Kobe Bryant vs. Arvydas Sabonis: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Arvydas Sabonis and Kobe Bryant 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.

Kobe Bryant 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 Arvydas Sabonis.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Kobe Bryant has better scoring stats than Arvydas Sabonis 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.

Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?

Points in the Regular Season

In his 20 NBA regular seasons played, Kobe Bryant averages 13 points more than Arvydas Sabonis in his 7 seasons (25.0 points against 12.0), and he also scored a total of 28,014 points more (33,643 vs. 5,629).

Points Per Game			Seasons
Kobe Bryant	25.0	+13.0	20
Arvydas Sabonis	12.0		7

Total Points			Seasons
Kobe Bryant	33,643	+28,014	20
Arvydas Sabonis	5,629		7

Scoring Titles
Kobe Bryant	2	+2
Arvydas Sabonis	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
Kobe Bryant	7.6		1997	71
Arvydas Sabonis	14.5	+6.9	1996	73

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Kobe Bryant	15.4	+2.0	1998	79
Arvydas Sabonis	13.4		1997	69

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Kobe Bryant	19.9	+3.9	1999	50
Arvydas Sabonis	16.0		1998	73

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Kobe Bryant	22.5	+10.4	2000	66
Arvydas Sabonis	12.1		1999	50

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Kobe Bryant	28.5	+16.7	2001	68
Arvydas Sabonis	11.8		2000	66

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Kobe Bryant	25.2	+15.1	2002	80
Arvydas Sabonis	10.1		2001	61

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Kobe Bryant	30.0	+23.9	2003	82
Arvydas Sabonis	6.1		2003	78

Kobe Bryant's additional seasons:

* Kobe Bryant played 13 seasons more than Arvydas Sabonis in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 8 to 20, from 2004 to 2016—he averaged 27.0 points in a total of 850 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 35.4 ppg and his lowest 13.8. In those 13 extra years over Arvydas Sabonis, Kobe Bryant won 2 scoring titles.

Playoffs

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Kobe Bryant	8.2		1997	9
Arvydas Sabonis	23.6	+15.4	1996	5

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Kobe Bryant	8.7		1998	11
Arvydas Sabonis	11.3	+2.6	1997	4

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Kobe Bryant	19.8	+7.5	1999	8
Arvydas Sabonis	12.3		1998	4

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Kobe Bryant	21.1	+11.1	2000	22
Arvydas Sabonis	10.0		1999	13

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Kobe Bryant	29.4	+18.1	2001	16
Arvydas Sabonis	11.3		2000	16

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Kobe Bryant	26.6	+15.3	2002	19
Arvydas Sabonis	11.3		2001	3

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Kobe Bryant	32.1	+22.1	2003	12
Arvydas Sabonis	10.0		2003	6

Kobe Bryant's additional Playoffs:

* During his 13 additional NBA seasons, Kobe Bryant played in 8 Playoffs and won two NBA Championships. In those postseasons he averaged 28.3 points in a total of 123 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 32.8 ppg and his lowest 22.8.