Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. Jalen Brunson: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Jalen Brunson 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.

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 Jalen Brunson.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored more points both in the regular season and Playoffs and also has better season average while Jalen Brunson has a better scoring 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.

Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?

Points in the Regular Season

In his 20 NBA regular seasons played, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar averages 6 points more than Jalen Brunson in his 8 seasons (24.6 points against 18.6), and he also scored a total of 28,878 points more (38,387 vs. 9,509).

Points Per Game			Seasons
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	24.6	+6.0	20
Jalen Brunson	18.6		8

Total Points			Seasons
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	38,387	+28,878	20
Jalen Brunson	9,509		8

Scoring Titles
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	2	+2
Jalen Brunson	0

Points by Thresholds

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

= NBA Scoring Leader

= NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	28.8	+19.5	1970	82
Jalen Brunson	9.3		2019	73

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	31.7	+23.5	1971	82
Jalen Brunson	8.2		2020	57

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	34.8	+22.2	1972	81
Jalen Brunson	12.6		2021	68

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	30.2	+13.9	1973	76
Jalen Brunson	16.3		2022	79

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	27.0	+3.0	1974	81
Jalen Brunson	24.0		2023	68

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	30.0	+1.3	1975	65
Jalen Brunson	28.7		2024	77

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	27.7	+1.7	1976	82
Jalen Brunson	26.0		2025	65

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	26.2		1977	82
Jalen Brunson	28.7	+2.5	2026	24

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's additional seasons:

* Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played 12 seasons more than Jalen Brunson in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 9 to 20, from 1978 to 1989—he averaged 21.3 points in a total of 929 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 26.2 ppg and his lowest 10.1.

Playoffs

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	35.2	+35.2	1970	10
Jalen Brunson	-	DNP	2019	0

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	26.6	+26.6	1971	14
Jalen Brunson	-	DNP	2020	0

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	28.7	+20.7	1972	11
Jalen Brunson	8.0		2021	7

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	22.8	+1.2	1973	6
Jalen Brunson	21.6		2022	18

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	32.2	+4.4	1974	16
Jalen Brunson	27.8		2023	11

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	-	DNP	1975	0
Jalen Brunson	32.4	+32.4	2024	13

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	-	DNP	1976	0
Jalen Brunson	29.4	+29.4	2025	18

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	34.6	+34.6	1977	11
Jalen Brunson	-	DNP *	2026	0
* season in progress

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's additional Playoffs:

* During his 12 additional NBA seasons, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played in 12 Playoffs and won 5 NBA Championships. In those postseasons he averaged 21.8 points in a total of 169 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 31.9 ppg and his lowest 11.1.