Kobe Bryant vs. Shaquille O'Neal: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Shaquille O'Neal 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.
Career comparison / Season by season / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings / Games against each other
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal are among the most prolific scorers in NBA history—combining for an staggering season total of 62,239 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 Kobe Bryant has better scoring stats than Shaquille O'Neal 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: |
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Who has better scoring stats? Career Numbers |
Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?
Points in the Regular Season
In his 20 NBA regular seasons played, Kobe Bryant averages 1.3 points more than Shaquille O'Neal in his 19 seasons (25.0 points against 23.7), and he also scored a total of 5,047 points more (33,643 vs. 28,596).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Kobe Bryant | 25.0 | +1.3 | 20 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 23.7 | 19 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Kobe Bryant | 33,643 | +5,047 | 20 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 28,596 | 19 | |
Scoring Titles | ||
| Kobe Bryant | 2 |  |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 2 | |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Kobe Bryant has a better career point average than Shaquille O'Neal (+1.3 points per game) and he also scored more points (+390).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Kobe Bryant | 25.6 | +1.3 | 15 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 24.3 | 17 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Kobe Bryant | 5,640 | +390 | 15 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 5,250 | 17 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
70+ Point Games | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 1 | +1 | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 0 | |||
60+ Point Games | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 6 | +5 | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 941 | +115 | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 826 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 1,254 | +122 | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1,132 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 1,331 | +126 | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1,205 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 15 | +13 | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 2 | |||
Playoffs
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 1 | +1 | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 167 | +19 | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 148 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 204 | |||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 206 | +2 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 218 | +3 | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 215 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 2 | +1 | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1 | |||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 25.0 | 8.7 | 19.5 | 44.7 | 1.4 | 4.1 | 32.9 | 6.2 | 7.4 | 83.7 | 20 | 1,346 |
| difference: | +1.3 | +0.7 | +3.4 | +13.5 | +1.4 | +4.1 | +28.4 | +1.3 | +1.9 | +31.0 | +1 | +139 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 23.7 | 9.4 | 16.1 | 58.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 9.3 | 52.7 | 19 | 1,207 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 33,643 | 11,719 | 26,200 | 44.7 | 1,827 | 5,546 | 32.9 | 8,378 | 10,011 | 83.7 | 20 | 1,346 |
| difference: | +5,047 | +389 | +6,743 | +13.5 | +1,826 | +5,524 | +28.4 | +2,443 | +1,241 | +31.0 | +1 | +139 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 28,596 | 11,330 | 19,457 | 58.2 | 1 | 22 | 4.5 | 5,935 | 11,252 | 52.7 | 19 | 1,207 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 25.6 | 9.2 | 20.5 | 44.8 | 1.3 | 4.0 | 33.1 | 6.0 | 7.4 | 81.6 | 15 | 220 |
| difference: | +1.3 | +0.2 | +3.7 | +11.5 | +1.3 | +4.0 | +33.1 | +0.6 | +3.3 | +31.2 | +2 | +4 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 24.3 | 9.4 | 16.8 | 56.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | - | 5.4 | 10.7 | 50.4 | 17 | 216 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 5,640 | 2,014 | 4,499 | 44.8 | 292 | 882 | 33.1 | 1,320 | 1,617 | 81.6 | 15 | 220 |
| difference: | +390 | +27 | +872 | +11.5 | +292 | +882 | +33.1 | +152 | +700 | +31.2 | +2 | +4 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 5,250 | 2,041 | 3,627 | 56.3 | 0 | 0 | - | 1,168 | 2,317 | 50.4 | 17 | 216 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA Scoring Leader
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Kobe Bryant's additional seasons: | ||||
* Kobe Bryant played 1 season more than Shaquille O'Neal in the NBA. In that year—his season 20 in 2016—he averaged 17.6 points in a total of 66 regular season games. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Kobe Bryant | 8.2 | +8.2 | 1997 | 9 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | - | DNP | 1993 | 0 |
Season 9 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Kobe Bryant | - | DNP | 2005 | 0 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 30.4 | +30.4 | 2001 | 16 |
Season 17 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Kobe Bryant | - | DNP | 2013 | 0 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | - | DNP | 2009 | 0 |
Season 18 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Kobe Bryant | - | DNP | 2014 | 0 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 11.5 | +11.5 | 2010 | 11 |
Season 19 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Kobe Bryant | - | DNP | 2015 | 0 |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1.0 | +1.0 | 2011 | 2 |
Kobe Bryant's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* In his additional NBA year, Kobe Bryant didn't play in the postseason. |