List_of_National_Basketball_League_(Australia)_annual_scoring_leaders

List of National Basketball League (Australia) annual scoring leaders

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In basketball, points are accumulated through free throws or field goals.^[1] The National Basketball League's (NBL) scoring title is awarded to the player with the highest points per game average in a given season. The scoring title was originally determined by total points scored through the 1996 season, after which points per game was used to determine the leader instead.^[2] Players who earned scoring titles before the 1984 season did not record any three-point field goals because the three-point line had just been implemented in the NBL at the start of that season.^[3]

Andrew Gaze has won the most scoring titles, with 14.^[2] He also holds the all-time records for total points scored (1,007; 1991)^[4] and points per game (44.1; 1987)^[5] in a season. Between 1986 and 2001, Gaze was the leader in either total points or points per game every season. While he led the NBL in points per game in 1987 (44.1) and 1990 (37.6), he was not the leader in total points scored. His 882 total points in 1987 were third best behind Paul Stanley (920) and James Crawford (903),^[6] while his 828 points in 1990 were also third best behind Derek Rucker (865) and Wayne McDaniel (848).^[7]

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[10] In the 1987 season, Andrew Gaze had the highest scoring average (44.1) but was third in total points (882).

[11] In the 1990 season, Andrew Gaze had the highest scoring average (37.6) but was third in total points (828).

[26] In the 2010–11 season, both Kirk Penney and Gary Ervin averaged 20.1 points per game during the regular season when rounded to one decimal place.^[20]^[21] When rounded to two decimal places, Penney averaged 20.13 ppg (463 points / 23 games)^[22] while Ervin averaged 20.07 ppg (542 points / 27 games).^[23]

[35] In the 2016–17 season, both Bryce Cotton and Casper Ware averaged 22.1 points per game during the regular season when rounded to one decimal place. When rounded to three decimal places, Cotton averaged 22.090 ppg while Ware averaged 22.055.^[31]

[37] In the 2017–18 season, Bryce Cotton had the highest point total (544) but was third in scoring average (19.4).^[32]

[39] In the 2018–19 season, both Bryce Cotton and Melo Trimble averaged 22.5 points per game during the regular season when rounded to one decimal place.^[33] When rounded to two decimal places, Cotton averaged 22.52 ppg (563 points / 25 games) while Trimble averaged 22.50 ppg (630 points / 28 games).

[43] In the 2020–21 season, Nathan Sobey had the highest point total (758) but was second in scoring average (21.1).^[36]

[1] [1]
"Basketball glossary". FIBA.com. Archived from the original on 16 May 2010.

[alltimeleaders-2] [2]
"All Time Leaders". NBL.com.au. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017.

[3] [3]
"NBL All-Time Statistics". aussiehoopla.com. Retrieved 12 December 2019.

[4] [4]
"Andrew Gaze". musictheatreaustralia.com.au. Archived from the original on 18 August 2010. Back home in Australia in 1991 he became the first NBL player to shoot over 1,000 points in a season.

[5] [5]
"History". NBL.com.au. Retrieved 1 November 2019. Gaze is the NBL's all-time leading scorer with 18,908 total points, and he led the league in scoring a record 14 times, including a League record 44.1 points per game in 1987.

[6] [6]
"Compeitition Statistics for NBL 1987". SportsTG.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2019.

[7] [7]
"Compeitition Statistics for NBL 1990". SportsTG.com. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019.

[8] [8]
"Player statistics for Michael Jones – 1983". SportsTG.com. Archived from the original on 19 November 2019.

[9] [9]
"#FlashbackFriday to the first Illawarra Hawks NBL MVP Mike Jones!". facebook.com/TheNBL. 25 March 2016. Archived from the original on 19 November 2019. He also led the League in scoring in his final year at 32.7 ppg in 1983.

