Carmelo Anthony vs. Yao Ming: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Yao Ming 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
Carmelo Anthony is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points and also has one of the highest career averages in league history, and here we compare his scoring stats with those recorded by Yao Ming.
By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Carmelo Anthony has better scoring stats than Yao Ming 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 19 NBA regular seasons played, Carmelo Anthony averages 3.5 points more than Yao Ming in his 8 seasons (22.5 points against 19.0), and he also scored a total of 19,042 points more (28,289 vs. 9,247).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Carmelo Anthony | 22.5 | +3.5 | 19 |
| Yao Ming | 19.0 | 8 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Carmelo Anthony | 28,289 | +19,042 | 19 |
| Yao Ming | 9,247 | 8 | |
Scoring Titles | ||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1 |  +1 |
| Yao Ming | 0 | |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Carmelo Anthony has a better career point average than Yao Ming (+3.3 points per game) and he also scored more points (+1,359).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Carmelo Anthony | 23.1 | +3.3 | 13 |
| Yao Ming | 19.8 | 4 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1,914 | +1,359 | 13 |
| Yao Ming | 555 | 4 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
60+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1 | +1 | ||
| Yao Ming | 0 | |||
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 4 | +4 | ||
| Yao Ming | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 796 | +564 | ||
| Yao Ming | 232 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1,162 | +722 | ||
| Yao Ming | 440 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 1,257 | +774 | ||
| Yao Ming | 483 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 3 | |||
| Yao Ming | 3 | |||
Playoffs
40+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 4 | +4 | ||
| Yao Ming | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 54 | +39 | ||
| Yao Ming | 15 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 77 | +51 | ||
| Yao Ming | 26 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 83 | +55 | ||
| Yao Ming | 28 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Carmelo Anthony | 0 | |||
| Yao Ming | 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: | +3.5 | +1.0 | +4.7 | +7.8 | +1.4 | +3.9 | +15.5 | +0.1 | +0.1 | +1.9 | +11 | +774 |
| Yao Ming | 19.0 | 7.0 | 13.3 | 52.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 20.0 | 5.1 | 6.1 | 83.3 | 8 | 486 |
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: | +19,042 | +6,739 | +16,198 | +7.8 | +1,729 | +4,863 | +15.5 | +3,835 | +4,780 | +1.9 | +11 | +774 |
| Yao Ming | 9,247 | 3,380 | 6,445 | 52.4 | 2 | 10 | 20.0 | 2,485 | 2,984 | 83.3 | 8 | 486 |
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: | +3.3 | +1.1 | +6.0 | +10.4 | +1.2 | +3.8 | +32.4 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.7 | +9 | +55 |
| Yao Ming | 19.8 | 7.0 | 13.4 | 51.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 | - | 5.9 | 7.1 | 83.3 | 4 | 28 |
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: | +1,359 | +474 | +1,238 | +10.4 | +101 | +312 | +32.4 | +310 | +377 | +0.7 | +9 | +55 |
| Yao Ming | 555 | 195 | 376 | 51.9 | 0 | 0 | - | 165 | 198 | 83.3 | 4 | 28 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA Scoring LeaderRegular Season
Carmelo Anthony's additional seasons: | ||||
- Carmelo Anthony played 12 seasons more than Yao Ming in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 9 to 20, from 2011 to 2022—he averaged 20.9 points in a total of 746 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 28.7 ppg and his lowest 13.3. In those 12 extra years over Yao Ming, Carmelo Anthony won 1 scoring title. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | 15.0 | +15.0 | 2004 | 4 |
| Yao Ming | - | DNP | 2003 | 0 |
Season 4 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | 26.8 | +26.8 | 2007 | 5 |
| Yao Ming | - | DNP | 2006 | 0 |
Season 6 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | 27.2 | +27.2 | 2009 | 16 |
| Yao Ming | - | DNP | 2008 | 0 |
Season 8 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Carmelo Anthony | 26.0 | +26.0 | 2011 | 4 |
| Yao Ming | - | DNP | 2011 | 0 |
Carmelo Anthony's additional Playoffs: | ||||
- During his 12 additional NBA seasons, Carmelo Anthony played in 6 Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 21.3 points in a total of 38 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 28.8 ppg and his lowest 11.8. |