Larry Bird vs. Manu Ginobili: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Manu Ginobili 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 Manu Ginobili.

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 Manu Ginobili 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 11 points more than Manu Ginobili in his 16 seasons (24.3 points against 13.3), and he also scored a total of 7,748 points more (21,791 vs. 14,043).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Larry Bird 24.3
+11.0
13
Manu Ginobili 13.3
16

Total Points

Seasons
Larry Bird 21,791
+7,748
13
Manu Ginobili 14,043
16

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 Manu Ginobili (+9.8 points per game) and he also scored more points (+843).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Larry Bird 23.8
+9.8
12
Manu Ginobili 14.0
15

Total Points

Playoffs
Larry Bird 3,897
+843
12
Manu Ginobili 3,054
15

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

60+ Point Games

Larry Bird 1
+1
Manu Ginobili 0

50+ Point Games

Larry Bird 4
+4
Manu Ginobili 0

40+ Point Games

Larry Bird 47
+41
Manu Ginobili 6

30+ Point Games

Larry Bird 223
+191
Manu Ginobili 32

20+ Point Games

Larry Bird 625
+420
Manu Ginobili 205

10+ Point Games

Larry Bird 873
+175
Manu Ginobili 698

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Larry Bird 896
Manu Ginobili 1,041
+145

0 Point Games (games without points)

Larry Bird 1
Manu Ginobili 16
+15

Playoffs

40+ Point Games

Larry Bird 5
+5
Manu Ginobili 0

30+ Point Games

Larry Bird 43
+34
Manu Ginobili 9

20+ Point Games

Larry Bird 110
+57
Manu Ginobili 53

10+ Point Games

Larry Bird 161
+14
Manu Ginobili 147

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Larry Bird 164
Manu Ginobili 211
+47

0 Point Games (games without points)

Larry Bird 0
Manu Ginobili 7
+7

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:+11.0+5.3+9.6+4.9+0.7+1.9+0.7+1.2+1.1+5.9+3+160
Manu Ginobili 13.3 4.3 9.7 44.7 1.4 3.8 36.9 3.2 3.9 82.7 16 1,057

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:+7,748+4,007+7,072+4.9+846+2,328+0.7+580+382+5.9+3+160
Manu Ginobili 14,043 4,584 10,262 44.7 1,495 4,055 36.9 3,380 4,089 82.7 16 1,057

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:+9.8+4.5+8.7+3.9+1.0+2.7+3.7+1.7+1.6+7.3+3+54
Manu Ginobili 14.0 4.4 10.1 43.3 1.5 4.2 35.8 3.8 4.6 81.7 15 218

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:+843+502+881+3.9+244+656+3.7+83+11+7.3+3+54
Manu Ginobili 3,054 956 2,209 43.3 324 905 35.8 818 1,001 81.7 15 218

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

NBA Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 21.3
+13.7
198082
Manu Ginobili 7.6
2003NBA Champion69

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 21.2
+8.4
1981NBA Champion82
Manu Ginobili 12.8
200477

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 22.9
+6.9
198277
Manu Ginobili 16.0
2005NBA Champion74

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 23.6
+8.5
198379
Manu Ginobili 15.1
200665

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 24.2
+7.7
1984NBA Champion79
Manu Ginobili 16.5
2007NBA Champion75

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 28.7
+9.2
198580
Manu Ginobili 19.5
200874

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 25.8
+10.3
1986NBA Champion82
Manu Ginobili 15.5
200944

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 28.1
+11.6
198774
Manu Ginobili 16.5
201075

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 29.9
+12.5
198876
Manu Ginobili 17.4
201180

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 19.3
+6.4
19896
Manu Ginobili 12.9
201234

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 24.3
+12.5
199075
Manu Ginobili 11.8
201360

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 19.4
+7.1
199160
Manu Ginobili 12.3
2014NBA Champion68

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 20.2
+9.7
199245
Manu Ginobili 10.5
201570

Manu Ginobili's additional seasons:

* Manu Ginobili played 3 seasons more than Larry Bird in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 14 to 16, from 2016 to 2018—he averaged 8.6 points in a total of 192 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 9.6 ppg and his lowest 7.5.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 21.3
+11.9
19809
Manu Ginobili 9.4
2003NBA Champion24

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 21.9
+8.9
1981NBA Champion17
Manu Ginobili 13.0
200410

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 17.8
198212
Manu Ginobili 20.8
+3.0
2005NBA Champion23

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 20.5
+2.1
19836
Manu Ginobili 18.4
200613

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 27.5
+10.8
1984NBA Champion23
Manu Ginobili 16.7
2007NBA Champion20

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 26.0
+8.2
198520
Manu Ginobili 17.8
200817

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 25.9
+25.9
1986NBA Champion18
Manu Ginobili -
DNP
20090

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 27.0
+7.6
198723
Manu Ginobili 19.4
201010

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 24.5
+3.9
198817
Manu Ginobili 20.6
20115

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird -
DNP
19890
Manu Ginobili 14.4
+14.4
201214

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 24.4
+12.9
19905
Manu Ginobili 11.5
201321

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 17.1
+2.8
199110
Manu Ginobili 14.3
2014NBA Champion23

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 11.3
+3.3
19924
Manu Ginobili 8.0
20157

Manu Ginobili's additional Playoffs:

* During his 3 additional NBA seasons, Manu Ginobili played in 3 Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 7.0 points in a total of 31 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 9 ppg and his lowest 6.6.

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