[12] [10]
Nagy, Boti (12 July 2013). "The Adelaide 36ers' imports all started with Reg 'Sir Reginald' Biddings back in 1982". heraldsun.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2019. ...with Willie Farley in 2002 scoring 24.9 points per game to finish second by a free throw to Brisbane Bullets' import Randy Rutherford's 25.0 points per night.

[13] [11]
"Rillie Wins Scoring Title". NBL.com.au. 4 March 2003. Archived from the original on 29 April 2003.

[14] [12]
"Hunter's Wethers named NBL MVP". smh.com.au. 24 March 2005. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019. Wethers won the NBL's scoring title, averaging 24.3 points per game...

[15] [13]
"Powell scoops Breakers awards". tvnz.co.nz. 20 February 2007. Archived from the original on 23 February 2007. The 23-year-old was in scintillating form in his debut season in the ANBL, averaging a league-high 28.2 points per game...

[16] [14]
"The continuing story of Ebi Ere". NBL.com.au. 2 February 2016. Archived from the original on 3 February 2016. His resume also boasts being the NBL's leading scorer in 2008 (27.1 points per game)...

[17] [15]
"Penney becomes first NZer to win Aussie basketball league MVP". newshub.co.nz. 9 March 2009. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016.

[18] [16]
"NZL/AUS - Penney becomes first Kiwi to capture MVP honor in Australian NBL". fiba.basketball. 13 March 2009. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019.

[19] [17]
"Spurs Add Kirk Penney To Training Camp Roster". NBA.com. 28 September 2010. Archived from the original on 1 October 2010.

[20] [18]
Hinton, Marc (26 February 2010). "Kirk Penney nets another Breakers MVP award". Stuff.co.nz. Archived from the original on 4 March 2010.

[21] [19]
"Little guy Randle slaying NBL giants". sbs.com.au. 25 January 2016. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. ...he will finish ahead of Kirk Penney (23.2 ppg, 2009-10)...

[22] [20]
"Basketball: Braswell gets an idea of what NZ teams face". odt.co.nz. 5 April 2011. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. Both averaged 20.1 points per game...

[23] [21]
"Ervin and Cambage named MVPs". abc.net.au. 5 April 2011. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. [Ervin] finished equal first in scoring with 20.1 points per game...

[24] [22]
"Player statistics for Kirk Penney – 2010/11". SportsTG.com. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019.

[25] [23]
"Player statistics for Gary Ervin – 2010/11". SportsTG.com. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019.

[27] [24]
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[28] [25]
"Lisch wins NBL top gong". abc.net.au. 27 March 2012. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. Lisch led the NBL in scoring at 17.6 points per game...

[29] [26]
Ward, Roy (19 February 2019). "Madgen becomes latest signing for new SE Melbourne Phoenix". smh.com.au. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. The 34-year-old South Australian represented the Sydney Kings from 2010-2015, leading the NBL in scoring in 2013 and making the All-NBL first team.

[30] [27]
"NBL leading scorer Ben Madgen joins Melbourne Phoenix". heraldsun.com.au. 19 February 2019. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019. Now 34, Madgen averaged 17.9 point per game in the 2012-13 NBL when he played for the Sydney Kings.

[31] [28]
"Goulding claims scoring title". NBL.com.au. 24 March 2014. Archived from the original on 24 March 2014.

[32] [29]
"Childress remains a King". NBL.com.au. 2 July 2015. Archived from the original on 9 January 2016. The 32-year old led the NBL in points with 21.1 per game...

[33] [30]
Nagy, Boti (2 March 2019). "Adelaide 36ers fans rejoice as Jerome Randle signs for 2016-17 NBL season". adelaidenow.com.au. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. Retrieved 18 December 2019. Randle this season made history as the first 36er to lead the NBL in scoring, delivering 23.0 points per game.

[scoringchamp1617-34] [31]
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[scoringchamp1718-36] [32]
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[38] [33]
"Melo Trimble Heads to Melbourne". NBL.com.au. 26 April 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2019. Playing for the Cairns Taipans last season, the 24-year-old played in all 28 games, finishing second in scoring after averaging 22.5 points...

