DeMarcus Cousins vs. Joel Embiid: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Joel Embiid and DeMarcus Cousins 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.

Joel Embiid has one of the highest career point averages in NBA history, and here we compare his scoring stats with those recorded by DeMarcus Cousins.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Joel Embiid has better scoring averages both in the regular season and Playoffs and also scored more points in during the postseason while DeMarcus Cousins scored more points in the regular season. 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.

Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?

Points in the Regular Season

In his 9 NBA regular seasons played, Joel Embiid averages 8.1 points more than DeMarcus Cousins in his 11 seasons (27.7 points against 19.6). On the other hand DeMarcus Cousins scored a total of 279 points more than Joel Embiid (12,802 vs. 12,523).

Points Per Game			Seasons
DeMarcus Cousins	19.6		11
Joel Embiid	27.7	+8.1	9

Total Points			Seasons
DeMarcus Cousins	12,802	+279	11
Joel Embiid	12,523		9

Scoring Titles
DeMarcus Cousins	0
Joel Embiid	2	+2

Points by Thresholds

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

= NBA Scoring Leader

Regular Season

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	14.1		2011	81
Joel Embiid	20.2	+6.1	2017	31

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	18.1		2012	64
Joel Embiid	22.9	+4.8	2018	63

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	17.1		2013	75
Joel Embiid	27.5	+10.4	2019	64

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	22.7		2014	71
Joel Embiid	23.0	+0.3	2020	51

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	24.1		2015	59
Joel Embiid	28.5	+4.4	2021	51

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	26.9		2016	65
Joel Embiid	30.6	+3.7	2022	68

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	27.0		2017	72
Joel Embiid	33.1	+6.1	2023	66

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	25.2		2018	48
Joel Embiid	34.7	+9.5	2024	39

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
DeMarcus Cousins	16.3		2019	30
Joel Embiid	23.8	+7.5	2025	19

DeMarcus Cousins' additional seasons:

* DeMarcus Cousins played 3 seasons more than Joel Embiid in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 10 to 12, from 2021 to 2022—he averaged 8.9 points in a total of 137 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 9 ppg and his lowest 8.9.