Magic Johnson vs. Michael Jordan: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Michael Jordan 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.

Player comparisons:
Career comparison / Season by season / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings / Games against each other

Michael Jordan 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 Michael Jordan 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.

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 15 NBA regular seasons played, Michael Jordan averages 10.6 points more than Magic Johnson in his 13 seasons (30.1 points against 19.5), and he also scored a total of 14,585 points more (32,292 vs. 17,707).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Magic Johnson 19.5
13
Michael Jordan 30.1
+10.6
15

Total Points

Seasons
Magic Johnson 17,707
13
Michael Jordan 32,292
+14,585
15

Scoring Titles

Magic Johnson 0
Michael Jordan 10
Scoring leaderScoring leaderScoring leaderScoring leaderScoring leaderScoring leaderScoring leaderScoring leaderScoring leaderScoring leader
+10

Points in the Playoffs

Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Michael Jordan has a better career point average than Magic Johnson (+13.9 points per game) and he also scored more points (+2,286).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Magic Johnson 19.5
13
Michael Jordan 33.4
+13.9
13

Total Points

Playoffs
Magic Johnson 3,701
13
Michael Jordan 5,987
+2,286
13

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

60+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 0
Michael Jordan 4
+4

50+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 0
Michael Jordan 31
+31

40+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 6
Michael Jordan 173
+167

30+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 93
Michael Jordan 562
+469

20+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 447
Michael Jordan 926
+479

10+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 825
Michael Jordan 1,059
+234

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Magic Johnson 903
Michael Jordan 1,072
+169

0 Point Games (games without points)

Magic Johnson 3
+3
Michael Jordan 0

Playoffs

60+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 0
Michael Jordan 1
+1

50+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 0
Michael Jordan 8
+8

40+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 4
Michael Jordan 38
+34

30+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 12
Michael Jordan 109
+97

20+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 83
Michael Jordan 173
+90

10+ Point Games

Magic Johnson 182
+3
Michael Jordan 179

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Magic Johnson 189
+10
Michael Jordan 179

0 Point Games (games without points)

Magic Johnson 1
+1
Michael Jordan 0

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

more >>

Regular Season

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Magic Johnson 19.5 6.9 13.2 52.0 0.4 1.2 30.3 5.5 6.5 84.8 13 906
difference:+10.6+4.5+9.7+2.3+0.1+0.5+2.4+1.3+1.7+1.3+2+166
Michael Jordan 30.1 11.4 22.9 49.7 0.5 1.7 32.7 6.8 8.2 83.5 15 1,072

Total Stats

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Magic Johnson 17,707 6,211 11,951 52.0 325 1,074 30.3 4,960 5,850 84.8 13 906
difference:+14,585+5,981+12,586+2.3+256+704+2.4+2,367+2,922+1.3+2+166
Michael Jordan 32,292 12,192 24,537 49.7 581 1,778 32.7 7,327 8,772 83.5 15 1,072

Playoffs

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Magic Johnson 19.5 6.8 13.4 50.6 0.3 1.1 24.1 5.6 6.7 83.8 13 190
difference:+13.9+5.4+11.7+1.9+0.5+1.4+9.1+2.6+3.2+1.0+11
Michael Jordan 33.4 12.2 25.1 48.7 0.8 2.5 33.2 8.2 9.9 82.8 13 179

Total Stats

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Magic Johnson 3,701 1,291 2,552 50.6 51 212 24.1 1,068 1,274 83.8 13 190
difference:+2,286+897+1,945+1.9+97+234+9.1+395+492+1.0+11
Michael Jordan 5,987 2,188 4,497 48.7 148 446 33.2 1,463 1,766 82.8 13 179

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

Scoring leader= NBA Scoring Leader
NBA Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 18.0
1980NBA Champion77
Michael Jordan 28.2
+10.2
198582

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 21.6
198137
Michael Jordan 22.7
+1.1
198618

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 18.6
1982NBA Champion78
Michael Jordan Scoring leader37.1
+18.5
198782

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 16.8
198379
Michael Jordan Scoring leader35.0
+18.2
198882

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 17.6
198467
Michael Jordan Scoring leader32.5
+14.9
198981

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 18.3
1985NBA Champion77
Michael Jordan Scoring leader33.6
+15.3
199082

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 18.8
198672
Michael Jordan Scoring leader31.5
+12.7
1991NBA Champion82

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 23.9
1987NBA Champion80
Michael Jordan Scoring leader30.1
+6.2
1992NBA Champion80

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 19.6
1988NBA Champion72
Michael Jordan Scoring leader32.6
+13.0
1993NBA Champion78

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 22.5
198977
Michael Jordan 26.9
+4.4
199517

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 22.3
199079
Michael Jordan Scoring leader30.4
+8.1
1996NBA Champion82

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 19.4
199179
Michael Jordan Scoring leader29.6
+10.2
1997NBA Champion82

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 14.6
199632
Michael Jordan Scoring leader28.7
+14.1
1998NBA Champion82

Michael Jordan's additional seasons:

* Michael Jordan played 2 seasons more than Magic Johnson in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 14 to 15, from 2002 to 2003—he averaged 21.2 points in a total of 142 regular season games.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 18.3
1980NBA Champion16
Michael Jordan 29.3
+11.0
19854

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 17.0
19813
Michael Jordan 43.7
+26.7
19863

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 17.4
1982NBA Champion14
Michael Jordan 35.7
+18.3
19873

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 17.9
198315
Michael Jordan 36.3
+18.4
198810

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 18.2
198421
Michael Jordan 34.8
+16.6
198917

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 17.5
1985NBA Champion19
Michael Jordan 36.7
+19.2
199016

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 21.6
198614
Michael Jordan 31.1
+9.5
1991NBA Champion17

Season 8

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 21.8
1987NBA Champion18
Michael Jordan 34.5
+12.7
1992NBA Champion22

Season 9

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 19.9
1988NBA Champion24
Michael Jordan 35.1
+15.2
1993NBA Champion19

Season 10

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 18.4
198914
Michael Jordan 31.5
+13.1
199510

Season 11

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 25.2
19909
Michael Jordan 30.7
+5.5
1996NBA Champion18

Season 12

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 21.8
199119
Michael Jordan 31.1
+9.3
1997NBA Champion19

Season 13

Points per gameYearGames
Magic Johnson 15.3
19964
Michael Jordan 32.4
+17.1
1998NBA Champion21

Michael Jordan's additional Playoffs:

* During his 2 additional NBA seasons, Michael Jordan didn't play in the postseason.

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