[40] [34]
O'Donoghue, Craig (17 February 2019). "Wildcats' Bryce Cotton misses out on NBL MVP award". TheWest.com.au. Retrieved 2 March 2019. Cotton averaged 22.5 points per game to lead the league in scoring...

[41] [35]
"Bryce Cotton ends the regular season as the first player..." twitter.com/nblfacts. 15 February 2020. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020.

[42] [36]
"Nathan Sobey wins Leroy Loggins MVP Award". brisbanebullets.com.au. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021. The Warnambool-product averaged 21.06 points for the season and finished as the NBL's leading scorer, with 758 points for the season.

[44] [37]
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[45] [38]
"STAT'S. A. WRAP". twitter.com/NBL. 9 June 2021. Retrieved 9 June 2021.

[46] [39]
"For an incredible fourth-straight season, Bryce Cotton is the NBL22 Scoring Champion!". twitter.com/PerthWildcats. 25 April 2022. Retrieved 25 April 2022.

[47] [40]
Pike, Chris (6 February 2023). "NBL's 'great disappointments' after shocking world; side that defied all odds — every team rated". foxsports.com.au. Retrieved 6 February 2023. Bryce Cotton is every chance to win a fourth MVP award after being the league's leading scorer with 23.5 points a game...

[48] [41]
Woods, Dan (8 February 2023). "Stat Chat: Season Leaders". NBL.com.au. Retrieved 8 February 2023.

[49] [42]
"Cotton wins fourth Andrew Gaze Trophy as NBL's best". Wildcats.com.au. 19 February 2024. Retrieved 19 February 2024. The 31-year-old recovered from a slow start to the season to average a competition-high 23.1 points...

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†		Denotes player who won the Most Valuable Player award that year
Player (X)		Denotes the number of times the player had been the scoring leader up to and including that season
G	Guard		F	Forward	C	Center

Season	Player	Pos	Nationality	Team	Games played	Total points	Ref
1979	Cal Bruton	G	United States	Brisbane Bullets	18	597	^[2]
1980 †	Rocky Smith	G	United States	St. Kilda Saints	22	737	^[2]
1981 †	Mike Jones	F/C	United States	Illawarra Hawks	22	671	^[2]
1982	Reg Biddings	F	United States	Adelaide City Eagles	26	782	^[2]
1983	Mike Jones (2)	F/C	United States	Illawarra Hawks	22	719	^[2]^[8]^[9]
1984	Al Green	G	United States	West Adelaide Bearcats	21	829	^[2]
1985	Kendal Pinder	F/C	Bahamas	Sydney Supersonics	26	871	^[2]
1986	Andrew Gaze	G	Australia	Melbourne Tigers	25	922	^[2]
1987	Paul Stanley^{[lower-alpha 1]}	F	United States	Hobart Devils	26	920	^[2]
1988	Andrew Gaze (2)	G	Australia	Melbourne Tigers	24	886	^[2]
1989	Andrew Gaze (3)	G	Australia	Melbourne Tigers	24	831	^[2]
1990 †	Derek Rucker^{[lower-alpha 2]}	G	United States	Brisbane Bullets	25	865	^[2]
1991 †	Andrew Gaze (4)	G	Australia	Melbourne Tigers	26	1,007	^[2]
1992 †	Andrew Gaze (5)	G	Australia	Melbourne Tigers	23	811	^[2]
1993	Andrew Gaze (6)	G	Australia	Melbourne Tigers	26	858	^[2]
1994 †	Andrew Gaze (7)	G	Australia	Melbourne Tigers	26	890	^[2]
1995 †	Andrew Gaze (8)	G	Australia	Melbourne Tigers	26	900	^[2]
1996 †	Andrew Gaze (9)	G	Australia	Melbourne Tigers	26	843	^[2]

