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Fifteen NBA players averaged 24 or more points in their first NBA campaign, led by Wilt Chamberlain who averaged 37.6 points per game (ppg) in his rookie season of 1959-60. Here is the list of the 15:
Player, rookie season ppg, rookie season
Wilt Chamberlain, 37.6 (1959-60)
Walt Bellamy, 31.6 (1961-62)
Oscar Robertson, 30.5 (1960-61)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 28.2 (1969-70)
Elvin Hayes, 28.4 (1968-69)
Michael Jordan, 28.2 (1984-85)
Rick Barry, 25.7 (1965-66)
Terry Dischinger, 25.5 (1962-63)
Elgin Baylor, 24.9 (1958-59)
Geoff Petrie, 24.8 (1970-71)
Sidney Wicks, 24.5 (1971-72)
David Robinson, 24.3 (1989-90)
Earl Monroe, 24.3 (1967-68)
Walter Davis, 24.2 (1977-78)
Bernard King, 24.2 (1977-78)
Two quick notes: Of the 15 players listed above, only two, Jordan and Baylor had career scoring averages higher than their rookie season ppg.; Jordan averaged 28.2 his rookie season and tallied 30.1 ppg for his career… Baylor had a career ppg of 27.4 after a 24.9 ppg mark in his first season in the league. Four of the 15 players listed above never topped their rookie season ppg in their careers: Bellamy, Dischinger, Wicks and Davis. Dischinger had the most significant drop going from a rookie season ppg of 25.5, yet his career ppg was only 13.8.
