Dirk Nowitzki vs. Shaquille O'Neal: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Shaquille O'Neal 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 Shaquille O'Neal are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 60,156 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 Shaquille O'Neal 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 19 NBA regular seasons played, Shaquille O'Neal averages 3 points more than Dirk Nowitzki in his 21 seasons (23.7 points against 20.7). On the other hand Dirk Nowitzki scored a total of 2,964 points more than Shaquille O'Neal (31,560 vs. 28,596).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 20.7 | 21 | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 23.7 | +3.0 | 19 |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 31,560 | +2,964 | 21 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 28,596 | 19 | |
Scoring Titles | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 0 | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 2 |  +2 |
Points in the Playoffs
In the NBA postseason Dirk Nowitzki has a better career point average than Shaquille O'Neal (+1 point per game) while Shaquille O'Neal scored more points (+1,587).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 25.3 | +1.0 | 15 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 24.3 | 17 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 3,663 | 15 | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 5,250 | +1,587 | 17 |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
60+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 0 | |||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1 | +1 | ||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 861 | +35 | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 826 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1,373 | +241 | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1,132 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1,509 | +304 | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1,205 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 13 | +11 | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 2 | |||
Playoffs
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1 | +1 | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 109 | |||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 148 | +39 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 142 | |||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 206 | +64 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 145 | |||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 215 | +70 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 0 | |||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1 | +1 | ||
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: | +3.0 | +2.1 | +0.5 | +11.2 | +1.3 | +3.4 | +33.5 | +0.1 | +3.9 | +35.2 | +2 | +315 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 23.7 | 9.4 | 16.1 | 58.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 9.3 | 52.7 | 19 | 1,207 |
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: | +2,964 | +161 | +4,277 | +11.2 | +1,981 | +5,188 | +33.5 | +1,305 | +3,013 | +35.2 | +2 | +315 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 28,596 | 11,330 | 19,457 | 58.2 | 1 | 22 | 4.5 | 5,935 | 11,252 | 52.7 | 19 | 1,207 |
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: | +1.0 | +1.0 | +1.4 | +10.1 | +1.0 | +2.8 | +36.5 | +2.0 | +2.4 | +38.8 | +2 | +71 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 24.3 | 9.4 | 16.8 | 56.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | - | 5.4 | 10.7 | 50.4 | 17 | 216 |
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: | +1,587 | +821 | +985 | +10.1 | +149 | +408 | +36.5 | +94 | +1,113 | +38.8 | +2 | +71 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 5,250 | 2,041 | 3,627 | 56.3 | 0 | 0 | - | 1,168 | 2,317 | 50.4 | 17 | 216 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA Scoring Leader
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | - | DNP | 1993 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2000 | 0 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 20.7 | +20.7 | 1994 | 3 |
Season 15 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2013 | 0 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 18.8 | +18.8 | 2007 | 4 |
Season 19 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2017 | 0 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | - | DNP | 2009 | 0 |
Season 20 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2018 | 0 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 11.5 | +11.5 | 2010 | 11 |
Season 21 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2019 | 0 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1.0 | +1.0 | 2011 | 2 |