Magic Johnson vs. Damian Lillard: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Damian Lillard and Magic Johnson 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.

Damian Lillard 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 Damian Lillard has better scoring averages both in the regular season and Playoffs and also scored more total points during the season while Magic Johnson scored more points in the postseason. 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 by Thresholds

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

= NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.0		1980	77
Damian Lillard	19.0	+1.0	2013	82

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	21.6	+0.9	1981	37
Damian Lillard	20.7		2014	82

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.6		1982	78
Damian Lillard	21.0	+2.4	2015	82

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	16.8		1983	79
Damian Lillard	25.1	+8.3	2016	75

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	17.6		1984	67
Damian Lillard	27.0	+9.4	2017	75

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.3		1985	77
Damian Lillard	26.9	+8.6	2018	73

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.8		1986	72
Damian Lillard	25.8	+7.0	2019	80

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	23.9		1987	80
Damian Lillard	30.0	+6.1	2020	66

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	19.6		1988	72
Damian Lillard	28.8	+9.2	2021	67

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	22.5		1989	77
Damian Lillard	24.0	+1.5	2022	29

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	22.3		1990	79
Damian Lillard	32.2	+9.9	2023	58

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	19.4		1991	79
Damian Lillard	24.3	+4.9	2024	73

Season 13	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	14.6		1996	32
Damian Lillard	24.9	+10.3	2025	58

Playoffs

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.3	+18.3	1980	16
Damian Lillard	-	DNP	2013	0

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	17.0		1981	3
Damian Lillard	22.9	+5.9	2014	11

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	17.4		1982	14
Damian Lillard	21.6	+4.2	2015	5

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	17.9		1983	15
Damian Lillard	26.5	+8.6	2016	11

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.2		1984	21
Damian Lillard	27.8	+9.6	2017	4

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	17.5		1985	19
Damian Lillard	18.5	+1.0	2018	4

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	21.6		1986	14
Damian Lillard	26.9	+5.3	2019	16

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	21.8		1987	18
Damian Lillard	24.3	+2.5	2020	4

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	19.9		1988	24
Damian Lillard	34.3	+14.4	2021	6

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.4	+18.4	1989	14
Damian Lillard	-	DNP	2022	0

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	25.2	+25.2	1990	9
Damian Lillard	-	DNP	2023	0

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	21.8		1991	19
Damian Lillard	31.3	+9.5	2024	4

Season 13	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	15.3	+8.3	1996	4
Damian Lillard	7.0		2025	3