Zion Williamson is the best scorer under 21 in NBA history
The close to the 2020-21 NBA season made one fascinating thing official, and that’s that Zion Williamson is unquestionably the best scorer under the age of 21 in NBA history.
To prove that fact, for starters, we can point to Williamson being the first player to ever average 25.0 points before turning 21 in NBA history. The big New Orleans Pelican has averaged 25.73 points thus far in his blossoming career.
The players who came closest to accomplishing that prior to Williamson, LeBron James and Luka Doncic, averaged 24.99 points (ouch) and 24.17 points respectively in their NBA careers before being able to legally drink in the United States.
If Zion Williamson averages 26.3 points over his next 34 games, he’ll become the first player ever to average 25.0 points before turning 21 years old.
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— Frank Urbina (@FrankUrbina_) March 13, 2021
Williamson was also able to do that with supreme and borderline shocking efficiency, so it wasn’t like he was chucking 30 shots nightly to pull off that mightily impressive feat.
Williamson has been so efficient, in fact, that he set another record this year, though this one has nothing to do with his age. The former Duke standout set the mark in 2020-21 of the highest field-goal percentage (61.1 percent) in a single season for a player who averaged over 25.0 points, taking the record from Hall-of-Famer Kevin McHale:
Zion Williamson recorded the highest FG% in NBA history by a player who averaged at least 25 PPG:
61.1 – Williamson, 2020-21
60.4 – Kevin McHale, 1986-87
60.0 – Charles Barkley, 1989-90
59.9 – Shaquille O'Neal, 1993-94
59.0 – Amar'e Stoudemire, 2007-08 pic.twitter.com/n2TZm2DiKy— Justin Kubatko (@jkubatko) May 17, 2021
So although the season ended in disappointment team-wise, the statistical accolades were aplenty and bountiful for Williamson, whose career is on an upward trajectory that’s almost scary to project right now.
Below, check out the highest-scoring under-21-year-old players in NBA history.