Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. Klay Thompson: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Klay Thompson 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 Klay Thompson.

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 Klay Thompson 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 5.5 points more than Klay Thompson in his 12 seasons (24.6 points against 19.1), and he also scored a total of 21,851 points more (38,387 vs. 16,536).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.6
+5.5
20
Klay Thompson 19.1
12

Total Points

Seasons
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387
+21,851
20
Klay Thompson 16,536
12

Scoring Titles

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 2
Scoring leaderScoring leader
+2
Klay Thompson 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 Klay Thompson (+5.1 points per game) and he also scored more points (+2,730).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.3
+5.1
18
Klay Thompson 19.2
9

Total Points

Playoffs
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 5,762
+2,730
18
Klay Thompson 3,032
9

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

60+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 0
Klay Thompson 1
+1

50+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 10
+6
Klay Thompson 4

40+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 70
+52
Klay Thompson 18

30+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 429
+351
Klay Thompson 78

20+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1,122
+730
Klay Thompson 392

10+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1,509
+745
Klay Thompson 764

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1,559
+699
Klay Thompson 860

0 Point Games (games without points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1
Klay Thompson 5
+4

Playoffs

40+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 9
+8
Klay Thompson 1

30+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 75
+58
Klay Thompson 17

20+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 169
+94
Klay Thompson 75

10+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 223
+80
Klay Thompson 143

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 237
+79
Klay Thompson 158

0 Point Games (games without points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 0
Klay Thompson 0

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:+5.5+3.1+2.3+10.9+3.1+7.6+35.5+2.5+3.9+13.9+8+695
Klay Thompson 19.1 7.1 15.8 45.1 3.1 7.6 41.1 1.8 2.1 86.0 12 865

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:+21,851+9,682+14,648+10.9+2,696+6,545+35.5+5,183+7,526+13.9+8+695
Klay Thompson 16,536 6,155 13,659 45.1 2,697 6,563 41.1 1,529 1,778 86.0 12 865

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:+5.1+2.8+2.3+9.7+3.2+7.8+40.5+2.6+3.9+10.5+9+79
Klay Thompson 19.2 7.1 16.4 43.6 3.2 7.8 40.5 1.8 2.1 84.5 9 158

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:+2,730+1,230+1,837+9.7+501+1,233+40.5+771+1,089+10.5+9+79
Klay Thompson 3,032 1,126 2,585 43.6 501 1,237 40.5 279 330 84.5 9 158

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
+16.3
197082
Klay Thompson 12.5
201266

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Scoring leader31.7
+15.1
1971NBA Champion82
Klay Thompson 16.6
201382

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Scoring leader34.8
+16.4
197281
Klay Thompson 18.4
201481

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 30.2
+8.5
197376
Klay Thompson 21.7
2015NBA Champion77

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27.0
+4.9
197481
Klay Thompson 22.1
201680

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 30.0
+7.7
197565
Klay Thompson 22.3
2017NBA Champion78

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27.7
+7.7
197682
Klay Thompson 20.0
2018NBA Champion73

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26.2
+4.7
197782
Klay Thompson 21.5
201978

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 25.8
+5.4
197862
Klay Thompson 20.4
2022NBA Champion32

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 23.8
+1.9
197980
Klay Thompson 21.9
202369

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.8
+6.9
1980NBA Champion82
Klay Thompson 17.9
202477

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26.2
+12.2
198180
Klay Thompson 14.0
202572

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's additional seasons:

* Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played 8 seasons more than Klay Thompson in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 13 to 20, from 1982 to 1989—he averaged 19.4 points in a total of 625 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 23.9 ppg and his lowest 10.1.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 35.2
+35.2
197010
Klay Thompson -
DNP
20120

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26.6
+11.4
1971NBA Champion14
Klay Thompson 15.2
201312

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 28.7
+12.3
197211
Klay Thompson 16.4
20147

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 22.8
+4.2
19736
Klay Thompson 18.6
2015NBA Champion21

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 32.2
+7.9
197416
Klay Thompson 24.3
201624

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -
DNP
19750
Klay Thompson 15.0
+15.0
2017NBA Champion17

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -
DNP
19760
Klay Thompson 19.6
+19.6
2018NBA Champion21

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 34.6
+13.9
197711
Klay Thompson 20.7
201921

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27.0
+8.0
19783
Klay Thompson 19.0
2022NBA Champion22

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 28.5
+10.0
19798
Klay Thompson 18.5
202313

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 31.9
+31.9
1980NBA Champion15
Klay Thompson -
DNP
20240

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26.7
+26.7
19813
Klay Thompson -
DNP
20250

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's additional Playoffs:

* During his 8 additional NBA seasons, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played in 8 Playoffs and won 4 NBA Championships. In those postseasons he averaged 20.2 points in a total of 140 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 27.1 ppg and his lowest 11.1.

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