Between the 1979-80 and 1988-89 seasons, Adrian Dantley scored the most points per game by a forward, with 26.5 per game.

Interpreted as:

highest ppg with a minimum of 41 games played per 82 team games in the 80s by a forward

	NAME	PPG	GP	MPG	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	FGM	FGA	FG%	3PM	3PA	3P%	FTM	FTA	FT%	TS%	OREB	DREB	TPG	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PF
1	Adrian Dantley A. Dantley	26.5	684	36.8	5.4	3.2	0.9	0.1	9.4	17.1	55.0	0.0	0.1	16.7	7.8	9.5	82.0	62.5	2.2	3.3	3.0	25,201	18,157	3,721	2,206	647	92	2,039	1,833
2	Dominique Wilkins D. Wilkins	26.0	559	36.9	6.8	2.4	1.5	0.7	10.0	21.4	46.7	0.2	0.9	26.9	5.8	7.3	80.4	53.0	2.9	3.8	2.7	20,644	14,557	3,784	1,357	811	403	1,485	1,196
3	Alex English A. English	25.9	811	36.0	5.9	4.4	1.0	0.8	10.7	21.0	51.0	0.0	0.1	20.8	4.5	5.4	83.8	55.5	2.6	3.3	2.8	29,208	21,018	4,780	3,596	848	634	2,294	2,286
4	Larry Bird L. Bird	25.0	717	38.4	10.2	6.1	1.8	0.8	9.8	19.6	50.3	0.6	1.7	37.7	4.6	5.3	88.0	57.0	2.2	8.0	3.2	27,560	17,899	7,319	4,396	1,300	603	2,261	1,906
5	Mark Aguirre M. Aguirre	24.1	602	33.6	5.6	3.7	0.9	0.4	9.4	19.1	49.2	0.4	1.4	30.4	4.9	6.5	74.2	54.7	2.2	3.5	3.0	20,222	14,488	3,395	2,252	518	231	1,814	1,819
6	Chris Mullin C. Mullin	23.9	142	36.1	4.8	5.0	2.0	0.5	9.2	18.0	50.9	0.4	1.4	28.9	5.2	5.8	88.9	58.1	1.5	3.4	3.2	5,126	3,389	688	705	289	71	452	314
7	Julius Erving J. Erving	23.3	468	34.4	6.9	3.9	1.9	1.7	9.2	17.7	51.9	0.0	0.2	25.3	4.9	6.3	77.0	56.9	2.6	4.3	3.0	16,114	10,918	3,227	1,843	892	807	1,398	1,288
8	Karl Malone K. Malone	23.3	325	35.9	10.5	2.5	1.4	0.7	8.9	17.4	51.3	0.0	0.1	16.7	5.5	8.2	66.9	55.6	3.0	7.5	3.5	11,656	7,576	3,412	812	470	224	1,126	1,200
9	Kiki VanDeWeghe K. VanDeWeghe	22.8	605	33.2	4.0	2.4	0.6	0.4	8.8	16.5	53.2	0.2	0.5	36.2	5.1	5.8	87.0	59.9	1.3	2.7	1.9	20,088	13,775	2,416	1,435	383	215	1,129	1,278
10	Bernard King B. King	22.6	535	33.5	5.3	3.2	0.9	0.2	9.0	16.7	53.8	0.0	0.1	14.9	4.6	6.2	74.8	58.2	1.7	3.6	3.1	17,948	12,100	2,841	1,689	508	129	1,633	1,787
11	Charles Barkley C. Barkley	22.1	389	36.8	12.0	3.5	1.6	1.2	7.8	13.5	57.7	0.3	1.3	23.4	6.3	8.5	73.9	64.3	4.6	7.4	3.7	14,297	8,616	4,660	1,377	613	479	1,439	1,426
