Dirk Nowitzki vs. Russell Westbrook: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Russell Westbrook 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 Russell Westbrook are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 58,232 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 Dirk Nowitzki scored more total points both in the regular season and Playoffs and also has a better playoff average while Russell Westbrook has a better scoring average 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.
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 18 NBA regular seasons played, Russell Westbrook averages 0.3 points more than Dirk Nowitzki in his 21 seasons (21.0 points against 20.7). On the other hand Dirk Nowitzki scored a total of 4,888 points more than Russell Westbrook (31,560 vs. 26,672).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 20.7 | 21 | |
| Russell Westbrook | 21.0 | +0.3 | 18 |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 31,560 | +4,888 | 21 |
| Russell Westbrook | 26,672 | 18 | |
Scoring Titles | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 0 | |
| Russell Westbrook | 2 |  +2 |
Points in the Playoffs
In the NBA postseason Dirk Nowitzki has a better career point average than Russell Westbrook (+2.8 points per game) and he also scored more points (+628).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 25.3 | +2.8 | 15 |
| Russell Westbrook | 22.5 | 14 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 3,663 | +628 | 15 |
| Russell Westbrook | 3,035 | 14 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 861 | +182 | ||
| Russell Westbrook | 679 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1,373 | +227 | ||
| Russell Westbrook | 1,146 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1,509 | +242 | ||
| Russell Westbrook | 1,267 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 13 | +11 | ||
| Russell Westbrook | 2 | |||
Playoffs
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 109 | +29 | ||
| Russell Westbrook | 80 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 142 | +21 | ||
| Russell Westbrook | 121 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 145 | +10 | ||
| Russell Westbrook | 135 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 0 | |||
| Russell Westbrook | 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: | +0.3 | +0.3 | +1.7 | +3.2 | +0.2 | +0.3 | +7.3 | +0.8 | +10.8 | +3 | +253 | |
| Russell Westbrook | 21.0 | 7.6 | 17.3 | 43.9 | 1.1 | 3.7 | 30.7 | 4.8 | 6.2 | 77.1 | 18 | 1,269 |
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: | +4,888 | +1,566 | +1,835 | +3.2 | +553 | +559 | +7.3 | +1,203 | +409 | +10.8 | +3 | +253 |
| Russell Westbrook | 26,672 | 9,603 | 21,899 | 43.9 | 1,429 | 4,651 | 30.7 | 6,037 | 7,830 | 77.1 | 18 | 1,269 |
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: | +2.8 | +0.6 | +1.1 | +5.7 | +0.4 | +1.8 | +6.6 | +1.9 | +1.6 | +7.2 | +1 | +10 |
| Russell Westbrook | 22.5 | 7.8 | 19.3 | 40.5 | 1.4 | 4.6 | 29.9 | 5.5 | 6.7 | 82.0 | 14 | 135 |
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: | +628 | +164 | +33 | +5.7 | +38 | +217 | +6.6 | +338 | +306 | +7.2 | +1 | +10 |
| Russell Westbrook | 3,035 | 1,056 | 2,609 | 40.5 | 187 | 625 | 29.9 | 736 | 898 | 82.0 | 14 | 135 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA Scoring Leader
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Dirk Nowitzki's additional seasons: | ||||
- Dirk Nowitzki played 3 seasons more than Russell Westbrook in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 19 to 21, from 2017 to 2019—he averaged 11.4 points in a total of 182 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 14.2 ppg and his lowest 7.3. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
| Russell Westbrook | - | DNP | 2009 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2000 | 0 |
| Russell Westbrook | 20.5 | +20.5 | 2010 | 6 |
Season 7 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 23.7 | +23.7 | 2005 | 13 |
| Russell Westbrook | - | DNP | 2015 | 0 |
Season 14 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 26.8 | +26.8 | 2012 | 4 |
| Russell Westbrook | - | DNP | 2022 | 0 |
Season 15 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2013 | 0 |
| Russell Westbrook | 23.6 | +23.6 | 2023 | 5 |
Season 18 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 20.4 | +20.4 | 2016 | 5 |
| Russell Westbrook | - | DNP * | 2026 | 0 |
| * season in progress | ||||
Dirk Nowitzki's additional Playoffs: | ||||
- During his 3 additional NBA seasons, Dirk Nowitzki didn't play in the postseason. |