Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. Gilbert Arenas: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Gilbert Arenas and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 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.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 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 Gilbert Arenas.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has better scoring stats than Gilbert Arenas 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:

Who has better scoring stats? Career Numbers
Games of 30+ points, 40+, 50+, etc
Shooting Stats
Points Year by Year

Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?

Points in the Regular Season

In his 20 NBA regular seasons played, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar averages 3.9 points more than Gilbert Arenas in his 11 seasons (24.6 points against 20.7), and he also scored a total of 26,985 points more (38,387 vs. 11,402).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.6
+3.9
20
Gilbert Arenas 20.7
11

Total Points

Seasons
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387
+26,985
20
Gilbert Arenas 11,402
11

Scoring Titles

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 2
Scoring leaderScoring leader
+2
Gilbert Arenas 0

Points in the Playoffs

Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has a better career point average than Gilbert Arenas (+7.2 points per game) and he also scored more points (+5,232).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.3
+7.2
18
Gilbert Arenas 17.1
5

Total Points

Playoffs
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 5,762
+5,232
18
Gilbert Arenas 530
5

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

60+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 0
Gilbert Arenas 1
+1

50+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 10
+7
Gilbert Arenas 3

40+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 70
+41
Gilbert Arenas 29

30+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 429
+301
Gilbert Arenas 128

20+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1,122
+824
Gilbert Arenas 298

10+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1,509
+1058
Gilbert Arenas 451

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1,559
+1022
Gilbert Arenas 537

0 Point Games (games without points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1
Gilbert Arenas 15
+14

Playoffs

40+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 9
+8
Gilbert Arenas 1

30+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 75
+68
Gilbert Arenas 7

20+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 169
+154
Gilbert Arenas 15

10+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 223
+205
Gilbert Arenas 18

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 237
+211
Gilbert Arenas 26

0 Point Games (games without points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 0
Gilbert Arenas 5
+5

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

more >>

Regular Season

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.6 10.2 18.1 55.9 * 0.0 * 0.0 * 5.6 4.3 6.0 72.1 20 1,560
difference:+3.9+3.5+2.1+13.9+2.0+5.6+29.5+0.9+0.5+8.2+9+1,008
Gilbert Arenas 20.7 6.7 16.0 42.1 2.0 5.6 35.1 5.2 6.5 80.3 11 552

Total Stats

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387 15,837 28,307 55.9 * 1 * 18 * 5.6 6,712 9,304 72.1 20 1,560
difference:+26,985+12,115+19,457+13.9+1,078+3,059+29.5+3,833+5,720+8.2+9+1,008
Gilbert Arenas 11,402 3,722 8,850 42.1 1,079 3,077 35.1 2,879 3,584 80.3 11 552

Notes: Three-point shots were implemented in 1979-80.
* = some years in his career didn't have the stat.

Playoffs

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.3 9.9 18.7 53.3 * 0.0 * 0.0 * 0.0 4.4 6.0 74.0 18 237
difference:+7.2+4.4+5.2+12.3+1.5+4.9+30.5+0.1+0.1+2.9+13+206
Gilbert Arenas 17.1 5.5 13.5 41.0 1.5 4.9 30.5 4.5 5.9 76.9 5 31

Total Stats

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 5,762 2,356 4,422 53.3 * 0 * 4 * 0.0 1,050 1,419 74.0 18 237
difference:+5,232+2,184+4,002+12.3+46+147+30.5+910+1,237+2.9+13+206
Gilbert Arenas 530 172 420 41.0 46 151 30.5 140 182 76.9 5 31

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

Scoring leader= NBA Scoring Leader
NBA Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 28.8
+17.9
197082
Gilbert Arenas 10.9
200247

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Scoring leader31.7
+13.4
1971NBA Champion82
Gilbert Arenas 18.3
200382

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Scoring leader34.8
+15.2
197281
Gilbert Arenas 19.6
200455

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 30.2
+4.7
197376
Gilbert Arenas 25.5
200580

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27.0
197481
Gilbert Arenas 29.3
+2.3
200680

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 30.0
+1.6
197565
Gilbert Arenas 28.4
200774

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27.7
+8.3
197682
Gilbert Arenas 19.4
200813

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26.2
+13.2
197782
Gilbert Arenas 13.0
20092

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 25.8
+3.2
197862
Gilbert Arenas 22.6
201032

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 23.8
+13.0
197980
Gilbert Arenas 10.8
201170

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.8
+20.6
1980NBA Champion82
Gilbert Arenas 4.2
201217

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's additional seasons:

* Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played 9 seasons more than Gilbert Arenas in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 12 to 20, from 1981 to 1989—he averaged 20.2 points in a total of 705 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 26.2 ppg and his lowest 10.1.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 35.2
+35.2
197010
Gilbert Arenas -
DNP
20020

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26.6
+26.6
1971NBA Champion14
Gilbert Arenas -
DNP
20030

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 28.7
+28.7
197211
Gilbert Arenas -
DNP
20040

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 22.8
19736
Gilbert Arenas 23.6
+0.8
200510

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 32.2
197416
Gilbert Arenas 34.0
+1.8
20066

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -
DNP
19750
Gilbert Arenas -
DNP
20070

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -
DNP
19760
Gilbert Arenas 10.8
+10.8
20084

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 34.6
+34.6
197711
Gilbert Arenas -
DNP
20090

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27.0
+27.0
19783
Gilbert Arenas -
DNP
20100

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 28.5
+19.9
19798
Gilbert Arenas 8.6
20115

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 31.9
+31.2
1980NBA Champion15
Gilbert Arenas 0.7
20126

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's additional Playoffs:

* During his 9 additional NBA seasons, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played in 9 Playoffs and won 4 NBA Championships. In those postseasons he averaged 20.3 points in a total of 143 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 27.1 ppg and his lowest 11.1.

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