Larry Bird vs. Stephen Curry: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Stephen Curry 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.

Stephen Curry and Larry Bird are among the most prolific scorers in NBA history—combining for an staggering season total of 47,177 points—and they also have two of the all-time best scoring averages. 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 Stephen Curry has better scoring stats than Larry Bird 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 in the Regular Season

In his 16 NBA regular seasons played, Stephen Curry averages 0.4 points more than Larry Bird in his 13 seasons (24.7 points against 24.3), and he also scored a total of 3,595 points more (25,386 vs. 21,791).

Points Per Game			Seasons
Larry Bird	24.3		13
Stephen Curry	24.7	+0.4	16

Total Points			Seasons
Larry Bird	21,791		13
Stephen Curry	25,386	+3,595	16

Scoring Titles
Larry Bird	0
Stephen Curry	2	+2

Points by Thresholds

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

= NBA Scoring Leader

= NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	21.3	+3.8	1980	82
Stephen Curry	17.5		2010	80

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	21.2	+2.6	1981	82
Stephen Curry	18.6		2011	74

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	22.9	+8.2	1982	77
Stephen Curry	14.7		2012	26

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	23.6	+0.7	1983	79
Stephen Curry	22.9		2013	78

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	24.2	+0.2	1984	79
Stephen Curry	24.0		2014	78

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	28.7	+4.9	1985	80
Stephen Curry	23.8		2015	80

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	25.8		1986	82
Stephen Curry	30.1	+4.3	2016	79

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	28.1	+2.8	1987	74
Stephen Curry	25.3		2017	79

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	29.9	+3.5	1988	76
Stephen Curry	26.4		2018	51

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	19.3		1989	6
Stephen Curry	27.3	+8.0	2019	69

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	24.3	+3.5	1990	75
Stephen Curry	20.8		2020	5

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	19.4		1991	60
Stephen Curry	32.0	+12.6	2021	63

Season 13	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	20.2		1992	45
Stephen Curry	25.5	+5.3	2022	64

Stephen Curry's additional seasons:

* Stephen Curry played 3 seasons more than Larry Bird in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 14 to 16, from 2023 to 2025—he averaged 26.6 points in a total of 200 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 29.4 ppg and his lowest 24.5.

Playoffs

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	21.3	+21.3	1980	9
Stephen Curry	-	DNP	2010	0

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	21.9	+21.9	1981	17
Stephen Curry	-	DNP	2011	0

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	17.8	+17.8	1982	12
Stephen Curry	-	DNP	2012	0

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	20.5		1983	6
Stephen Curry	23.4	+2.9	2013	12

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	27.5	+4.5	1984	23
Stephen Curry	23.0		2014	7

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	26.0		1985	20
Stephen Curry	28.3	+2.3	2015	21

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	25.9	+0.8	1986	18
Stephen Curry	25.1		2016	18

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	27.0		1987	23
Stephen Curry	28.1	+1.1	2017	17

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	24.5		1988	17
Stephen Curry	25.5	+1.0	2018	15

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	-	DNP	1989	0
Stephen Curry	28.2	+28.2	2019	22

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	24.4	+24.4	1990	5
Stephen Curry	-	DNP	2020	0

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	17.1	+17.1	1991	10
Stephen Curry	-	DNP	2021	0

Season 13	Points per game		Year	Games
Larry Bird	11.3		1992	4
Stephen Curry	27.4	+16.1	2022	22

Stephen Curry's additional Playoffs:

* During his 3 additional NBA seasons, Stephen Curry played in two Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 27.5 points in a total of 21 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 30.5 ppg and his lowest 22.6.