Kyrie Irving vs. Arvydas Sabonis: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Arvydas Sabonis and Kyrie Irving 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

Kyrie Irving has one of the highest career point averages in NBA 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 Kyrie Irving 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.

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 14 NBA regular seasons played, Kyrie Irving averages 11.7 points more than Arvydas Sabonis in his 7 seasons (23.7 points against 12.0), and he also scored a total of 12,804 points more (18,433 vs. 5,629).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Kyrie Irving 23.7
+11.7
14
Arvydas Sabonis 12.0
7

Total Points

Seasons
Kyrie Irving 18,433
+12,804
14
Arvydas Sabonis 5,629
7

Points in the Playoffs

Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Kyrie Irving has a better career point average than Arvydas Sabonis (+10.9 points per game) and he also scored more points (+1,594).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Kyrie Irving 23.0
+10.9
7
Arvydas Sabonis 12.1
7

Total Points

Playoffs
Kyrie Irving 2,211
+1,594
7
Arvydas Sabonis 617
7

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

60+ Point Games

Kyrie Irving 1
+1
Arvydas Sabonis 0

50+ Point Games

Kyrie Irving 6
+6
Arvydas Sabonis 0

40+ Point Games

Kyrie Irving 37
+37
Arvydas Sabonis 0

30+ Point Games

Kyrie Irving 176
+171
Arvydas Sabonis 5

20+ Point Games

Kyrie Irving 535
+469
Arvydas Sabonis 66

10+ Point Games

Kyrie Irving 739
+442
Arvydas Sabonis 297

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Kyrie Irving 777
+318
Arvydas Sabonis 459

0 Point Games (games without points)

Kyrie Irving 2
Arvydas Sabonis 11
+9

Playoffs

40+ Point Games

Kyrie Irving 4
+4
Arvydas Sabonis 0

30+ Point Games

Kyrie Irving 22
+22
Arvydas Sabonis 0

20+ Point Games

Kyrie Irving 66
+60
Arvydas Sabonis 6

10+ Point Games

Kyrie Irving 92
+57
Arvydas Sabonis 35

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Kyrie Irving 96
+47
Arvydas Sabonis 49

0 Point Games (games without points)

Kyrie Irving 0
Arvydas Sabonis 2
+2

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

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Regular Season

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Kyrie Irving 23.7 8.7 18.4 47.4 2.4 6.1 39.4 3.8 4.3 88.8 14 779
difference:+11.7+4.3+9.5+2.6+2.1+5.2+6.6+1.0+0.7+10.2+7+309
Arvydas Sabonis 12.0 4.4 8.9 50.0 0.3 0.9 32.8 2.8 3.6 78.6 7 470

Total Stats

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Kyrie Irving 18,433 6,787 14,313 47.4 1,876 4,763 39.4 2,983 3,360 88.8 14 779
difference:+12,804+4,705+10,153+2.6+1,740+4,348+6.6+1,654+1,670+10.2+7+309
Arvydas Sabonis 5,629 2,082 4,160 50.0 136 415 32.8 1,329 1,690 78.6 7 470

Playoffs

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Kyrie Irving 23.0 8.5 18.6 45.8 2.3 6.0 39.2 3.7 4.2 88.3 7 96
difference:+10.9+4.1+9.0+0.5+2.0+5.1+7.3+0.6+0.3+8.1+45
Arvydas Sabonis 12.1 4.4 9.6 45.2 0.3 0.9 31.9 3.1 3.9 80.2 7 51

Total Stats

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Kyrie Irving 2,211 815 1,781 45.8 225 574 39.2 356 403 88.3 7 96
difference:+1,594+593+1,290+0.5+210+527+7.3+198+206+8.1+45
Arvydas Sabonis 617 222 491 45.2 15 47 31.9 158 197 80.2 7 51

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

NBA Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Kyrie Irving 18.5
+4.0
201251
Arvydas Sabonis 14.5
199673

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Kyrie Irving 22.5
+9.1
201359
Arvydas Sabonis 13.4
199769

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Kyrie Irving 20.8
+4.8
201471
Arvydas Sabonis 16.0
199873

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Kyrie Irving 21.7
+9.6
201575
Arvydas Sabonis 12.1
199950

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Kyrie Irving 19.6
+7.8
2016NBA Champion53
Arvydas Sabonis 11.8
200066

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Kyrie Irving 25.2
+15.1
201772
Arvydas Sabonis 10.1
200161

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Kyrie Irving 24.4
+18.3
201860
Arvydas Sabonis 6.1
200378

Kyrie Irving's additional seasons:

* Kyrie Irving played 7 seasons more than Arvydas Sabonis in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 8 to 14, from 2019 to 2025—he averaged 25.8 points in a total of 338 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 27.4 ppg and his lowest 23.8.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Kyrie Irving -
DNP
20120
Arvydas Sabonis 23.6
+23.6
19965

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Kyrie Irving -
DNP
20130
Arvydas Sabonis 11.3
+11.3
19974

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Kyrie Irving -
DNP
20140
Arvydas Sabonis 12.3
+12.3
19984

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Kyrie Irving 19.0
+9.0
201513
Arvydas Sabonis 10.0
199913

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Kyrie Irving 25.2
+13.9
2016NBA Champion21
Arvydas Sabonis 11.3
200016

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Kyrie Irving 25.9
+14.6
201718
Arvydas Sabonis 11.3
20013

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Kyrie Irving -
DNP
20180
Arvydas Sabonis 10.0
+10.0
20036

Kyrie Irving's additional Playoffs:

* During his 7 additional NBA seasons, Kyrie Irving played in 4 Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 22.0 points in a total of 44 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 22.7 ppg and his lowest 21.3.

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