Carmelo Anthony vs. LeBron James: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony to determine who has the better numbers. Here you can compare their career totals, points per game, games of 40+ points, 50+, etc. and their year-by-year scoring averages side by side, both in the Regular Season and Playoffs.
Career comparison / Season by season / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings / Games against each other
LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony are among the most prolific scorers in NBA history—with LeBron as the all-time leader they combine for an staggering season total of 70,695 points—and they also have two of the all-time best scoring averages. Here we compare all their scoring stats.
By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that LeBron James has better scoring stats than Carmelo Anthony in averages and totals, both in the regular season and Playoffs. However, we won't stop there and we'll go into detail to analyze what these statistics are made up of, from how many games they had in each threshold (30+ points, 40+, 50+, etc.) to their season-by-season scoring averages.
On this page we compare: |
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Who has better scoring stats? Career Numbers |
Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?
Points in the Regular Season
In his 23 NBA regular seasons played, LeBron James averages 4.5 points more than Carmelo Anthony in his 19 seasons (27.0 points against 22.5), and he also scored a total of 14,117 points more (42,406 vs. 28,289).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Carmelo Anthony | 22.5 | 19 | |
| LeBron James | 27.0 | +4.5 | 23 |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Carmelo Anthony | 28,289 | 19 | |
| LeBron James | 42,406 | +14,117 | 23 |
Scoring Titles | ||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1 |  |
| LeBron James | 1 | |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason LeBron James has a better career point average than Carmelo Anthony (+5.3 points per game) and he also scored more points (+6,375).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Carmelo Anthony | 23.1 | 13 | |
| LeBron James | 28.4 | +5.3 | 18 |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1,914 | 13 | |
| LeBron James | 8,289 | +6,375 | 18 |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
60+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1 | |||
| LeBron James | 1 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 796 | |||
| LeBron James | 1,291 | +495 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1,162 | |||
| LeBron James | 1,564 | +402 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1,257 | |||
| LeBron James | 1,573 | +316 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 3 | +3 | ||
| LeBron James | 0 | |||
Playoffs
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 0 | |||
| LeBron James | 1 | +1 | ||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 54 | |||
| LeBron James | 261 | +207 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 77 | |||
| LeBron James | 290 | +213 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 83 | |||
| LeBron James | 292 | +209 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 0 | |||
| LeBron James | 0 | |||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 22.5 | 8.0 | 18.0 | 44.7 | 1.4 | 3.9 | 35.5 | 5.0 | 6.2 | 81.4 | 19 | 1,260 |
| difference: | +4.5 | +1.9 | +1.6 | +5.9 | +0.2 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +1.3 | +7.7 | +4 | +313 |
| LeBron James | 27.0 | 9.9 | 19.6 | 50.6 | 1.6 | 4.7 | 34.9 | 5.5 | 7.5 | 73.7 | 23 | 1,573 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 28,289 | 10,119 | 22,643 | 44.7 | 1,731 | 4,873 | 35.5 | 6,320 | 7,764 | 81.4 | 19 | 1,260 |
| difference: | +14,117 | +5,452 | +8,113 | +5.9 | +843 | +2,502 | +0.6 | +2,370 | +4,031 | +7.7 | +4 | +313 |
| LeBron James | 42,406 | 15,571 | 30,756 | 50.6 | 2,574 | 7,375 | 34.9 | 8,690 | 11,795 | 73.7 | 23 | 1,573 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 23.1 | 8.1 | 19.4 | 41.4 | 1.2 | 3.8 | 32.4 | 5.7 | 6.9 | 82.6 | 13 | 83 |
| difference: | +5.3 | +2.1 | +1.1 | +8.2 | +0.4 | +1.1 | +0.9 | +0.7 | +1.7 | +8.5 | +5 | +209 |
| LeBron James | 28.4 | 10.2 | 20.5 | 49.6 | 1.6 | 4.9 | 33.3 | 6.4 | 8.6 | 74.1 | 18 | 292 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1,914 | 669 | 1,614 | 41.4 | 101 | 312 | 32.4 | 475 | 575 | 82.6 | 13 | 83 |
| difference: | +6,375 | +2,302 | +4,370 | +8.2 | +379 | +1,131 | +0.9 | +1,392 | +1,944 | +8.5 | +5 | +209 |
| LeBron James | 8,289 | 2,971 | 5,984 | 49.6 | 480 | 1,443 | 33.3 | 1,867 | 2,519 | 74.1 | 18 | 292 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA Scoring Leader
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
LeBron James' additional seasons: | ||||
* LeBron James played 2 seasons more than Carmelo Anthony in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 22 to 23, from 2025 to 2026—he averaged 23.9 points in a total of 81 regular season games. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | 15.0 | +15.0 | 2004 | 4 |
| LeBron James | - | DNP | 2004 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | 19.2 | +19.2 | 2005 | 5 |
| LeBron James | - | DNP | 2005 | 0 |
Season 13 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | - | DNP | 2014 | 0 |
| LeBron James | 26.3 | +26.3 | 2016 | 21 |
Season 14 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | - | DNP | 2015 | 0 |
| LeBron James | 32.8 | +32.8 | 2017 | 18 |
Season 15 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | - | DNP | 2016 | 0 |
| LeBron James | 34.0 | +34.0 | 2018 | 22 |
Season 16 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | - | DNP | 2017 | 0 |
| LeBron James | - | DNP | 2019 | 0 |
Season 18 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | - | DNP | 2019 | 0 |
| LeBron James | 23.3 | +23.3 | 2021 | 6 |
Season 19 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | 15.2 | +15.2 | 2020 | 5 |
| LeBron James | - | DNP | 2022 | 0 |
Season 21 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | - | DNP | 2022 | 0 |
| LeBron James | 27.8 | +27.8 | 2024 | 5 |
LeBron James' additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 2 additional NBA seasons, LeBron James played in one postseason. In those postseasons he averaged 25.4 points in a total of 5 games. |