Larry Bird vs. John Collins: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of John Collins 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 John Collins.

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 John Collins 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 8.3 points more than John Collins in his 8 seasons (24.3 points against 16.0), and he also scored a total of 14,238 points more (21,791 vs. 7,553).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Larry Bird 24.3
+8.3
13
John Collins 16.0
8

Total Points

Seasons
Larry Bird 21,791
+14,238
13
John Collins 7,553
8

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 John Collins (+11.2 points per game) and he also scored more points (+3,532).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Larry Bird 23.8
+11.2
12
John Collins 12.6
3

Total Points

Playoffs
Larry Bird 3,897
+3,532
12
John Collins 365
3

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

60+ Point Games

Larry Bird 1
+1
John Collins 0

50+ Point Games

Larry Bird 4
+4
John Collins 0

40+ Point Games

Larry Bird 47
+47
John Collins 0

30+ Point Games

Larry Bird 223
+201
John Collins 22

20+ Point Games

Larry Bird 625
+488
John Collins 137

10+ Point Games

Larry Bird 873
+489
John Collins 384

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Larry Bird 896
+424
John Collins 472

0 Point Games (games without points)

Larry Bird 1
+1
John Collins 0

Playoffs

40+ Point Games

Larry Bird 5
+5
John Collins 0

30+ Point Games

Larry Bird 43
+43
John Collins 0

20+ Point Games

Larry Bird 110
+105
John Collins 5

10+ Point Games

Larry Bird 161
+141
John Collins 20

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Larry Bird 164
+136
John Collins 28

0 Point Games (games without points)

Larry Bird 0
John Collins 1
+1

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:+8.3+3.4+7.9+5.0+0.3+1.0+1.3+1.9+1.8+9.4+5+425
John Collins 16.0 6.2 11.4 54.6 1.0 2.9 36.3 2.5 3.2 79.2 8 472

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:+14,238+5,655+11,954+5.0+157+371+1.3+2,771+2,969+9.4+5+425
John Collins 7,553 2,936 5,380 54.6 492 1,356 36.3 1,189 1,502 79.2 8 472

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:+11.2+3.9+9.1+4.4+0.7+1.9+3.3+4.1+4.4+12.1+9+135
John Collins 12.6 5.0 9.7 51.6 1.2 3.4 35.4 1.4 1.8 76.9 3 29

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:+3,532+1,313+2,809+4.4+45+150+3.3+861+960+12.1+9+135
John Collins 365 145 281 51.6 35 99 35.4 40 52 76.9 3 29

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

NBA Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 21.3
+10.8
198082
John Collins 10.5
201874

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 21.2
+1.7
1981NBA Champion82
John Collins 19.5
201961

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 22.9
+1.3
198277
John Collins 21.6
202041

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 23.6
+6.0
198379
John Collins 17.6
202163

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 24.2
+8.0
1984NBA Champion79
John Collins 16.2
202254

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 28.7
+15.6
198580
John Collins 13.1
202371

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 25.8
+10.7
1986NBA Champion82
John Collins 15.1
202468

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 28.1
+9.1
198774
John Collins 19.0
202540

Larry Bird's additional seasons:

* Larry Bird played 5 seasons more than John Collins in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 9 to 13, from 1988 to 1992—he averaged 24.0 points in a total of 262 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
John Collins -
DNP
20180

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 21.9
+21.9
1981NBA Champion17
John Collins -
DNP
20190

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 17.8
+17.8
198212
John Collins -
DNP
20200

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 20.5
+6.6
19836
John Collins 13.9
202118

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 27.5
+18.1
1984NBA Champion23
John Collins 9.4
20225

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 26.0
+14.7
198520
John Collins 11.3
20236

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 25.9
+25.9
1986NBA Champion18
John Collins -
DNP
20240

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 27.0
+27.0
198723
John Collins -
DNP
20250

Larry Bird's additional Playoffs:

* During his 5 additional NBA seasons, Larry Bird played in 4 Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 21.0 points in a total of 36 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 24.5 ppg and his lowest 11.3.

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