Season	Player	Pos	Nationality	Team	Games played	Points per game	Ref
1997 †	Andrew Gaze (10)	G	Australia	Melbourne Tigers	30	31.5	^[2]
1998 †	Andrew Gaze (11)	G	Australia	Melbourne Tigers	30	31.8	^[2]
1998–99	Andrew Gaze (12)	G	Australia	Melbourne Tigers	17	33.5	^[2]
1999–00	Andrew Gaze (13)	G	Australia	Melbourne Tigers	28	28.9	^[2]
2000–01	Andrew Gaze (14)	G	Australia	Melbourne Tigers	27	29.1	^[2]
2001–02	Randy Rutherford	G	United States	Brisbane Bullets	30	25.0	^[2]^[10]
2002–03	John Rillie	G	Australia	West Sydney Razorbacks	16	23.6	^[2]^[11]
2003–04 †	Matthew Nielsen	F	Australia	Sydney Kings	33	23.5	^[2]
2004–05 †	Brian Wethers	G/F	United States	Hunter Pirates	32	24.3	^[12]
2005–06	Cortez Groves	G	United States	Wollongong Hawks	32	24.1	^[2]
2006–07	Carlos Powell	F	United States	New Zealand Breakers	33	28.2	^[13]
2007–08	Ebi Ere	G/F	Nigeria	Brisbane Bullets	29	27.1	^[14]
2008–09 †	Kirk Penney	G/F	New Zealand	New Zealand Breakers	28	24.2	^[15]^[16]^[17]
2009–10	Kirk Penney (2)	G/F	New Zealand	New Zealand Breakers	19	23.2	^[18]^[19]
2010–11	Kirk Penney (3)^{[lower-alpha 3]}	G/F	New Zealand	New Zealand Breakers	23	20.1	^[24]
2011–12 †	Kevin Lisch	G	United States	Perth Wildcats	28	17.6	^[25]
2012–13	Ben Madgen	G/F	Australia	Sydney Kings	28	17.9	^[26]^[27]
2013–14	Chris Goulding	G	Australia	Melbourne Tigers	27	23.0	^[28]
2014–15	Josh Childress	F	United States	Sydney Kings	18	21.1	^[29]
2015–16	Jerome Randle	G	United States	Adelaide 36ers	23	23.0	^[30]
2016–17	Bryce Cotton^{[lower-alpha 4]}	G	United States	Perth Wildcats	11	22.1	^[31]
2017–18	Jerome Randle (2)^{[lower-alpha 5]}	G	United States	Sydney Kings	19	19.8	^[32]
2018–19	Bryce Cotton (2)^{[lower-alpha 6]}	G	United States	Perth Wildcats	25	22.5	^[34]
2019–20 †	Bryce Cotton (3)	G	United States	Perth Wildcats	27	22.6	^[35]
2020–21 †	Bryce Cotton (4)^{[lower-alpha 7]}	G	United States	Perth Wildcats	32	23.5	^[37]^[38]
2021–22	Bryce Cotton (5)	G	United States	Perth Wildcats	28	22.7	^[39]
2022–23	Bryce Cotton (6)	G	United States	Perth Wildcats	28	23.5	^[40]^[41]
2023–24 †	Bryce Cotton (7)	G	United States	Perth Wildcats	27	23.1	^[42]

Ranking	Player	Team	Times leader	Years
1	Andrew Gaze	Melbourne Tigers	14	1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001
2	Bryce Cotton	Perth Wildcats	7	2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024
3	Kirk Penney	New Zealand Breakers	3	2009, 2010, 2011
4	Mike Jones	Illawarra Hawks	2	1981, 1983
4	Jerome Randle	Adelaide 36ers (1) / Sydney Kings (1)	2	2016, 2018

List_of_National_Basketball_League_(Australia)_annual_scoring_leaders

List of National Basketball League (Australia) annual scoring leaders

Key

Scoring leaders

Multiple-time leaders

Notes

References

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