkidd

55 | 5 hours ago

For as much as Stockton is talked about for his longevity and counting stats, he has 4 of the top 5 APG seasons as well so he was putting up the craziest assists numbers ever. 13 APG for a 9 year stretch is insane.

koala37

1 | an hour ago

loved watching him play. I grew up watching Stockton with my uncle then got to watch prime Nash in high school. great time to be a basketball fan

BetweenTheBuzzAndMe | Charlotte Bobcats

21 | 5 hours ago

Mark Eaton recorded 456 blocks in 1985, second place had 220. I wonder if anyone else has ever doubled up 2nd place in any statistical category for a single season. Almost definitely not with any of the 5 major stats, but I wonder how specific you have to get to find a stat that someone has more than 2x anyone else.

peak James Harden with 4-point plays maybe?

Taylor_Swifts_Banner | Knicks

16 | 4 hours ago

Steph with 402 threes vs Klay’s 276 in 2015 is close.

https://hoopdreams.app/ask?q=most%20threes%202016

Taylor_Swifts_Banner | Knicks

24 | 4 hours ago

2025 dyson daniels also pretty close with 229 steals vs Shai’s 131

https://hoopdreams.app/ask?q=most%20steals%202025

Lmaobruh4465 | Toronto Huskies

8 | 5 hours ago

triple doubles.

BetweenTheBuzzAndMe | Charlotte Bobcats

3 | 5 hours ago

oh yeah duh that makes sense for Russ and Jokic, and for JKidd, Oscar, Magic before them.

Virginia_Slim | CHA

1 | 2 hours ago

Rondo 6x the closest in 2012.

Oscar 11x the closest in 1965!

HandsomeGemini | Warriors

5 | 5 hours ago

Blocks is weird because they didn’t record them until 1973. So centers like Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain don’t have any of theirs recorded. Even Kareem had multiple seasons before they were recorded.

nowhathappenedwas | NBA

5 | 2 hours ago

In the first three years of the 3-point line, Joe Hassett was the only guy who took full advantage.

From 1980 to 1982, Hassett launched 10.1 3PA per 100 possessions. The next highest was Freeman Williams at 3.4.

Hassett took 46.1% of his shots from behind the arc, which was twice as many as the next highest guy (Brian Taylor at 23.0%).

Despite averaging just 14.4 minutes per game, Hassett’s 568 3PA were 36% more than any other player in the league.

He shot 34% over those three years, while league average was just 27%.

StrategyTop7612 | Clippers

11 | 5 hours ago

Not a coincidence that there is no overlap in eras here. pace driven

harrowing-gale-2606 | Warriors

6 | 5 hours ago

The pace right now is higher compared to 90s and 00s. Why are we having lowest recorded in rebounds, steals, and blocks leader recently? Are the ball movement and 3 point shots distributing the stats to all players equally?

Practical-Okra40

5 | 5 hours ago

More long rebounds on 3’s, less chance to attack the rim because zone, better spacing and depth of skill creators cuts down on steals compared to the square peg round hole basketball we saw for about 25 years

Sourkraushouse | Knicks

5 | 4 hours ago

I’m too lazy to look it up but I’d bet a big part of it is that minutes per game are consistently lower now. PPG is probably an outlier because of threes

whatssenguntoagoblin | Alperen Sengun

3 | 3 hours ago

NBA is in an unprecedented level for efficiency. That explains PPG.

I agree the rest being because of MPG.

qqbeef

5 | 3 hours ago

Rebounds is because 3 point shots result in the ball bouncing off the rim and landing further away. This also causes gaurds in this era to have more rebounds.

Steals are down due to more relaxed travelling/carry rules.

As for blocks, I have no idea why they’re down. I want to say it’s due to more 3 point shots and they’re rarely blocked, but every report I’ve seen says that the % of jumpshots is mostly the same as 00s, but now long 2s have been replaced with 3s.

Really this post is a good illustration that “statflation” is mostly about points. Even assists are being more evenly distributed amongst the whole team instead of being just for point guards.

towerofmeaning | Knicks

4 | 3 hours ago

Blocks being down is partially due to way less clogged driving lanes. If Wemby was guarding a guy who couldn’t even hit a lightly contested mid range shot and could just stand by the rim waiting for you to drive he’d probably get 6 blocks a game. You can’t really just funnel a driver to an elite shot blocker anymore because they’d just punish them with an open three.

Also way less possessions ending in really bad post ups. I’ve been watching a lot of old basketball recently and so many games just had these mandatory “get the big man involved” plays where he would dribble the air out the ball and then take a hook/contested layup with 0 separation and those were insanely easy to block for disciplined defenders who didn’t bite on weak post moves/fakes.

sportsinaround | Hornets

1 | 5 hours ago

Rebounds I think is a combination of:

- spacing era leads to different positioning, big men being pulled out to the perimeter more often, crashing the glass less on offense to prevent fast breaks/transition plays, and potentially more erratic pathing of the basketball on average following a missed shot from farther out.

