LeBron James vs. Tracy McGrady: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Tracy McGrady 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 Tracy McGrady.

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 Tracy McGrady 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 7.4 points more than Tracy McGrady in his 15 seasons (27.0 points against 19.6), and he also scored a total of 23,887 points more (42,268 vs. 18,381).

Points Per Game

Seasons
LeBron James 27.0
+7.4
23
Tracy McGrady 19.6
15

Total Points

Seasons
LeBron James 42,268
+23,887
23
Tracy McGrady 18,381
15

Scoring Titles

LeBron James 1
Scoring leader
Tracy McGrady 2
Scoring leaderScoring leader
+1

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 Tracy McGrady (+6.2 points per game) and he also scored more points (+7,180).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
LeBron James 28.4
+6.2
18
Tracy McGrady 22.2
9

Total Points

Playoffs
LeBron James 8,289
+7,180
18
Tracy McGrady 1,109
9

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

60+ Point Games

LeBron James 1
Tracy McGrady 1

50+ Point Games

LeBron James 14
+10
Tracy McGrady 4

40+ Point Games

LeBron James 79
+34
Tracy McGrady 45

30+ Point Games

LeBron James 571
+365
Tracy McGrady 206

20+ Point Games

LeBron James 1,287
+820
Tracy McGrady 467

10+ Point Games

LeBron James 1,559
+835
Tracy McGrady 724

1+ Point Games (games with points)

LeBron James 1,568
+672
Tracy McGrady 896

0 Point Games (games without points)

LeBron James 0
Tracy McGrady 42
+42

Playoffs

50+ Point Games

LeBron James 1
+1
Tracy McGrady 0

40+ Point Games

LeBron James 29
+25
Tracy McGrady 4

30+ Point Games

LeBron James 123
+109
Tracy McGrady 14

20+ Point Games

LeBron James 261
+227
Tracy McGrady 34

10+ Point Games

LeBron James 290
+251
Tracy McGrady 39

1+ Point Games (games with points)

LeBron James 292
+249
Tracy McGrady 43

0 Point Games (games without points)

LeBron James 0
Tracy McGrady 7
+7

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

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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 23 1,568
difference:+7.4+2.7+3.2+7.1+0.4+1.3+1.1+1.4+2.0+0.9+8+630
Tracy McGrady 19.6 7.2 16.4 43.5 1.2 3.4 33.8 4.1 5.5 74.6 15 938

Total Stats

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
LeBron James 42,268 15,521 30,663 50.6 2,566 7,349 34.9 8,660 11,755 73.7 23 1,568
difference:+23,887+8,812+15,250+7.1+1,485+4,151+1.1+4,778+6,553+0.9+8+630
Tracy McGrady 18,381 6,709 15,413 43.5 1,081 3,198 33.8 3,882 5,202 74.6 15 938

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:+6.2+2.3+1.8+7.1+0.5+1.0+4.3+1.2+1.8+1.6+9+242
Tracy McGrady 22.2 7.9 18.7 42.6 1.1 3.9 29.0 5.2 6.8 75.7 9 50

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:+7,180+2,574+5,051+7.1+424+1,250+4.3+1,608+2,177+1.6+9+242
Tracy McGrady 1,109 397 933 42.6 56 193 29.0 259 342 75.7 9 50

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

Scoring leader= NBA Scoring Leader
NBA Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 20.9
+13.9
200479
Tracy McGrady 7.0
199864

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 27.2
+17.9
200580
Tracy McGrady 9.3
199949

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 31.4
+16.0
200679
Tracy McGrady 15.4
200079

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 27.3
+0.5
200778
Tracy McGrady 26.8
200177

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James Scoring leader30.0
+4.4
200875
Tracy McGrady 25.6
200276

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 28.4
200981
Tracy McGrady Scoring leader32.1
+3.7
200375

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 29.7
+1.7
201076
Tracy McGrady Scoring leader28.0
200467

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 26.7
+1.0
201179
Tracy McGrady 25.7
200578

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 27.1
+2.7
2012NBA Champion62
Tracy McGrady 24.4
200647

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 26.8
+2.2
2013NBA Champion76
Tracy McGrady 24.6
200771

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 27.1
+5.5
201477
Tracy McGrady 21.6
200866

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 25.3
+9.7
201569
Tracy McGrady 15.6
200935

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 25.3
+17.1
2016NBA Champion76
Tracy McGrady 8.2
201030

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 26.4
+18.2
201774
Tracy McGrady 8.2
201030

Season 15

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 27.5
+19.3
201882
Tracy McGrady 8.2
201030

Season 16

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 27.4
+19.4
201955
Tracy McGrady 8.0
201172

Season 17

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 25.3
+20.0
2020NBA Champion67
Tracy McGrady 5.3
201252

Season 18

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 25.0
+25.0
202145
Tracy McGrady -
DNP
20130

LeBron James' additional seasons:

* LeBron James played 5 seasons more than Tracy McGrady in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 19 to 23, from 2022 to 2026—he averaged 26.7 points in a total of 258 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 30.3 ppg and his lowest 14.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James -
DNP
20040
Tracy McGrady -
DNP
19980

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James -
DNP
20050
Tracy McGrady -
DNP
19990

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 30.8
+14.1
200613
Tracy McGrady 16.7
20003

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 25.1
200720
Tracy McGrady 33.8
+8.7
20014

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 28.2
200813
Tracy McGrady 30.8
+2.6
20024

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 35.3
+3.6
200914
Tracy McGrady 31.7
20037

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 29.1
+29.1
201011
Tracy McGrady -
DNP
20040

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 23.7
201121
Tracy McGrady 30.7
+7.0
20057

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 30.3
+30.3
2012NBA Champion23
Tracy McGrady -
DNP
20060

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 25.9
+0.6
2013NBA Champion23
Tracy McGrady 25.3
20077

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 27.4
+0.4
201420
Tracy McGrady 27.0
20086

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 30.1
+30.1
201520
Tracy McGrady -
DNP
20090

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 26.3
+26.3
2016NBA Champion21
Tracy McGrady -
DNP
20100

Season 14

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 32.8
+32.8
201718
Tracy McGrady -
DNP
20100

Season 15

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 34.0
+34.0
201822
Tracy McGrady -
DNP
20100

Season 16

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James -
DNP
20190
Tracy McGrady -
DNP
20110

Season 17

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 27.6
+23.4
2020NBA Champion21
Tracy McGrady 4.2
20126

Season 18

Points per gameYearGames
LeBron James 23.3
+23.3
20216
Tracy McGrady 0.0
20136

LeBron James' additional Playoffs:

* During his 5 additional NBA seasons, LeBron James played in 3 Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 25.3 points in a total of 26 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 27.8 ppg and his lowest 24.5.