Dirk Nowitzki vs. Dwyane Wade: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki 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
Dirk Nowitzki and Dwyane Wade are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 54,725 points—. Here we compare their scoring stats.
By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Dwyane Wade has a better scoring average in the regular season and scored more points in the Playoffs while in the inverse situation Dirk Nowitzki scored more points in during the season and has a better average in the postseason. 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 16 NBA regular seasons played, Dwyane Wade averages 1.3 points more than Dirk Nowitzki in his 21 seasons (22.0 points against 20.7). On the other hand Dirk Nowitzki scored a total of 8,395 points more than Dwyane Wade (31,560 vs. 23,165).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 20.7 | 21 | |
| Dwyane Wade | 22.0 | +1.3 | 16 |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 31,560 | +8,395 | 21 |
| Dwyane Wade | 23,165 | 16 | |
Scoring Titles | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 0 | |
| Dwyane Wade | 1 |  +1 |
Points in the Playoffs
In the NBA postseason Dirk Nowitzki has a better career point average than Dwyane Wade (+3 points per game) while Dwyane Wade scored more points (+291).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 25.3 | +3.0 | 15 |
| Dwyane Wade | 22.3 | 13 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 3,663 | 15 | |
| Dwyane Wade | 3,954 | +291 | 13 |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 861 | +232 | ||
| Dwyane Wade | 629 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1,373 | +403 | ||
| Dwyane Wade | 970 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1,509 | +458 | ||
| Dwyane Wade | 1,051 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 13 | +10 | ||
| Dwyane Wade | 3 | |||
Playoffs
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1 | +1 | ||
| Dwyane Wade | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 109 | |||
| Dwyane Wade | 111 | +2 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 142 | |||
| Dwyane Wade | 171 | +29 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 145 | |||
| Dwyane Wade | 177 | +32 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 0 | |||
| Dwyane Wade | 0 | |||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 20.7 | 7.3 | 15.6 | 47.1 | 1.3 | 3.4 | 38.0 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 87.9 | 21 | 1,522 |
| difference: | +1.3 | +0.7 | +1.1 | +0.9 | +0.8 | +1.6 | +8.7 | +0.6 | +1.7 | +11.4 | +5 | +468 |
| Dwyane Wade | 22.0 | 8.0 | 16.7 | 48.0 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 29.3 | 5.4 | 7.1 | 76.5 | 16 | 1,054 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 31,560 | 11,169 | 23,734 | 47.1 | 1,982 | 5,210 | 38.0 | 7,240 | 8,239 | 87.9 | 21 | 1,522 |
| difference: | +8,395 | +2,715 | +6,117 | +0.9 | +1,433 | +3,336 | +8.7 | +1,532 | +776 | +11.4 | +5 | +468 |
| Dwyane Wade | 23,165 | 8,454 | 17,617 | 48.0 | 549 | 1,874 | 29.3 | 5,708 | 7,463 | 76.5 | 16 | 1,054 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 25.3 | 8.4 | 18.2 | 46.2 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 36.5 | 7.4 | 8.3 | 89.2 | 15 | 145 |
| difference: | +3.0 | +0.2 | +0.9 | +1.2 | +0.4 | +1.1 | +2.7 | +2.0 | +1.4 | +11.2 | +2 | +32 |
| Dwyane Wade | 22.3 | 8.2 | 17.3 | 47.4 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 33.8 | 5.4 | 6.9 | 78.0 | 13 | 177 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 3,663 | 1,220 | 2,642 | 46.2 | 149 | 408 | 36.5 | 1,074 | 1,204 | 89.2 | 15 | 145 |
| difference: | +291 | +230 | +420 | +1.2 | +46 | +103 | +2.7 | +123 | +16 | +11.2 | +2 | +32 |
| Dwyane Wade | 3,954 | 1,450 | 3,062 | 47.4 | 103 | 305 | 33.8 | 951 | 1,220 | 78.0 | 13 | 177 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA Scoring Leader
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Dirk Nowitzki's additional seasons: | ||||
* Dirk Nowitzki played 5 seasons more than Dwyane Wade in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 17 to 21, from 2015 to 2019—he averaged 14.3 points in a total of 334 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 18.3 ppg and his lowest 7.3. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
| Dwyane Wade | 18.0 | +18.0 | 2004 | 13 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2000 | 0 |
| Dwyane Wade | 27.4 | +27.4 | 2005 | 14 |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 25.3 | +25.3 | 2003 | 17 |
| Dwyane Wade | - | DNP | 2008 | 0 |
Season 12 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 26.7 | +26.7 | 2010 | 6 |
| Dwyane Wade | - | DNP | 2015 | 0 |
Season 15 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2013 | 0 |
| Dwyane Wade | 16.6 | +16.6 | 2018 | 5 |
Season 16 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 19.1 | +19.1 | 2014 | 7 |
| Dwyane Wade | - | DNP | 2019 | 0 |
Dirk Nowitzki's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 5 additional NBA seasons, Dirk Nowitzki played in two Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 20.8 points in a total of 10 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 21.2 ppg and his lowest 20.4. |