Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. Steven Adams: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Steven Adams 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 Steven Adams.

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 Steven Adams 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 15.8 points more than Steven Adams in his 11 seasons (24.6 points against 8.8), and he also scored a total of 31,644 points more (38,387 vs. 6,743).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.6
+15.8
20
Steven Adams 8.8
11

Total Points

Seasons
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387
+31,644
20
Steven Adams 6,743
11

Scoring Titles

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 2
Scoring leaderScoring leader
+2
Steven Adams 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 Steven Adams (+16.8 points per game) and he also scored more points (+5,213).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.3
+16.8
18
Steven Adams 7.5
8

Total Points

Playoffs
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 5,762
+5,213
18
Steven Adams 549
8

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

50+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 10
+10
Steven Adams 0

40+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 70
+70
Steven Adams 0

30+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 429
+429
Steven Adams 0

20+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1,122
+1082
Steven Adams 40

10+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1,509
+1191
Steven Adams 318

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1,559
+831
Steven Adams 728

0 Point Games (games without points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1
Steven Adams 36
+35

Playoffs

40+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 9
+9
Steven Adams 0

30+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 75
+75
Steven Adams 0

20+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 169
+169
Steven Adams 0

10+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 223
+201
Steven Adams 22

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 237
+174
Steven Adams 63

0 Point Games (games without points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 0
Steven Adams 10
+10

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:+15.8+6.5+11.8+2.6+0.3+2.8+3.2+18.8+9+796
Steven Adams 8.8 3.7 6.3 58.6 0.0 0.0 5.9 1.5 2.8 53.3 11 764

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:+31,644+13,033+23,521+2.6+1+0.3+5,578+7,175+18.8+9+796
Steven Adams 6,743 2,804 4,786 58.6 1 17 5.9 1,134 2,129 53.3 11 764

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:+16.8+6.8+13.7+8.1+3.0+3.4+20.6+10+164
Steven Adams 7.5 3.1 5.0 61.4 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.4 2.6 53.4 8 73

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:+5,213+2,132+4,057+8.1+1+949+1,230+20.6+10+164
Steven Adams 549 224 365 61.4 0 3 0.0 101 189 53.4 8 73

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
+25.5
197082
Steven Adams 3.3
201481

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Scoring leader31.7
+24.0
1971NBA Champion82
Steven Adams 7.7
201570

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Scoring leader34.8
+26.8
197281
Steven Adams 8.0
201680

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 30.2
+18.9
197376
Steven Adams 11.3
201780

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27.0
+13.1
197481
Steven Adams 13.9
201876

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 30.0
+16.1
197565
Steven Adams 13.9
201980

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27.7
+16.8
197682
Steven Adams 10.9
202063

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26.2
+18.6
197782
Steven Adams 7.6
202158

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 25.8
+18.9
197862
Steven Adams 6.9
202276

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 23.8
+15.2
197980
Steven Adams 8.6
202342

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.8
+20.9
1980NBA Champion82
Steven Adams 3.9
202558

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's additional seasons:

* Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played 9 seasons more than Steven Adams 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
+31.3
197010
Steven Adams 3.9
201418

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26.6
+26.6
1971NBA Champion14
Steven Adams -
DNP
20150

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 28.7
+18.6
197211
Steven Adams 10.1
201618

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 22.8
+14.8
19736
Steven Adams 8.0
20175

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 32.2
+21.7
197416
Steven Adams 10.5
20186

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -
DNP
19750
Steven Adams 11.8
+11.8
20195

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -
DNP
19760
Steven Adams 10.1
+10.1
20207

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 34.6
+34.6
197711
Steven Adams -
DNP
20210

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27.0
+23.6
19783
Steven Adams 3.4
20227

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 28.5
+28.5
19798
Steven Adams -
DNP
20230

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 31.9
+26.2
1980NBA Champion15
Steven Adams 5.7
20257

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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