Wilt Chamberlain owns many of the NBA's craziest scoring records, but he could lose a big one to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander before the season is over.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are enjoying an absurdly dominant start to the 2025-26 season. The Thunder have a 17-1 record and a four-game lead over the rest of the Western Conference field before Thanksgiving.
On top of that, Oklahoma City owns a sparkling plus-16.9 net rating, utterly dominating opponents on a near-nightly basis. In fact, the last 12 wins for the Thunder have come by double-digit margins and, since that streak began in late October, Oklahoma City's net rating jumps to an absurd plus-20.3 over 13 outings.
Needless to say, the Thunder are doing great work on both ends of the floor, including the NBA's best defense. Oklahoma City is yielding less than 1.03 points per possession for the season and, after dominating on that end of the floor en route to the NBA title last season, the Thunder are firmly on track. On the other end, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the sun, moon, and stars for Oklahoma City, and the reigning NBA MVP is in hot pursuit of a long-standing NBA record held by Wilt Chamberlain.
Can SGA catch Wilt?
Gilgeous-Alexander comfortably led the league in scoring in his MVP season, averaging 32.7 points per game and doing so in efficient fashion. During that outstanding campaign, the fewest points scored by Gilgeous-Alexander in any game was 18, and that took place in a win over San Antonio on Oct. 30, 2024. Since then, Gilgeous-Alexander has scored 20 points or more in every single contest, compiling a streak of 90 consecutive games.
Per Basketball-Reference, that is the third-longest streak in NBA history, with only Wilt Chamberlain putting together longer runs of outings with 20-plus points. The (unofficial) NBA record is 126 straight games from Chamberlain from 1961-1963 and, unsurprisingly, part of that streak took place during the legendary season in which Chamberlain averaged more than 50 points per game. Gilgeous-Alexander likely isn't going to crash that particular party anytime soon, but the 20-point record does feel remarkably possible.
For one thing, Gilgeous-Alexander is now firmly established as one of the best scorers of the 2000s. Since the start of the 2022-23 season, he is averaging 31.4 points per game in 237 appearances, and Gilgeous-Alexander is able to score in so many ways that opponents have a bevy of trouble dealing with him. He is a dynamic mid-range shooter. He is an undeniable driver. He is also the NBA's most prolific foul drawer and, when he gets to the free throw line, Gilgeous-Alexander converts 89.3 percent of attempts.
It is entirely possible that Gilgeous-Alexander has an "off night" that ends his streak before reaching Chamberlain's mark. Honestly, it is even possible that the Thunder blast an opponent by a margin big enough to necessitate a small minute total for Gilgeous-Alexander, and that could perhaps lead to the end of the run. Still, he is uniquely suited for this kind of pursuit.
Within the next week, Gilgeous-Alexander could pass Chamberlain's second-best mark and, even if the ultimate record is still almost a half-season away, it is a testament to the 27-year-old guard that is seems quite reasonable that Gilgeous-Alexander could catch Wilt Chamberlain for an all-time scoring mark.