Kareem Abdul-Jabbar vs. Tim Duncan: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Tim Duncan 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 and Tim Duncan are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 64,883 points—. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is also one of the all-time leaders in points per game. Here we compare 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 has better scoring stats than Tim Duncan 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 5.6 points more than Tim Duncan in his 19 seasons (24.6 points against 19.0), and he also scored a total of 11,891 points more (38,387 vs. 26,496).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.6
+5.6
20
Tim Duncan 19.0
19

Total Points

Seasons
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 38,387
+11,891
20
Tim Duncan 26,496
19

Scoring Titles

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 2
Scoring leaderScoring leader
+2
Tim Duncan 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 Tim Duncan (+3.7 points per game) and he also scored more points (+590).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.3
+3.7
18
Tim Duncan 20.6
18

Total Points

Playoffs
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 5,762
+590
18
Tim Duncan 5,172
18

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

50+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 10
+9
Tim Duncan 1

40+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 70
+65
Tim Duncan 5

30+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 429
+307
Tim Duncan 122

20+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1,122
+483
Tim Duncan 639

10+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1,509
+253
Tim Duncan 1,256

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1,559
+169
Tim Duncan 1,390

0 Point Games (games without points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 1
Tim Duncan 2
+1

Playoffs

40+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 9
+5
Tim Duncan 4

30+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 75
+39
Tim Duncan 36

20+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 169
+32
Tim Duncan 137

10+ Point Games

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 223
Tim Duncan 232
+9

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 237
Tim Duncan 250
+13

0 Point Games (games without points)

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 0
Tim Duncan 1
+1

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:+5.6+2.8+3.5+5.4+0.1+12.3+0.1+0.1+2.5+1+168
Tim Duncan 19.0 7.4 14.6 50.6 0.0 0.1 17.9 4.2 6.1 69.6 19 1,392

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:+11,891+5,552+7,973+5.4+29+150+12.3+816+836+2.5+1+168
Tim Duncan 26,496 10,285 20,334 50.6 30 168 17.9 5,896 8,468 69.6 19 1,392

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:+3.7+2.0+3.0+3.1+0.1+14.3+0.4+1.0+5.1+14
Tim Duncan 20.6 7.9 15.7 50.1 0.0 0.1 14.3 4.8 7.0 68.9 18 251

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:+590+381+483+3.1+5+31+14.3+167+347+5.1+14
Tim Duncan 5,172 1,975 3,939 50.1 5 35 14.3 1,217 1,766 68.9 18 251

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
+7.7
197082
Tim Duncan 21.1
199882

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Scoring leader31.7
+10.0
1971NBA Champion82
Tim Duncan 21.7
1999NBA Champion50

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Scoring leader34.8
+11.6
197281
Tim Duncan 23.2
200074

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 30.2
+8.0
197376
Tim Duncan 22.2
200182

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27.0
+1.5
197481
Tim Duncan 25.5
200282

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 30.0
+6.7
197565
Tim Duncan 23.3
2003NBA Champion81

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27.7
+5.4
197682
Tim Duncan 22.3
200469

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26.2
+5.9
197782
Tim Duncan 20.3
2005NBA Champion66

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 25.8
+7.2
197862
Tim Duncan 18.6
200680

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 23.8
+3.8
197980
Tim Duncan 20.0
2007NBA Champion80

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 24.8
+5.5
1980NBA Champion82
Tim Duncan 19.3
200878

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26.2
+6.9
198180
Tim Duncan 19.3
200975

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 23.9
+6.0
1982NBA Champion76
Tim Duncan 17.9
201078

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 21.8
+8.4
198379
Tim Duncan 13.4
201176

Season 15

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 21.5
+6.1
198480
Tim Duncan 15.4
201258

Season 16

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 22.0
+4.2
1985NBA Champion79
Tim Duncan 17.8
201369

Season 17

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 23.4
+8.3
198679
Tim Duncan 15.1
2014NBA Champion74

Season 18

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 17.5
+3.6
1987NBA Champion78
Tim Duncan 13.9
201577

Season 19

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 14.6
+6.0
1988NBA Champion80
Tim Duncan 8.6
201661

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's additional seasons:

* Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played 1 season more than Tim Duncan 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 gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 35.2
+14.5
197010
Tim Duncan 20.7
19989

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26.6
+3.4
1971NBA Champion14
Tim Duncan 23.2
1999NBA Champion17

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 28.7
+28.7
197211
Tim Duncan -
DNP
20000

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 22.8
19736
Tim Duncan 24.4
+1.6
200113

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 32.2
+4.6
197416
Tim Duncan 27.6
20029

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -
DNP
19750
Tim Duncan 24.7
+24.7
2003NBA Champion24

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -
DNP
19760
Tim Duncan 22.1
+22.1
200410

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 34.6
+11.0
197711
Tim Duncan 23.6
2005NBA Champion23

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27.0
+1.2
19783
Tim Duncan 25.8
200613

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 28.5
+6.3
19798
Tim Duncan 22.2
2007NBA Champion20

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 31.9
+11.7
1980NBA Champion15
Tim Duncan 20.2
200817

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 26.7
+6.9
19813
Tim Duncan 19.8
20095

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 20.4
+1.4
1982NBA Champion14
Tim Duncan 19.0
201010

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 27.1
+14.4
198315
Tim Duncan 12.7
20116

Season 15

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 23.9
+6.5
198421
Tim Duncan 17.4
201214

Season 16

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 21.9
+3.8
1985NBA Champion19
Tim Duncan 18.1
201321

Season 17

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 25.9
+9.6
198614
Tim Duncan 16.3
2014NBA Champion23

Season 18

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 19.2
+1.3
1987NBA Champion18
Tim Duncan 17.9
20157

Season 19

Points per gameYearGames
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar 14.1
+8.2
1988NBA Champion24
Tim Duncan 5.9
201610

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.

Share: