Magic Johnson vs. Shaquille O'Neal: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Shaquille O'Neal 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.

Shaquille O'Neal 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 Shaquille O'Neal 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 19 NBA regular seasons played, Shaquille O'Neal averages 4.2 points more than Magic Johnson in his 13 seasons (23.7 points against 19.5), and he also scored a total of 10,889 points more (28,596 vs. 17,707).

Points Per Game			Seasons
Magic Johnson	19.5		13
Shaquille O'Neal	23.7	+4.2	19

Total Points			Seasons
Magic Johnson	17,707		13
Shaquille O'Neal	28,596	+10,889	19

Scoring Titles
Magic Johnson	0
Shaquille O'Neal	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		1980	77
Shaquille O'Neal	23.4	+5.4	1993	81

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	21.6		1981	37
Shaquille O'Neal	29.3	+7.7	1994	81

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.6		1982	78
Shaquille O'Neal	29.3	+10.7	1995	79

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	16.8		1983	79
Shaquille O'Neal	26.6	+9.8	1996	54

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	17.6		1984	67
Shaquille O'Neal	26.2	+8.6	1997	51

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.3		1985	77
Shaquille O'Neal	28.3	+10.0	1998	60

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.8		1986	72
Shaquille O'Neal	26.3	+7.5	1999	49

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	23.9		1987	80
Shaquille O'Neal	29.7	+5.8	2000	79

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	19.6		1988	72
Shaquille O'Neal	28.7	+9.1	2001	74

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	22.5		1989	77
Shaquille O'Neal	27.2	+4.7	2002	67

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	22.3		1990	79
Shaquille O'Neal	27.5	+5.2	2003	67

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	19.4		1991	79
Shaquille O'Neal	21.5	+2.1	2004	67

Season 13	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	14.6		1996	32
Shaquille O'Neal	22.9	+8.3	2005	73

Shaquille O'Neal's additional seasons:

* Shaquille O'Neal played 7 seasons more than Magic Johnson in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 14 to 20, from 2006 to 2011—he averaged 15.1 points in a total of 386 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 20 ppg and his lowest 9.2.

Playoffs

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.3	+18.3	1980	16
Shaquille O'Neal	-	DNP	1993	0

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	17.0		1981	3
Shaquille O'Neal	20.7	+3.7	1994	3

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	17.4		1982	14
Shaquille O'Neal	25.7	+8.3	1995	21

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	17.9		1983	15
Shaquille O'Neal	25.8	+7.9	1996	12

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.2		1984	21
Shaquille O'Neal	26.9	+8.7	1997	9

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	17.5		1985	19
Shaquille O'Neal	30.5	+13.0	1998	13

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	21.6		1986	14
Shaquille O'Neal	26.6	+5.0	1999	8

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	21.8		1987	18
Shaquille O'Neal	30.7	+8.9	2000	23

Season 9	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	19.9		1988	24
Shaquille O'Neal	30.4	+10.5	2001	16

Season 10	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	18.4		1989	14
Shaquille O'Neal	28.5	+10.1	2002	19

Season 11	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	25.2		1990	9
Shaquille O'Neal	27.0	+1.8	2003	12

Season 12	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	21.8	+0.3	1991	19
Shaquille O'Neal	21.5		2004	22

Season 13	Points per game		Year	Games
Magic Johnson	15.3		1996	4
Shaquille O'Neal	19.4	+4.1	2005	13

Shaquille O'Neal's additional Playoffs:

* During his 7 additional NBA seasons, Shaquille O'Neal played in 6 Playoffs and won one NBA Championship. In those postseasons he averaged 15.6 points in a total of 50 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 18.8 ppg and his lowest 1.