George C. Scott and Marlon Brando turned down Oscars.As for being an NBA scoring champion, one doesn't think you can refuse that. But Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant let it be known Cleveland forward LeBron James would be a more worthy scoring titlist than him.
"I'm sure he'll win it,'' Durant said in an interview with FanHouse about battling James, who entered Friday averaging 29.8 points to Durant's 29.7. "Because he's a better scorer. He scores more easily than I do.''
Yes, Durant is modest. But doesn't he want to win the scoring crown?
According to NBA stats, though, only James is better than Durant. Entering Friday, Denver's Anthony averages 28.6, the Lakers' Bryant 27.6 and Miami's Wade 26.2.
James already has a scoring title, winning in 2007-08. Last season, when battling eventual winner Wade, he said he didn't care about winning another one.
But let's hope somebody will care at least enough in a month that there will be an epic scoring race down to the wire. After all, if the current race ended now, it would be the second-closest one in NBA history behind the legendary 1977-78 duel between San Antonio's George Gervin and Denver's David Thompson..
Don't expect anything similar to 32 years ago when Gervin won the title by a microscopic margin of 27.22 to 27.15 over Thompson after Thompson scored 73 points early in the final day and Gervin came back with 63 in a later game. Still, it's always fun to see whose team plays last when it comes to a scoring duel.
As it turns out, the Cavaliers and Thunder both play at the same time, 8 p.m. EDT, on April 14, the season's final day. Cleveland is at Atlanta and Oklahoma City home to Memphis.
James actually might not play if the Cavaliers have homecourt advantage wrapped up for the playoffs. But, judging by his comments, maybe Durant will take a seat early that night, not carrying if he wins the scoring title.
Chris Tomasson can be reached at tomasson@fanhouse.com or on Twitter @christomasson
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