Breaking Down the NBA's Top 10 Scorers This Season

As the 2011-2012 NBA regular season winds down, this is as good of a chance as ever to look into the league's top 10 scorers based on points per game. They have proved that they can be reliable scorers, and most of them have their teams in playoff contention.

Below is a quick table providing the top 10 scorers and a quick set of statistics. All stats are as of March 31, 2012.

Player	GP	PPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	Position
Kobe Bryant	51	28.2	.425	.288	.847	Guard
Kevin Durant	51	27.7	.501	.376	.848	Forward
LeBron James	49	26.5	.535	.355	.765	Forward
Kevin Love	49	26.5	.451	.388	.819	Center/Forward
Russell Westbrook	51	24.4	.475	.329	.819	Guard
Dwyane Wade	41	23.0	.507	.304	.798	Guard
Deron Williams	48	21.7	.411	.348	.845	Guard
LaMarcus Aldridge	49	21.4	.512	.100	.804	Forward
Dirk Nowitzki	49	21.2	.456	.358	.882	Forward
Blake Griffin	51	20.9	.537	.182	.543	Forward

So a table has been provided to show the top 10 scorers. Great. While you couldn't give me specific numbers, chances are that you could have listed about 70 percent of the guys in that list without any research.

Luckily, I did my homework and found some unique information about these players.

Player	Shoe Size	Shoe Type	Year of Birth	NBA Experience(seasons)	College	College Experience
Kobe Bryant	14	Nike Zoom Kobe VII	1978	15	N/A	N/A
Kevin Durant	18	Nike Zoom KD	1988	4	Texas	1
LeBron James	16	Nike LeBron 9	1984	8	N/A	N/A
Kevin Love	19	Nike Zoom Hyperfuse	1988	3	UCLA	1
Russell Westbrook	15	Nike Air Max Fly By	1988	3	UCLA	2
Dwyane Wade	15	Nike Jordan Fly Wade	1982	8	Marquette	3
Deron Williams	13	Nike Zoom Hyperfuse	1984	6	Illinois	3
LaMarcus Aldridge	17	Nike Air Max Hyperdunk	1985	5	Texas	2
Dirk Nowitzki	15.5	Nike Zoom Hyperdunk	1978	13	N/A	N/A
Blake Griffin	17	Nike Air Max Fly By	1989	1	Oklahoma	2

In a league sponsored with Adidas apparel, every one of the top 10 scorers wears Nike shoes. The average amount of experience among the players is 6.6 years. The average year of birth among the players is 1984.4, making the average player 27.6 years of age.

The combined years of NCAA experience is only 14 years, or 1.4 years each. Since each player could have played as a freshman in college, there were 40 years of combined eligibility. Only 35 percent of that eligibility was used. Bryant and James went from high school to the NBA, and Nowitzki played in Germany rather than the NCAA.

Below is one more quick table of statistics before we break down what all of this means.

Player	Draft Selection	Height	Weight(lbs)	Team	Team's Record	Team's Winning Percentage
Kobe Bryant	13	6'6''	198	Los Angeles Lakers	31-20	.608
Kevin Durant	2	6'9''	235	Oklahoma City Thunder	39-12	.765
LeBron James	1	6'8''	250	Miami Heat	37-13	.740
Kevin Love	5	6'10''	260	Minnesota Timberwolves	25-28	.472
Russell Westbrook	4	6'3''	187	Oklahoma City Thunder	39-12	.765
Dwyane Wade	5	6'4''	220	Miami Heat	37-13	.740
Deron Williams	3	6'3''	209	New Jersey Nets	17-35	.327
LaMarcus Aldridge	2	6'11''	240	Portland Trail Blazers	24-27	.471
Dirk Nowitzki	9	7'0''	245	Dallas Mavericks	30-23	.566
Blake Griffin	1	6'10''	251	Los Angeles Clippers	29-21	.580

The average draft selection among these players was 4.5, the average height was 6'5'' and the average weight was 229.4 lbs. Of the eight teams, five have records over .500 and are in playoff contention.

So there it is, your 2011-2012 top 10 NBA leading scorers thus far. Now let's try to understand what these stats mean and how they are connected.

When it comes to pre-NBA experience, less is more. Most of these guys are among the very best in the NBA, but had very little experience of collegiate athletics. This means that they were pro-ready at a very young age, setting up long and prosperous NBA careers.

There is no swish without the swoosh. All of these players rep Nike shoes, though the league represents Adidas gear. Some variation of an Air Max or hyper-fuse/dunk was most popular with these players.

Single-digit seasoned players and top-10 draft picks dominated the list. The lone exceptions are Bryant and Nowitzki, who have had Hall of Fame careers.

Of the top 10 scorers, Bryant leads the league in points per game but is last out of the 10 in field goal percentage. Griffin is the second worst three-point shooter and worst free-throw shooter of the group, but is most dominant in the paint.

The two teams with multiple players in the top 10 have the second- and third-best records in the NBA. The Chicago Bulls, with the NBA's best record, have none of the league's top 10 scorers. In fact, their top scorer, Carlos Boozer, ranks 42nd in the league with 15.6 points per game.

Big feet have big shoes to fill. Tall and physically built men have many points to score. With this season quickly wrapping up, these 10 men have shown their durability, consistency and domination.

Though Griffin scores his points differently than Westbrook, both players average over 20 points per game for their teams. And when the playoffs roll around, the last worry is how you score the points.

The results are all that matter.