Larry Bird vs. Kawhi Leonard: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Kawhi Leonard 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 Kawhi Leonard.

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 Kawhi Leonard 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.

Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?

Points by Thresholds

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

= NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	21.3	+13.4	1980	82
Kawhi Leonard	7.9		2012	64

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	21.2	+9.3	1981	82
Kawhi Leonard	11.9		2013	58

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	22.9	+10.1	1982	77
Kawhi Leonard	12.8		2014	66

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	23.6	+7.1	1983	79
Kawhi Leonard	16.5		2015	64

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	24.2	+3.0	1984	79
Kawhi Leonard	21.2		2016	72

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	28.7	+3.2	1985	80
Kawhi Leonard	25.5		2017	74

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	25.8	+9.6	1986	82
Kawhi Leonard	16.2		2018	9

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	28.1	+1.5	1987	74
Kawhi Leonard	26.6		2019	60

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	29.9	+2.8	1988	76
Kawhi Leonard	27.1		2020	57

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	19.3		1989	6
Kawhi Leonard	24.8	+5.5	2021	52

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	24.3	+0.5	1990	75
Kawhi Leonard	23.8		2023	52

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	19.4		1991	60
Kawhi Leonard	23.7	+4.3	2024	68

Season 13	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	20.2		1992	45
Kawhi Leonard	21.5	+1.3	2025	37

Kawhi Leonard's additional seasons:

* Kawhi Leonard played 1 season more than Larry Bird in the NBA. In that year—his season 14 in 2026—he averaged 18.5 points in a total of 2 regular season games.

Playoffs

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	21.3	+12.7	1980	9
Kawhi Leonard	8.6		2012	14

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	21.9	+8.4	1981	17
Kawhi Leonard	13.5		2013	21

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	17.8	+3.5	1982	12
Kawhi Leonard	14.3		2014	23

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	20.5	+0.2	1983	6
Kawhi Leonard	20.3		2015	7

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	27.5	+5.0	1984	23
Kawhi Leonard	22.5		2016	10

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	26.0		1985	20
Kawhi Leonard	27.7	+1.7	2017	12

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	25.9	+25.9	1986	18
Kawhi Leonard	-	DNP	2018	0

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	27.0		1987	23
Kawhi Leonard	30.5	+3.5	2019	24

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	24.5		1988	17
Kawhi Leonard	28.2	+3.7	2020	13

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	-	DNP	1989	0
Kawhi Leonard	30.4	+30.4	2021	11

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	24.4		1990	5
Kawhi Leonard	34.5	+10.1	2023	2

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	17.1	+5.1	1991	10
Kawhi Leonard	12.0		2024	2

Season 13	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	11.3		1992	4
Kawhi Leonard	25.0	+13.7	2025	7

Kawhi Leonard's additional Playoffs:

* In his additional NBA year, Kawhi Leonard didn't play in the postseason (2026 season yet in progress).