Larry Bird vs. Steve Nash: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Steve Nash 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 Steve Nash.

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 Steve Nash 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 10 points more than Steve Nash in his 18 seasons (24.3 points against 14.3), and he also scored a total of 4,404 points more (21,791 vs. 17,387).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Larry Bird 24.3
+10.0
13
Steve Nash 14.3
18

Total Points

Seasons
Larry Bird 21,791
+4,404
13
Steve Nash 17,387
18

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 Steve Nash (+6.5 points per game) and he also scored more points (+1,825).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Larry Bird 23.8
+6.5
12
Steve Nash 17.3
12

Total Points

Playoffs
Larry Bird 3,897
+1,825
12
Steve Nash 2,072
12

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

60+ Point Games

Larry Bird 1
+1
Steve Nash 0

50+ Point Games

Larry Bird 4
+4
Steve Nash 0

40+ Point Games

Larry Bird 47
+45
Steve Nash 2

30+ Point Games

Larry Bird 223
+184
Steve Nash 39

20+ Point Games

Larry Bird 625
+316
Steve Nash 309

10+ Point Games

Larry Bird 873
Steve Nash 875
+2

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Larry Bird 896
Steve Nash 1,177
+281

0 Point Games (games without points)

Larry Bird 1
Steve Nash 40
+39

Playoffs

40+ Point Games

Larry Bird 5
+4
Steve Nash 1

30+ Point Games

Larry Bird 43
+34
Steve Nash 9

20+ Point Games

Larry Bird 110
+62
Steve Nash 48

10+ Point Games

Larry Bird 161
+58
Steve Nash 103

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Larry Bird 164
+49
Steve Nash 115

0 Point Games (games without points)

Larry Bird 0
Steve Nash 5
+5

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:+10.0+4.4+8.7+0.5+0.7+1.3+5.2+1.9+2.2+1.8+5+320
Steve Nash 14.3 5.2 10.6 49.0 1.4 3.2 42.8 2.5 2.8 90.4 18 1,217

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:+4,404+2,270+4,442+0.5+1,036+2,212+5.2+900+1,087+1.8+5+320
Steve Nash 17,387 6,321 12,892 49.0 1,685 3,939 42.8 3,060 3,384 90.4 18 1,217

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:+6.5+2.7+5.6+0.1+1.0+2.2+8.5+2.2+2.5+1.0+44
Steve Nash 17.3 6.2 13.2 47.3 1.5 3.7 40.6 3.3 3.7 90.0 12 120

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:+1,825+709+1,506+0.1+98+189+8.5+505+572+1.0+44
Steve Nash 2,072 749 1,584 47.3 178 438 40.6 396 440 90.0 12 120

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

NBA Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 21.3
+18.0
198082
Steve Nash 3.3
199765

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 21.2
+12.1
1981NBA Champion82
Steve Nash 9.1
199876

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 22.9
+15.0
198277
Steve Nash 7.9
199940

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 23.6
+15.0
198379
Steve Nash 8.6
200056

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 24.2
+8.6
1984NBA Champion79
Steve Nash 15.6
200170

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 28.7
+10.8
198580
Steve Nash 17.9
200282

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 25.8
+8.1
1986NBA Champion82
Steve Nash 17.7
200382

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 28.1
+13.6
198774
Steve Nash 14.5
200478

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 29.9
+14.4
198876
Steve Nash 15.5
200575

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 19.3
+0.5
19896
Steve Nash 18.8
200679

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 24.3
+5.7
199075
Steve Nash 18.6
200776

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 19.4
+2.5
199160
Steve Nash 16.9
200881

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 20.2
+4.5
199245
Steve Nash 15.7
200974

Steve Nash's additional seasons:

* Steve Nash played 5 seasons more than Larry Bird in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 14 to 18, from 2010 to 2014—he averaged 14.0 points in a total of 283 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 16.5 ppg and his lowest 6.8.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 21.3
+20.0
19809
Steve Nash 1.3
19974

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 21.9
+16.4
1981NBA Champion17
Steve Nash 5.5
19984

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 17.8
+17.8
198212
Steve Nash -
DNP
19990

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 20.5
+20.5
19836
Steve Nash -
DNP
20000

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 27.5
+13.9
1984NBA Champion23
Steve Nash 13.6
200110

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 26.0
+6.5
198520
Steve Nash 19.5
20028

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 25.9
+9.8
1986NBA Champion18
Steve Nash 16.1
200320

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 27.0
+13.4
198723
Steve Nash 13.6
20045

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 24.5
+0.6
198817
Steve Nash 23.9
200515

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird -
DNP
19890
Steve Nash 20.4
+20.4
200620

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 24.4
+5.5
19905
Steve Nash 18.9
200711

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 17.1
+0.9
199110
Steve Nash 16.2
20085

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Larry Bird 11.3
+11.3
19924
Steve Nash -
DNP
20090

Steve Nash's additional Playoffs:

* During his 5 additional NBA seasons, Steve Nash played in two Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 17.2 points in a total of 18 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 17.8 ppg and his lowest 12.5.

Share: