Larry Bird vs. Domantas Sabonis: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Domantas Sabonis and Larry Bird 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.
Larry Bird 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 Domantas Sabonis.
By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Larry Bird has better scoring stats than Domantas 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: |
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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 13 NBA regular seasons played, Larry Bird averages 8.2 points more than Domantas Sabonis in his 10 seasons (24.3 points against 16.1), and he also scored a total of 11,201 points more (21,791 vs. 10,590).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Larry Bird | 24.3 | +8.2 | 13 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 16.1 | 10 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Larry Bird | 21,791 | +11,201 | 13 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 10,590 | 10 | |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Larry Bird has a better career point average than Domantas Sabonis (+11.8 points per game) and he also scored more points (+3,657).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Larry Bird | 23.8 | +11.8 | 12 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 12.0 | 4 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Larry Bird | 3,897 | +3,657 | 12 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 240 | 4 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
60+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 1 | +1 | ||
| Domantas Sabonis | 0 | |||
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 4 | +4 | ||
| Domantas Sabonis | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 625 | +415 | ||
| Domantas Sabonis | 210 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 873 | +350 | ||
| Domantas Sabonis | 523 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Larry Bird | 896 | +247 | ||
| Domantas Sabonis | 649 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Larry Bird | 1 | |||
| Domantas Sabonis | 8 | +7 | ||
Playoffs
40+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 5 | +5 | ||
| Domantas Sabonis | 0 | |||
30+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 43 | +43 | ||
| Domantas Sabonis | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 110 | +106 | ||
| Domantas Sabonis | 4 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 161 | +149 | ||
| Domantas Sabonis | 12 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Larry Bird | 164 | +145 | ||
| Domantas Sabonis | 19 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Larry Bird | 0 | |||
| Domantas Sabonis | 1 | +1 | ||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Larry Bird | 24.3 | 9.6 | 19.3 | 49.6 | 0.7 | 1.9 | 37.6 | 4.4 | 5.0 | 88.6 | 13 | 897 |
| difference: | +8.2 | +3.3 | +8.0 | +6.3 | +0.2 | +0.5 | +3.2 | +1.4 | +0.8 | +15.7 | +3 | +240 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 16.1 | 6.3 | 11.3 | 55.9 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 34.4 | 3.0 | 4.2 | 72.9 | 10 | 657 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Larry Bird | 21,791 | 8,591 | 17,334 | 49.6 | 649 | 1,727 | 37.6 | 3,960 | 4,471 | 88.6 | 13 | 897 |
| difference: | +11,201 | +4,449 | +9,923 | +6.3 | +335 | +814 | +3.2 | +1,968 | +1,740 | +15.7 | +3 | +240 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 10,590 | 4,142 | 7,411 | 55.9 | 314 | 913 | 34.4 | 1,992 | 2,731 | 72.9 | 10 | 657 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Larry Bird | 23.8 | 8.9 | 18.8 | 47.2 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 32.1 | 5.5 | 6.2 | 89.0 | 12 | 164 |
| difference: | +11.8 | +4.0 | +9.1 | +3.1 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +14.5 | +3.3 | +3.0 | +21.8 | +8 | +144 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 12.0 | 4.9 | 9.7 | 50.3 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 17.6 | 2.2 | 3.2 | 67.2 | 4 | 20 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Larry Bird | 3,897 | 1,458 | 3,090 | 47.2 | 80 | 249 | 32.1 | 901 | 1,012 | 89.0 | 12 | 164 |
| difference: | +3,657 | +1,361 | +2,897 | +3.1 | +77 | +232 | +14.5 | +858 | +948 | +21.8 | +8 | +144 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 240 | 97 | 193 | 50.3 | 3 | 17 | 17.6 | 43 | 64 | 67.2 | 4 | 20 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 21.3 | +15.4 | 1980 | 82 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 5.9 | 2017 | 81 | |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 21.2 | +9.6 | 1981 | 82 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 11.6 | 2018 | 74 | |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 22.9 | +8.8 | 1982 | 77 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 14.1 | 2019 | 74 | |
Season 4 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 23.6 | +5.1 | 1983 | 79 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 18.5 | 2020 | 62 | |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 24.2 | +3.9 | 1984 | 79 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 20.3 | 2021 | 62 | |
Season 6 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 28.7 | +9.8 | 1985 | 80 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 18.9 | 2022 | 62 | |
Season 7 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 25.8 | +6.7 | 1986 | 82 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 19.1 | 2023 | 79 | |
Season 8 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 28.1 | +8.7 | 1987 | 74 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 19.4 | 2024 | 82 | |
Larry Bird's additional seasons: | ||||
* Larry Bird played 3 seasons more than Domantas Sabonis in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 11 to 13, from 1990 to 1992—he averaged 21.6 points in a total of 180 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 24.3 ppg and his lowest 19.4. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 21.3 | +19.3 | 1980 | 9 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 2.0 | 2017 | 2 | |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 21.9 | +9.5 | 1981 | 17 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 12.4 | 2018 | 7 | |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 17.8 | +9.3 | 1982 | 12 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 8.5 | 2019 | 4 | |
Season 4 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 20.5 | +20.5 | 1983 | 6 |
| Domantas Sabonis | - | DNP | 2020 | 0 |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 27.5 | +27.5 | 1984 | 23 |
| Domantas Sabonis | - | DNP | 2021 | 0 |
Season 6 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 26.0 | +26.0 | 1985 | 20 |
| Domantas Sabonis | - | DNP | 2022 | 0 |
Season 7 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 25.9 | +9.5 | 1986 | 18 |
| Domantas Sabonis | 16.4 | 2023 | 7 | |
Season 8 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 27.0 | +27.0 | 1987 | 23 |
| Domantas Sabonis | - | DNP | 2024 | 0 |
Season 9 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 24.5 | +24.5 | 1988 | 17 |
| Domantas Sabonis | - | DNP | 2025 | 0 |
Season 10 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | - | DNP | 1989 | 0 |
| Domantas Sabonis | - | DNP * | 2026 | 0 |
| * season in progress | ||||
Larry Bird's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 3 additional NBA seasons, Larry Bird played in 3 Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 17.8 points in a total of 19 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 24.4 ppg and his lowest 11.3. |