NBA: Top 5 Players Who Will Battle for Scoring Title

In order to be a scoring champion, you need to either be a well-rounded, offensive-minded individual or just have a specialty, scoring from a specific spot in the floor where you're basically unstoppable.

With Kevin Durant taking the past two scoring crowns and looking to make even more history with a third, a number of players will be looking to usurp the Oklahoma City Thunder forward from joining prestigious company.

By winning the scoring title, a player joins a distinctive list that includes a number of Hall of Famers and future Hall of Famers alike.

A number of players have made obtaining a possible scoring championship impossible, however. With LeBron James joining Dwyane Wade in Miami and Carmelo Anthony joining Amare Stoudemire in New York, all four players have greatly limited themselves in the scoring department and will have an awfully difficult time in taking home the title.

It was obvious that this had an effect last season, when the scoring champion only average 27.7 points per game. It was the fewest point-per-game average by a scoring champion since 1999, when Allen Iverson averaged 26. The lockout might have had an adverse impact on that output, however, so we'll go by the 1978 scoring champion in George Gervin, who only averaged 27.2 points per.

The time to start scoring is now. With so many elite scorers pairing up on the same team, individual leaders with little scoring assistance on their team could possibly be in contention to win. Here are five of those players who have the best shot at winning.

Kevin Durant

Attempting to become the first player to win three consecutive scoring titles since Michael Jordan did in 1998, 23-year-old Kevin Durant will certainly be able to make another case for it once again.

Durant averaged 28 points per last season, after averaging his career high of 30 points to win the scoring title the year before. If Durant wins the scoring crown again, he'll become only the fourth player in league history to do so, joining the company of Jordan, Neil Johnston and Bob McAdoo.

There's no reason not for him to do so. With scorers like Dwyane Wade and LeBron James teaming up, as well as Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire, Durant's competition has actually regressed and should see nothing holding him back from winning the distinction of scoring champion again.

He's averaged 20 points per or better in his first four years in the league. His ability to use his length to drive and then finish over opponents, while also possessing one of the league's deadliest perimeter shots, makes Durant an extremely dangerous player to drive.

You can't play off of him and let him take a shot from the perimeter that he's shot 36 percent for his career from; and you certainly can't play close to him or he'll use his speed and length to ease his way by you.

Even with Russell Westbrook eating up over 20 points per game with the Thunder these days, Durant should still find himself in prime position to win the scoring title.

Derrick Rose

With an improvement in his shot selection, range and jump shot, Derrick Rose could find himself at the top of the leaders in points per game.

Rose attempted to integrate a jump shot as a part of his game and spent more time from beyond the arc than any year before. After not even attempting a three-pointer per game in his first two seasons, Rose averaged nearly five three-point attempts last season and only managed to shoot 33 percent. It lowered his field-goal percentage to a career-low 45 percent, as Rose attempted to become a perimeter threat.

Sometimes, Rose was attempting too hard to become a jump shooter that he wasn't yet. It only persisted in the postseason, when Rose was attempting six three-pointers per game, hitting them at a less-than-25 percent clip.

He was deviating too far from his bread and butter, which is driving and attacking the rim with finesse and power. Next to the likes of Dwyane Wade and LeBron James, Rose has easily emerged as one of the league's top finishers around the rim. He hasn't let being a 6-foot-3 point guard get in the way either, as he continues to play with the speed of a shooting guard and the strength of a small forward.

If Rose can improve that jumper of his and continues to attack the rim at will, a scoring championship could be in his future even with a new teammate that can score in Richard Hamilton.

Kobe Bryant

Don't let the the age or the injuries fool you, Kobe Bryant is still the deadliest player in the league at any juncture of the game.

Averaging 25 points per on 45 percent shooting, also converting on 32 percent of his three-pointers, Bryant finished fifth in the league in scoring last season, despite dealing with a nagging finger injury on his shooting hand. His points-per-game output was the lowest number he's averaged since 2002, while still being paired up with Shaquille O'Neal.

You may think that the decrease in his scoring could be attributed to his age or health, but it actually came due to playing in the least amounts of minutes he was playing in per game since his second year in the league. At only 34 minutes per, Bryant was only one of three players in the top ten in points per game to average less than 35 minutes per.

The other two players were Kevin Martin and Dirk Nowitzki, where both averaged 23 points per.

While a torn ligament in his right wrist will certainly attempt to impede his progress, he also has to pick up some pieces in the form of making up for the loss of versatile forward Lamar Odom. The swingman posted up 14 points per in a year, when he won the Sixth Man of the Year Award. With him gone, the Lakers will now have to either rely heavier on Bryant and Gasol, or find a capable third option.

Unless Andrew Bynum wants to become that option, then Bryant winning the scoring title could be in jeopardy. However, seeing Bynum average 20 points per game is a lot less unlikely than seeing Bryant average 29 points per and lead the league in scoring.

Blake Griffin

With Eric Gordon no longer in the picture to help assist in the scoring load, Blake Griffin will be on his own as the primary scoring threat of the Los Angeles Clippers.

Chris Paul will get his shots in, but he's going to be having too much of a good time in passing the ball to Griffin rather than shooting it. He'll also be sharing the ball with the likes of Chauncey Billups and Caron Butler. Griffin has the advantage of being a better player off the ball and he should expect more looks his way with those three being possible floor generals.

Averaging 22 points per game and winning a deserved Rookie of the Year Award, Griffin became a superstar in only his first year and was an All-Star by mid-season. Even though he was severely lacking on a jump shot and any sort of game outside of 15 feet, Griffin was so athletic and talented that he could always find a way to get to the rim.

Griffin knew how to get himself open as well and that's probably the best aspect of his game. No matter who is attempting to defend Griffin, he'll be guaranteed 20 points per just because of his tendency to get open around the rim and draw fouls.

Mostly, it's his athleticism supporting his game. Griffin is an athletic freak on the court and is nearly unstoppable unless you pack the paint. However, now playing with the likes of CP3, Billups and Butler, more attention will be focused along the perimeter; and that means plenty of open space for Griffin, who is only better with less resistance to the rim.

If Blake worked on his jumper, he could be averaging 30 points per. Even without it, he should be in heavy competition to win the scoring title.

Carmelo Anthony

Even though he has Amare Stoudemire and Baron Davis by his side, there's always the possibility that Carmelo Anthony wins a scoring championship.

Playing 26 games with the Knicks, Anthony actually saw his scoring total increase from the rate he was averaging with Denver in the same season. 'Melo finished the season with a 26 points-per-game average, converting on 46 percent of his field goals. The increase in scoring can also be attributed to the fact that he was attempting a career-high five three-pointers per game and nailing a career-high 42 percent of them.

While the idea of a player like Anthony, who has a teammate like Stoudemire, winning a title like scoring crown is far-fetched, his chances have actually increased since last season with the departure of Chauncey Billups taking place. Replacing Billups' spot on the roster would be Tyson Chandler, who is a defensive-oriented player and not much else.

Replacing Billups at the point will be Davis, who could well be the cause of Anthony not winning the scoring crown. Unless the Knicks picked a smart player who's more willing to pass the ball to his superstar teammates rather than just throwing up shots from the perimeter, Davis could either help or hinder Anthony's chances of winning his first scoring crown.

'Melo has always been looked at as one of the top scorers in the league. Thanks to athleticism and craftiness on his drives and an elite jump shot, Anthony has averaged 25 points per game for his career and as much as 29 points per in 2007.