Larry Bird vs. Franz Wagner: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Franz Wagner 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.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings

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 Franz Wagner.

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 Franz Wagner 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 13 NBA regular seasons played, Larry Bird averages 5.2 points more than Franz Wagner in his 4 seasons (24.3 points against 19.1), and he also scored a total of 16,239 points more (21,791 vs. 5,552).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Larry Bird 24.3
+5.2
13
Franz Wagner 19.1
4

Total Points

Seasons
Larry Bird 21,791
+16,239
13
Franz Wagner 5,552
4

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 Franz Wagner (+2 points per game) and he also scored more points (+3,636).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Larry Bird 23.8
+2.0
12
Franz Wagner 21.8
2

Total Points

Playoffs
Larry Bird 3,897
+3,636
12
Franz Wagner 261
2

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

60+ Point Games

Larry Bird 1
+1
Franz Wagner 0

50+ Point Games

Larry Bird 4
+4
Franz Wagner 0

40+ Point Games

Larry Bird 47
+47
Franz Wagner 0

30+ Point Games

Larry Bird 223
+198
Franz Wagner 25

20+ Point Games

Larry Bird 625
+491
Franz Wagner 134

10+ Point Games

Larry Bird 873
+608
Franz Wagner 265

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Larry Bird 896
+607
Franz Wagner 289

0 Point Games (games without points)

Larry Bird 1
Franz Wagner 2
+1

Playoffs

40+ Point Games

Larry Bird 5
+5
Franz Wagner 0

30+ Point Games

Larry Bird 43
+41
Franz Wagner 2

20+ Point Games

Larry Bird 110
+103
Franz Wagner 7

10+ Point Games

Larry Bird 161
+150
Franz Wagner 11

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Larry Bird 164
+152
Franz Wagner 12

0 Point Games (games without points)

Larry Bird 0
Franz Wagner 0

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

more >>

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:+5.2+2.5+4.4+2.1+0.8+2.6+5.4+1.0+1.0+3.0+9+606
Franz Wagner 19.1 7.1 14.9 47.4 1.5 4.5 32.2 3.4 4.0 85.6 4 291

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:+16,239+6,528+12,984+2.1+225+410+5.4+2,958+3,300+3.0+9+606
Franz Wagner 5,552 2,063 4,350 47.4 424 1,317 32.2 1,002 1,171 85.6 4 291

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:+2.0+1.1+0.6+4.5+0.8+4.4+9.6+0.6+0.4+4.7+10+152
Franz Wagner 21.8 7.8 18.2 42.7 1.3 5.9 22.5 4.9 5.8 84.3 2 12

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:+3,636+1,365+2,872+4.5+64+178+9.6+842+942+4.7+10+152
Franz Wagner 261 93 218 42.7 16 71 22.5 59 70 84.3 2 12

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

NBA Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 21.3
+6.1
198082
Franz Wagner 15.2
202279

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 21.2
+2.6
1981NBA Champion82
Franz Wagner 18.6
202380

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 22.9
+3.2
198277
Franz Wagner 19.7
202472

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 23.6
198379
Franz Wagner 24.2
+0.6
202560

Larry Bird's additional seasons:

* Larry Bird played 9 seasons more than Franz Wagner in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 5 to 13, from 1984 to 1992—he averaged 25.4 points in a total of 577 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 29.9 ppg and his lowest 19.3.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 21.3
+21.3
19809
Franz Wagner -
DNP
20220

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 21.9
+21.9
1981NBA Champion17
Franz Wagner -
DNP
20230

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 17.8
198212
Franz Wagner 18.9
+1.1
20247

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 20.5
19836
Franz Wagner 25.8
+5.3
20255

Larry Bird's additional Playoffs:

* During his 9 additional NBA seasons, Larry Bird played in 8 Playoffs and won two NBA Championships. In those postseasons he averaged 25.0 points in a total of 120 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 27.5 ppg and his lowest 11.3.

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