Scoring in the NBA continues to get better and better as transcendent talents are putting up 25 or 30 points a night with stunning efficiency and consistency, and this NBA Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers is a great showing of how the league has changed and is in good hands with the next batch of young talent.
The greatest scorers of the previous generation are still among the best in the league, as LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry are all still capable of dropping 40 on any given night, but former NBA Champion and current ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins believes there is a new best scorer in the league.
During Monday’s episode of NBA Today on the heels of OKC’s Game 2 win in the NBA Finals on Sunday, Perkins said that MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has “dethroned Kevin Durant” in his opinion and is now the best scorer in the league while having “zero flaws.”
“He’s dethroned Kevin Durant in my opinion right now as the best scorer in the league. He has zero flaws.”
– Kendrick Perkins on SGA
(h/t @ohnohedidnt24 )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) June 9, 2025
SGA is a midrange assassin and has drawn the ire of many fans for his uncanny ability to draw fouls, while his outside shooting has proven to be a major weapon at times as well, especially when defenders sag off him out of fear of being baited into a foul.
Gilgeous-Alexander was spectacular in Game 2 as he paced the 123-107 victory with 34 points on 11-for-21 shooting to go along with five rebounds, eight assists, and four steals.
He led the league by averaging 32.7 points per game this season, his third year in a row over 30 per game, but it’s his consistency that sets him apart.
SGA scored 18 points in a game on October 30th, and didn’t score fewer than 21 points in any game after that the rest of the season.
Calling him the best scorer in the league at this point is looking more and more like a factual statement.
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