Magic Johnson vs. Russell Westbrook: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Russell Westbrook 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.

Russell Westbrook is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points 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 Russell Westbrook 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 in the Regular Season

In his 18 NBA regular seasons played, Russell Westbrook averages 1.5 points more than Magic Johnson in his 13 seasons (21.0 points against 19.5), and he also scored a total of 8,965 points more (26,672 vs. 17,707).

Points Per Game			Seasons
Magic Johnson	19.5		13
Russell Westbrook	21.0	+1.5	18

Total Points			Seasons
Magic Johnson	17,707		13
Russell Westbrook	26,672	+8,965	18

Scoring Titles
Magic Johnson	0
Russell Westbrook	2	+2

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
Magic Johnson	18.0	+2.7	1980	77
Russell Westbrook	15.3		2009	82

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	21.6	+5.5	1981	37
Russell Westbrook	16.1		2010	82

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.6		1982	78
Russell Westbrook	21.9	+3.3	2011	82

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	16.8		1983	79
Russell Westbrook	23.6	+6.8	2012	66

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	17.6		1984	67
Russell Westbrook	23.2	+5.6	2013	82

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.3		1985	77
Russell Westbrook	21.8	+3.5	2014	46

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.8		1986	72
Russell Westbrook	28.1	+9.3	2015	67

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	23.9	+0.4	1987	80
Russell Westbrook	23.5		2016	80

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	19.6		1988	72
Russell Westbrook	31.6	+12.0	2017	81

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	22.5		1989	77
Russell Westbrook	25.4	+2.9	2018	80

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	22.3		1990	79
Russell Westbrook	22.9	+0.6	2019	73

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	19.4		1991	79
Russell Westbrook	27.2	+7.8	2020	57

Season 13	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	14.6		1996	32
Russell Westbrook	22.2	+7.6	2021	65

Russell Westbrook's additional seasons:

- Russell Westbrook played 5 seasons more than Magic Johnson in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 14 to 18, from 2022 to 2026—he averaged 14.8 points in a total of 326 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 18.5 ppg and his lowest 11.1.

Playoffs

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.3	+18.3	1980	16
Russell Westbrook	-	DNP	2009	0

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	17.0		1981	3
Russell Westbrook	20.5	+3.5	2010	6

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	17.4		1982	14
Russell Westbrook	23.8	+6.4	2011	17

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	17.9		1983	15
Russell Westbrook	23.1	+5.2	2012	20

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.2		1984	21
Russell Westbrook	24.0	+5.8	2013	2

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	17.5		1985	19
Russell Westbrook	26.7	+9.2	2014	19

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	21.6	+21.6	1986	14
Russell Westbrook	-	DNP	2015	0

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	21.8		1987	18
Russell Westbrook	26.0	+4.2	2016	18

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	19.9		1988	24
Russell Westbrook	37.4	+17.5	2017	5

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.4		1989	14
Russell Westbrook	29.3	+10.9	2018	6

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	25.2	+2.4	1990	9
Russell Westbrook	22.8		2019	5

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	21.8	+3.9	1991	19
Russell Westbrook	17.9		2020	8

Season 13	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	15.3		1996	4
Russell Westbrook	19.0	+3.7	2021	5

Russell Westbrook's additional Playoffs:

- During his 5 additional NBA seasons, Russell Westbrook played in 3 Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 12.8 points in a total of 24 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 23.6 ppg and his lowest 6.3.