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 70,473 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 22 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 13,895 points more (42,184 vs. 28,289).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Carmelo Anthony | 22.5 | 19 | |
| LeBron James | 27.0 | +4.5 | 22 |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Carmelo Anthony | 28,289 | 19 | |
| LeBron James | 42,184 | +13,895 | 22 |
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 | 1,286 | +490 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1,162 | |||
| LeBron James | 1,554 | +392 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1,257 | |||
| LeBron James | 1,562 | +305 | ||
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 | +6.0 | +0.2 | +0.8 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +1.3 | +7.7 | +3 | +302 |
| LeBron James | 27.0 | 9.9 | 19.6 | 50.6 | 1.6 | 4.7 | 34.9 | 5.5 | 7.5 | 73.7 | 22 | 1,562 |
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: | +13,895 | +5,369 | +7,940 | +6.0 | +828 | +2,449 | +0.6 | +2,329 | +3,971 | +7.7 | +3 | +302 |
| LeBron James | 42,184 | 15,488 | 30,583 | 50.6 | 2,559 | 7,322 | 34.9 | 8,649 | 11,735 | 73.7 | 22 | 1,562 |
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 1 season more than Carmelo Anthony in the NBA. In that year—his season 22 in 2025—he averaged 24.4 points in a total of 70 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: | ||||
* In his additional NBA year, LeBron James played in the Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 25.4 points in a total of 5 games. |