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Embiid, others earn spots in NBA’s season record book

Fred Jeter | 4/21/2022, 6 p.m.
Joel Embiid traveled a long way to earn his spot in the NBA record book.

Joel Embiid traveled a long way to earn his spot in the NBA record book.

The Philadelphia 76ers center has become the first internationally born player to lead the league in scoring average.

From Cameroon, the 7-foot Embiid averaged 30.6 points per game this season to edge another international player,

Giannis Antetokounmpo (29.9 points per game) of the Milwaukee Bucks, for the honor. Antetokounmpo hails from Greece.

Next on the scoring chart were Luca Dončić of the Dallas Mavericks (28.4 points), Trae Young of the Atlanta Hawks (28.4) and DeMar DeRozan of the Chicago Bulls (27.9).

Embiid, with 12 games of 40 or more points, is the first Philadelphia player to claim the title since Hampton native Allen Iverson 17 seasons ago, and the first center to lead the league since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000.

Also, Embiid’s scoring came in just 33.8 minutes per game. That’s the least amount of minutes by any scor- ing champ since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976.

Coach Doc Rivers’ 76ers are now involved in a first- round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors.

Other statistical leaders: Rudy! Rudy!: Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz led in rebounding with a 14.7 average, and also in field-goal percentage, 71.3.

Block party: Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies averaged 2.3 rejections per game. The 6-foot-11 former Michigan State University star is the son of former NBA player Jaren Jackson and Terri Jackson, executive director of WNBA Players Association.

Paul-bearer: Chris Paul of the Phoenix Suns was up to his old tricks, leading in assists with a 10.8 norm. Paul previously won the assists crown in 2008, 2009, 2014 and 2015, and boasts a career average of 8.3.

Real steal: Dejounte Murray of the San Antonio Spurs led the league with 2 steals per game.

Threes please: Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors was first in made 3-pointers with 285, but the Los Angeles Clippers’Luke Dennard topped the chart in 3-point percentage at 44.9.

Untouchable: Records are made to be broken—except for one. In 1961-62, Philadelphia Warrior Wilt Chamberlain averaged 48.5 minutes per game.

By contrast, this season’s “Iron Man Award” went to Toronto’s Pascal Siakam, who had 37.9 minutes per outing.

These statistics are for regular-season games only.