12	Terry Cummings T. Cummings	22.1	550	34.6	8.8	2.4	1.4	0.8	9.1	18.5	49.2	0.0	0.1	28.6	3.9	5.5	70.9	52.9	3.2	5.6	2.4	19,052	12,159	4,834	1,345	772	436	1,346	1,974
13	Patrick Ewing P. Ewing	21.5	63	35.0	8.8	1.7	1.4	2.3	8.4	16.7	50.3	0.0	0.1	0.0	4.7	6.6	71.3	54.9	2.5	6.3	3.6	2,206	1,356	555	104	89	147	229	248
14	Walter Davis W. Davis	21.5	75	30.8	3.6	4.5	1.5	0.3	8.8	15.5	56.3	0.0	0.1	0.0	4.0	4.9	81.9	60.8	1.0	2.6	3.2	2,309	1,613	272	337	114	19	242	202
15	Mike Mitchell M. Mitchell	20.9	679	33.8	5.8	1.4	0.7	0.5	8.8	18.0	49.2	0.0	0.1	21.6	3.1	4.0	78.2	52.8	2.1	3.7	1.8	22,961	14,161	3,917	950	479	371	1,198	1,797
16	Xavier McDaniel X. McDaniel	20.5	324	33.4	7.1	2.5	1.2	0.6	8.5	17.1	49.5	0.1	0.3	27.3	3.5	4.9	70.8	53.2	3.2	4.0	2.8	10,825	6,640	2,311	797	396	181	915	1,066
17	Tom Chambers T. Chambers	20.3	634	34.0	6.8	2.4	0.9	0.6	7.5	15.7	47.6	0.2	0.7	31.0	5.2	6.5	79.5	54.8	2.2	4.7	2.9	21,559	12,896	4,341	1,500	564	406	1,808	2,418
18	John Drew J. Drew	20.1	261	29.2	5.6	1.4	1.1	0.2	7.0	15.0	46.5	0.0	0.1	12.9	6.1	8.1	76.1	54.2	2.4	3.3	2.9	7,627	5,243	1,464	373	288	48	747	979
19	Kelly Tripucka K. Tripucka	19.9	502	32.5	4.2	3.2	1.1	0.2	7.3	15.2	48.0	0.2	0.5	34.7	5.1	6.1	84.1	55.6	1.6	2.6	2.7	16,290	10,001	2,088	1,602	536	104	1,361	1,216
20	Purvis Short P. Short	19.9	528	32.0	4.8	2.9	1.2	0.2	8.0	16.8	47.4	0.2	0.7	29.0	3.7	4.5	82.6	52.9	1.9	2.9	2.4	16,902	10,486	2,542	1,510	635	122	1,250	1,627
21	Marques Johnson M. Johnson	19.6	449	34.4	6.6	4.0	1.3	0.6	8.2	15.9	51.3	0.0	0.2	14.9	3.3	4.5	73.0	54.8	2.6	4.0	2.4	15,446	8,798	2,951	1,786	573	282	1,089	1,133
22	Ralph Sampson R. Sampson	19.5	204	35.7	10.3	3.1	1.1	1.7	8.1	16.4	49.4	0.0	0.1	8.3	3.2	5.0	65.4	52.4	2.8	7.5	3.6	7,276	3,972	2,104	627	220	355	737	783
23	Jeff Ruland J. Ruland	19.3	109	36.5	10.9	3.6	0.9	0.9	7.3	13.2	55.2	0.0	0.1	14.3	4.8	6.8	69.9	59.8	3.7	7.3	3.8	3,976	2,105	1,191	393	97	102	418	412
24	Chuck Person C. Person	19.1	241	36.4	7.2	3.7	1.0	0.2	8.0	16.9	47.3	0.7	2.2	32.9	2.5	3.3	74.5	52.2	2.0	5.2	3.0	8,775	4,610	1,729	893	246	42	729	856
25	Clark Kellogg C. Kellogg	18.9	260	32.7	9.5	2.9	1.5	0.4	7.7	15.5	49.7	0.1	0.3	33.8	3.4	4.5	75.7	54.0	3.3	6.3	2.8	8,514	4,918	2,482	764	381	105	731	858