LeBron James vs. Magic Johnson: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Magic Johnson 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.

LeBron James 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 Magic Johnson.

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 Magic Johnson 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 23 NBA regular seasons played, LeBron James averages 7.5 points more than Magic Johnson in his 13 seasons (27.0 points against 19.5), and he also scored a total of 24,543 points more (42,250 vs. 17,707).

Points Per Game			Seasons
LeBron James	27.0	+7.5	23
Magic Johnson	19.5		13

Total Points			Seasons
LeBron James	42,250	+24,543	23
Magic Johnson	17,707		13

Scoring Titles
LeBron James	1	+1
Magic Johnson	0

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
LeBron James	20.9	+2.9	2004	79
Magic Johnson	18.0		1980	77

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	27.2	+5.6	2005	80
Magic Johnson	21.6		1981	37

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	31.4	+12.8	2006	79
Magic Johnson	18.6		1982	78

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	27.3	+10.5	2007	78
Magic Johnson	16.8		1983	79

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	30.0	+12.4	2008	75
Magic Johnson	17.6		1984	67

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	28.4	+10.1	2009	81
Magic Johnson	18.3		1985	77

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	29.7	+10.9	2010	76
Magic Johnson	18.8		1986	72

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	26.7	+2.8	2011	79
Magic Johnson	23.9		1987	80

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	27.1	+7.5	2012	62
Magic Johnson	19.6		1988	72

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	26.8	+4.3	2013	76
Magic Johnson	22.5		1989	77

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	27.1	+4.8	2014	77
Magic Johnson	22.3		1990	79

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	25.3	+5.9	2015	69
Magic Johnson	19.4		1991	79

Season 13	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	25.3	+10.7	2016	76
Magic Johnson	14.6		1996	32

LeBron James' additional seasons:

* LeBron James played 10 seasons more than Magic Johnson in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 14 to 23, from 2017 to 2026—he averaged 26.6 points in a total of 579 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 30.3 ppg and his lowest 16.5.

Playoffs

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	-	DNP	2004	0
Magic Johnson	18.3	+18.3	1980	16

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	-	DNP	2005	0
Magic Johnson	17.0	+17.0	1981	3

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	30.8	+13.4	2006	13
Magic Johnson	17.4		1982	14

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	25.1	+7.2	2007	20
Magic Johnson	17.9		1983	15

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	28.2	+10.0	2008	13
Magic Johnson	18.2		1984	21

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	35.3	+17.8	2009	14
Magic Johnson	17.5		1985	19

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	29.1	+7.5	2010	11
Magic Johnson	21.6		1986	14

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	23.7	+1.9	2011	21
Magic Johnson	21.8		1987	18

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	30.3	+10.4	2012	23
Magic Johnson	19.9		1988	24

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	25.9	+7.5	2013	23
Magic Johnson	18.4		1989	14

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	27.4	+2.2	2014	20
Magic Johnson	25.2		1990	9

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	30.1	+8.3	2015	20
Magic Johnson	21.8		1991	19

Season 13	Points per game		Year	Games
LeBron James	26.3	+11.0	2016	21
Magic Johnson	15.3		1996	4

LeBron James' additional Playoffs:

* During his 10 additional NBA seasons, LeBron James played in 7 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those postseasons he averaged 29.2 points in a total of 93 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 34 ppg and his lowest 23.3.