Larry Bird vs. Karl-Anthony Towns: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Karl-Anthony Towns 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 and Karl-Anthony Towns have two of the highest career scoring averages in league history and 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 Larry Bird has better scoring stats than Karl-Anthony Towns 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 1.3 points more than Karl-Anthony Towns in his 11 seasons (24.3 points against 23.0), and he also scored a total of 6,374 points more (21,791 vs. 15,417).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Larry Bird | 24.3 | +1.3 | 13 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 23.0 | 11 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Larry Bird | 21,791 | +6,374 | 13 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 15,417 | 11 | |
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 Karl-Anthony Towns (+4 points per game) and he also scored more points (+2,908).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Larry Bird | 23.8 | +4.0 | 12 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 19.8 | 5 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Larry Bird | 3,897 | +2,908 | 12 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 989 | 5 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
60+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 1 | |||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 2 | +1 | ||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 625 | +178 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 447 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 873 | +225 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 648 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Larry Bird | 896 | +227 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 669 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Larry Bird | 1 | +1 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 0 | |||
Playoffs
40+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 5 | +5 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 110 | +83 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 27 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Larry Bird | 161 | +114 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 47 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Larry Bird | 164 | +114 | ||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 50 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Larry Bird | 0 | |||
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 0 | |||
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: | +1.3 | +1.2 | +3.2 | +2.6 | +1.0 | +2.5 | +2.3 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +4.7 | +2 | +228 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 23.0 | 8.4 | 16.1 | 52.2 | 1.7 | 4.4 | 39.9 | 4.5 | 5.3 | 83.9 | 11 | 669 |
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: | +6,374 | +2,956 | +6,541 | +2.6 | +513 | +1,188 | +2.3 | +975 | +915 | +4.7 | +2 | +228 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 15,417 | 5,635 | 10,793 | 52.2 | 1,162 | 2,915 | 39.9 | 2,985 | 3,556 | 83.9 | 11 | 669 |
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: | +4.0 | +2.0 | +4.3 | +0.4 | +1.0 | +2.8 | +2.9 | +1.1 | +0.9 | +5.9 | +7 | +114 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 19.8 | 6.9 | 14.5 | 47.6 | 1.5 | 4.3 | 35.0 | 4.4 | 5.3 | 83.1 | 5 | 50 |
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: | +2,908 | +1,112 | +2,363 | +0.4 | +5 | +35 | +2.9 | +679 | +745 | +5.9 | +7 | +114 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 989 | 346 | 727 | 47.6 | 75 | 214 | 35.0 | 222 | 267 | 83.1 | 5 | 50 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 21.3 | +3.0 | 1980 | 82 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 18.3 | 2016 | 82 | |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 21.2 | 1981 | 82 | |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 25.1 | +3.9 | 2017 | 82 |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 22.9 | +1.6 | 1982 | 77 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 21.3 | 2018 | 82 | |
Season 4 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 23.6 | 1983 | 79 | |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 24.4 | +0.8 | 2019 | 77 |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 24.2 | 1984 | 79 | |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 26.5 | +2.3 | 2020 | 35 |
Season 6 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 28.7 | +3.9 | 1985 | 80 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 24.8 | 2021 | 50 | |
Season 7 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 25.8 | +1.2 | 1986 | 82 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 24.6 | 2022 | 74 | |
Season 8 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 28.1 | +7.3 | 1987 | 74 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 20.8 | 2023 | 29 | |
Larry Bird's additional seasons: | ||||
* Larry Bird played 2 seasons more than Karl-Anthony Towns in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 12 to 13, from 1991 to 1992—he averaged 19.7 points in a total of 105 regular season games. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 21.3 | +21.3 | 1980 | 9 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | - | DNP | 2016 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 21.9 | +21.9 | 1981 | 17 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | - | DNP | 2017 | 0 |
Season 3 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 17.8 | +2.6 | 1982 | 12 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 15.2 | 2018 | 5 | |
Season 4 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 20.5 | +20.5 | 1983 | 6 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | - | DNP | 2019 | 0 |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 27.5 | +27.5 | 1984 | 23 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | - | DNP | 2020 | 0 |
Season 6 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 26.0 | +26.0 | 1985 | 20 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | - | DNP | 2021 | 0 |
Season 7 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 25.9 | +4.1 | 1986 | 18 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 21.8 | 2022 | 6 | |
Season 8 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 27.0 | +8.8 | 1987 | 23 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 18.2 | 2023 | 5 | |
Season 10 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | - | DNP | 1989 | 0 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 21.4 | +21.4 | 2025 | 18 |
Season 11 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Larry Bird | 24.4 | +24.4 | 1990 | 5 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | - | DNP * | 2026 | 0 |
| * season in progress | ||||
Larry Bird's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 2 additional NBA seasons, Larry Bird played in two Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 15.4 points in a total of 14 games. |