- More load management for big men and lineup switches depending on the matchup cuts into averages.

gothybitchyloser

1 | 4 hours ago

i would also assume that with greater focus on efficiency, as well as the average player in the league getting better overtime, there are simply less chances for those stats to be recorded.

fewer “bad” shots taken = less opportunities for rebounds, blocks

BursleysFinest

1 | 4 hours ago

I wouldn’t say “bad” shots. Simple a matter of A. A big man camped in the paint rebounding shots that were taken (and hence bounced out) closer to the paint B. A big man being pulled to defend on the perimeter and trying to grab misses bouncing all the way back to the 3 pt line. Player A wins the rebounding stat there.

Vegetable-Baker6362 | Knicks

1 | 4 hours ago

Highest and lowest apg seasons are fairly close to each other. There wasn’t any massive pace or playstyle revolution between 1975 and 1990.

MBS_RL | Bucks

7 | 5 hours ago

Maybe i’m misunderstanding the wording of the post, but if you’re looking for the most it took to lead the league in these categories, wouldn’t you just be looking for whatever year had the highest 2nd place finisher, not just the most all time in that category?

Like, to win the scoring title in 1962, Wilt only had to score 31.7 per game. He scored 50.4 of course, but that’s not really “the most points anyone has had to score in order to win the scoring title,” that’s just “most ppg in a season”

edit: Correction, Elgin Baylor had 38 ppg in 61-62. So you got the year right, but the wrong reasoning and wrong 2nd place finisher.

H-TownDown | HOU

4 | 4 hours ago

Elgin Baylor didn’t play enough games to qualify for league leaders. He was in the army reserves and got activated, so he only played on weekends.

MBS_RL | Bucks

2 | 4 hours ago

Thank you for the correction

TomatoSecure192 [OP] | Bulls

3 | 5 hours ago

That’s fair, I think I worded it incorrectly. I wanted to compare the highest of each of the major statistical categories vs the lowest it took in a season to lead the league that year.

D0nkeyHS

2 | 3 hours ago

You used it took again

tired_like_sunday | Suns

2 | 2 hours ago

I think what you really mean is “if you sent someone back in time with the intention of winning the [statistic] title, here are the respective years where they would have to record the largest and fewest numbers of [statistic] per game.” Maybe.

TomatoSecure192 [OP] | Bulls

2 | 2 hours ago

YES THAT, you put it pretty perfectly

RimJyan

2 | 3 hours ago

How is no one talking about how 2023 is the lowest year for so many things? Was this the worst year of the NBA?

Jencaasi

1 | 5 hours ago

Just wanted to say this is fun off season content. Definitely shows how the game has changed a little bit, I think

shanmustafa

1 | 5 hours ago

it’s fewer turnovers than ever now so it makes sense i guess there’s fewer steals per game

about 14 tpg

in 1986 it was 18 tpg

you are seeing with the thunder leading the way of a new philosophy, teams were not gambling as much and playing more conservative, but now it’s more aggressive going for turnovers

TomatoSecure192 [OP] | Bulls

2 | 5 hours ago

It’s interesting, of the 5 seasons it took the fewest SPG to lead the league in steals, 4 of those 5 seasons have happened from 2022 - 2026, except for 2025 where Dyson Daniel’s randomly had 3 steals per game

[deleted]

1 | 5 hours ago

[deleted]

masteraleph

1 | 4 hours ago

28 is higher than 26.8. What are you talking about?

KayBeeEeeEssTee

1 | 4 hours ago

28.0 is lower than 50.4 and higher than 26.8. So even though what you are saying is probably correct, it doesn’t qualify as the lowest or highest amount needed to win the scoring title, which is what this post is about…highest and lowest needed to win the statistical categories for a season.

VanGrants | Knicks

1 | 3 hours ago

27.2 rpg doesn’t even look real. im reading it over and over and just wondering how the fuck that’s even possible

TomatoSecure192 [OP] | Bulls

1 | 3 hours ago

Wilt played in the league for 14 years and led the league in rebounds for 11 of those years. The 3 years he didn’t one of them he was injured and the other 2 Russell led the league and Wilt was behind by 2~ rebounds. A career average of 22.9 rebounds. Truly insane player.

And if MJ didn’t exist then he’d be the career ppg and rpg leader in nba history.

berkilak420 | Clippers

1 | 3 hours ago

When KD gets excited about 25 PPG scorers, he’s probably thinking in 1999 standards.

The highest vs lowest it took to lead the league in each of the 5 major statistical categories

Points per game:

Assists per game:

Rebounds per game:

Blocks per game:

Steals per game: