Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. Shaquille O'Neal: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Shaquille O'Neal 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 and Shaquille O'Neal are among the most prolific scorers in NBA history—combining for an staggering season total of 66,983 points—and they also have two of the all-time best scoring averages. Here we compare all their scoring stats.

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 they have the same scoring average in the postseason (rounded to one decimal). 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.

Note: on this page, the numbers used to compare per game stats are rounded to one decimal.

Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?

Points in the Regular Season

In his 20 NBA regular seasons played, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar averages 0.9 points more than Shaquille O'Neal in his 19 seasons (24.6 points against 23.7), and he also scored a total of 9,791 points more (38,387 vs. 28,596).

Points Per Game			Seasons
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	24.6	+0.9	20
Shaquille O'Neal	23.7		19

Total Points			Seasons
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	38,387	+9,791	20
Shaquille O'Neal	28,596		19

Scoring Titles
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	2
Shaquille O'Neal	2

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	+5.4	1970	82
Shaquille O'Neal	23.4		1993	81

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	31.7	+2.4	1971	82
Shaquille O'Neal	29.3		1994	81

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	34.8	+5.5	1972	81
Shaquille O'Neal	29.3		1995	79

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	30.2	+3.6	1973	76
Shaquille O'Neal	26.6		1996	54

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	27.0	+0.8	1974	81
Shaquille O'Neal	26.2		1997	51

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	30.0	+1.7	1975	65
Shaquille O'Neal	28.3		1998	60

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	27.7	+1.4	1976	82
Shaquille O'Neal	26.3		1999	49

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	26.2		1977	82
Shaquille O'Neal	29.7	+3.5	2000	79

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	25.8		1978	62
Shaquille O'Neal	28.7	+2.9	2001	74

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	23.8		1979	80
Shaquille O'Neal	27.2	+3.4	2002	67

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	24.8		1980	82
Shaquille O'Neal	27.5	+2.7	2003	67

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	26.2	+4.7	1981	80
Shaquille O'Neal	21.5		2004	67

Season 13	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	23.9	+1.0	1982	76
Shaquille O'Neal	22.9		2005	73

Season 14	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	21.8	+1.8	1983	79
Shaquille O'Neal	20.0		2006	59

Season 15	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	21.5	+4.2	1984	80
Shaquille O'Neal	17.3		2007	40

Season 16	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	22.0	+8.4	1985	79
Shaquille O'Neal	13.6		2008	61

Season 17	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	23.4	+5.6	1986	79
Shaquille O'Neal	17.8		2009	75

Season 18	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	17.5	+5.5	1987	78
Shaquille O'Neal	12.0		2010	53

Season 19	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	14.6	+5.4	1988	80
Shaquille O'Neal	9.2		2011	37

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's additional seasons:

* Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played 1 season more than Shaquille O'Neal in the NBA. In that year—his season 20 in 1989—he averaged 10.1 points in a total of 74 regular season games.

Playoffs

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	35.2	+35.2	1970	10
Shaquille O'Neal	-	DNP	1993	0

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	26.6	+5.9	1971	14
Shaquille O'Neal	20.7		1994	3

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	28.7	+3.0	1972	11
Shaquille O'Neal	25.7		1995	21

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	22.8		1973	6
Shaquille O'Neal	25.8	+3.0	1996	12

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	32.2	+5.3	1974	16
Shaquille O'Neal	26.9		1997	9

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	-	DNP	1975	0
Shaquille O'Neal	30.5	+30.5	1998	13

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	-	DNP	1976	0
Shaquille O'Neal	26.6	+26.6	1999	8

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	34.6	+3.9	1977	11
Shaquille O'Neal	30.7		2000	23

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	27.0		1978	3
Shaquille O'Neal	30.4	+3.4	2001	16

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	28.5		1979	8
Shaquille O'Neal	28.5		2002	19

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	31.9	+4.9	1980	15
Shaquille O'Neal	27.0		2003	12

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	26.7	+5.2	1981	3
Shaquille O'Neal	21.5		2004	22

Season 13	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	20.4	+1.0	1982	14
Shaquille O'Neal	19.4		2005	13

Season 14	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	27.1	+8.7	1983	15
Shaquille O'Neal	18.4		2006	23

Season 15	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	23.9	+5.1	1984	21
Shaquille O'Neal	18.8		2007	4

Season 16	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	21.9	+6.7	1985	19
Shaquille O'Neal	15.2		2008	5

Season 17	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	25.9	+25.9	1986	14
Shaquille O'Neal	-	DNP	2009	0

Season 18	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	19.2	+7.7	1987	18
Shaquille O'Neal	11.5		2010	11

Season 19	Points per game		Year	Games
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar	14.1	+13.1	1988	24
Shaquille O'Neal	1.0		2011	2

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's additional Playoffs:

* In his additional NBA year, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played in the Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 11.1 points in a total of 15 games.