LeBron James vs. Dirk Nowitzki: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Dirk Nowitzki and LeBron James 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.
Career comparison / Season by season / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings / Games against each other
LeBron James and Dirk Nowitzki are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—with LeBron as the all-time leader they combine for a total of 73,744 points—. LeBron James is also one of the all-time leaders in points per game. Here we compare their scoring stats.
By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that LeBron James has better scoring stats than Dirk Nowitzki 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 22 NBA regular seasons played, LeBron James averages 6.3 points more than Dirk Nowitzki in his 21 seasons (27.0 points against 20.7), and he also scored a total of 10,624 points more (42,184 vs. 31,560).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| LeBron James | 27.0 | +6.3 | 22 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 20.7 | 21 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| LeBron James | 42,184 | +10,624 | 22 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 31,560 | 21 | |
Scoring Titles | ||
| LeBron James | 1 |  +1 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 0 | |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason LeBron James has a better career point average than Dirk Nowitzki (+3.1 points per game) and he also scored more points (+4,626).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| LeBron James | 28.4 | +3.1 | 18 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 25.3 | 15 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| LeBron James | 8,289 | +4,626 | 18 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 3,663 | 15 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
60+ Point Games | ||||
| LeBron James | 1 | +1 | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| LeBron James | 1,286 | +425 | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 861 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| LeBron James | 1,554 | +181 | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1,373 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| LeBron James | 1,562 | +53 | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 1,509 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| LeBron James | 0 | |||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 13 | +13 | ||
Playoffs
20+ Point Games | ||||
| LeBron James | 261 | +152 | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 109 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| LeBron James | 290 | +148 | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 142 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| LeBron James | 292 | +147 | ||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 145 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| LeBron James | 0 | |||
| Dirk Nowitzki | 0 | |||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| LeBron James | 27.0 | 9.9 | 19.6 | 50.6 | 1.6 | 4.7 | 34.9 | 5.5 | 7.5 | 73.7 | 22 | 1,562 |
| difference: | +6.3 | +2.6 | +4.0 | +3.6 | +0.3 | +1.3 | +3.1 | +0.7 | +2.1 | +14.2 | +1 | +40 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 20.7 | 7.3 | 15.6 | 47.1 | 1.3 | 3.4 | 38.0 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 87.9 | 21 | 1,522 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| LeBron James | 42,184 | 15,488 | 30,583 | 50.6 | 2,559 | 7,322 | 34.9 | 8,649 | 11,735 | 73.7 | 22 | 1,562 |
| difference: | +10,624 | +4,319 | +6,849 | +3.6 | +577 | +2,112 | +3.1 | +1,409 | +3,496 | +14.2 | +1 | +40 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 31,560 | 11,169 | 23,734 | 47.1 | 1,982 | 5,210 | 38.0 | 7,240 | 8,239 | 87.9 | 21 | 1,522 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| LeBron James | 28.4 | 10.2 | 20.5 | 49.6 | 1.6 | 4.9 | 33.3 | 6.4 | 8.6 | 74.1 | 18 | 292 |
| difference: | +3.1 | +1.8 | +2.3 | +3.5 | +0.6 | +2.1 | +3.2 | +1.0 | +0.3 | +15.1 | +3 | +147 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 25.3 | 8.4 | 18.2 | 46.2 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 36.5 | 7.4 | 8.3 | 89.2 | 15 | 145 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| LeBron James | 8,289 | 2,971 | 5,984 | 49.6 | 480 | 1,443 | 33.3 | 1,867 | 2,519 | 74.1 | 18 | 292 |
| difference: | +4,626 | +1,751 | +3,342 | +3.5 | +331 | +1,035 | +3.2 | +793 | +1,315 | +15.1 | +3 | +147 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 3,663 | 1,220 | 2,642 | 46.2 | 149 | 408 | 36.5 | 1,074 | 1,204 | 89.2 | 15 | 145 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA Scoring Leader
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
LeBron James' additional seasons: | ||||
* LeBron James played 1 season more than Dirk Nowitzki in the NBA. In that year—his season 22 in 2025—he averaged 24.4 points in a total of 70 regular season games. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| LeBron James | - | DNP | 2004 | 0 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 1999 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| LeBron James | - | DNP | 2005 | 0 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2000 | 0 |
Season 15 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| LeBron James | 34.0 | +34.0 | 2018 | 22 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2013 | 0 |
Season 16 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| LeBron James | - | DNP | 2019 | 0 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | 19.1 | +19.1 | 2014 | 7 |
Season 19 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| LeBron James | - | DNP | 2022 | 0 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2017 | 0 |
Season 20 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| LeBron James | 24.5 | +24.5 | 2023 | 16 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2018 | 0 |
Season 21 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| LeBron James | 27.8 | +27.8 | 2024 | 5 |
| Dirk Nowitzki | - | DNP | 2019 | 0 |
LeBron James' additional Playoffs: | ||||
* In his additional NBA year, LeBron James played in the Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 25.4 points in a total of 5 games. |