MJ never targeted scoring titles, placing emphasis on NBA titles
Michael Jordan was an offensive machine, which is why he holds multiple scoring marks in his NBA career. He is a 10-time scoring champion, although this was hardly the main objective of his pro basketball career.
On April 18, 1998, Jordan played his last regular-season game in a Chicago Bulls uniform. The Bulls faced and won over the New York Knicks, and Michael finished with a game-high 44 points. Most felt that MJ went on that scoring splurge to bag that season’s scoring title, but Jordan disagreed.
“I didn’t know what I had to score. If I worry about that, I can’t play my game. I just have to let it come to me, and sooner or later, it will fall into place,” Jordan said via the Washington Post. “If Shaq goes out and scores 100, good for him.”
Michael had a slight edge over Shaquille O’Neal of the Los Angeles Lakers for the 1997-98 season scoring title at the time. Shaq needed to score 59 points against the Utah Jazz in LA’s final game against the Utah Jazz to overtake Jordan.
“The Diesel” came up short against the Jazz, finishing with 38 points. Worse, the Lakers lost that game, 96-92.
MJ preferred winning championships
Although he was a scoring machine, “Mr. Air” did it because it helped improve the Bulls’ chances of winning. That final run with Chicago was toned down, considering he was someone who could explode for 30 points early on in his career.
The narrative changed for Jordan and the Bulls with the addition of key names. That list includes the likes of Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, and Toni Kukoc, among others.
Surrounded by reliable players, “Mr. Air” knew others could help him win. He admitted he was not concerned about stats that much, emphasizing his objective of winning games and titles.
“If some team gave me an open lane for a layup for the scoring title, I’d pass the ball. I wouldn’t want it. Things like that happen to me a lot in the fourth quarter. Phil puts me in to give me an opportunity to get my scoring up, but if the game’s decided, I look to do other things.” Jordan pointed out to ESPN.
MJ had no interest in KAJ’s scoring title
Considering his scoring ability, Jordan could have easily aimed at Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s scoring mark in his prime. However, Michael never had the motivation to break that. If it was, he admits his 1993 retirement wouldn’t have happened.
“That never drove me….Good things happen to the people that work hard. If I played for the stats, I would have never retired in ’93, or I’d still be chasing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time scoring lead. I mean, that doesn’t drive me,” MJ said.
Jordan currently sits fifth on the NBA’s all-time scoring list with 32,292 points, behind only LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, and Kobe Bryant. “King James” leads the pack and continues to widen the gap each season, while Kareem’s long-standing total of 38,387 has now been pushed down to second.
Still, that kind of milestone was never what fueled MJ.
He made it clear that if chasing numbers was his goal, he would’ve never walked away from the game in 1993 — or returned just to retire again in 1998. Rings, not records, were always the priority.
And in that department, he is in a rare company — six-time champions who led dynasties without jumping ship. Even if Bron eventually ties their title count, it’s hard to ignore the different paths taken to get there.