Pau Gasol vs. Arvydas Sabonis: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Arvydas Sabonis and Pau Gasol 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

Pau Gasol is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points and here we compare his scoring stats with those recorded by Arvydas Sabonis.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Pau Gasol has better scoring stats than Arvydas Sabonis 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 18 NBA regular seasons played, Pau Gasol averages 5 points more than Arvydas Sabonis in his 7 seasons (17.0 points against 12.0), and he also scored a total of 15,265 points more (20,894 vs. 5,629).

Points Per Game

Seasons
Pau Gasol 17.0
+5.0
18
Arvydas Sabonis 12.0
7

Total Points

Seasons
Pau Gasol 20,894
+15,265
18
Arvydas Sabonis 5,629
7

Points in the Playoffs

Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Pau Gasol has a better career point average than Arvydas Sabonis (+3.3 points per game) and he also scored more points (+1,481).

Points Per Game

Playoffs
Pau Gasol 15.4
+3.3
12
Arvydas Sabonis 12.1
7

Total Points

Playoffs
Pau Gasol 2,098
+1,481
12
Arvydas Sabonis 617
7

Points by Thresholds

Regular Season

40+ Point Games

Pau Gasol 3
+3
Arvydas Sabonis 0

30+ Point Games

Pau Gasol 47
+42
Arvydas Sabonis 5

20+ Point Games

Pau Gasol 454
+388
Arvydas Sabonis 66

10+ Point Games

Pau Gasol 1,070
+773
Arvydas Sabonis 297

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Pau Gasol 1,215
+756
Arvydas Sabonis 459

0 Point Games (games without points)

Pau Gasol 11
Arvydas Sabonis 11

Playoffs

30+ Point Games

Pau Gasol 3
+3
Arvydas Sabonis 0

20+ Point Games

Pau Gasol 37
+31
Arvydas Sabonis 6

10+ Point Games

Pau Gasol 112
+77
Arvydas Sabonis 35

1+ Point Games (games with points)

Pau Gasol 135
+86
Arvydas Sabonis 49

0 Point Games (games without points)

Pau Gasol 1
Arvydas Sabonis 2
+1

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

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Regular Season

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Pau Gasol 17.0 6.5 12.8 50.7 0.1 0.4 36.8 3.9 5.1 75.3 18 1,226
difference:+5.0+2.1+3.9+0.7+0.2+0.5+4.0+1.1+1.5+3.3+11+756
Arvydas Sabonis 12.0 4.4 8.9 50.0 0.3 0.9 32.8 2.8 3.6 78.6 7 470

Total Stats

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Pau Gasol 20,894 7,980 15,729 50.7 179 486 36.8 4,755 6,311 75.3 18 1,226
difference:+15,265+5,898+11,569+0.7+43+71+4.0+3,426+4,621+3.3+11+756
Arvydas Sabonis 5,629 2,082 4,160 50.0 136 415 32.8 1,329 1,690 78.6 7 470

Playoffs

Stats Per Game

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Pau Gasol 15.4 6.0 11.8 50.8 0.1 0.3 29.7 3.4 4.6 74.1 12 136
difference:+3.3+1.6+2.2+5.5+0.2+0.6+2.2+0.3+0.7+6.1+5+85
Arvydas Sabonis 12.1 4.4 9.6 45.2 0.3 0.9 31.9 3.1 3.9 80.2 7 51

Total Stats

Pts FGM / A% 3PM / A% FTM / A% Yrs Gms
Pau Gasol 2,098 812 1,600 50.8 11 37 29.7 463 625 74.1 12 136
difference:+1,481+590+1,109+5.5+4+10+2.2+305+428+6.1+5+85
Arvydas Sabonis 617 222 491 45.2 15 47 31.9 158 197 80.2 7 51

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

NBA Champion = NBA Champion

Regular Season

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Pau Gasol 17.6
+3.1
200282
Arvydas Sabonis 14.5
199673

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Pau Gasol 19.0
+5.6
200382
Arvydas Sabonis 13.4
199769

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Pau Gasol 17.7
+1.7
200478
Arvydas Sabonis 16.0
199873

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Pau Gasol 17.8
+5.7
200556
Arvydas Sabonis 12.1
199950

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Pau Gasol 20.4
+8.6
200680
Arvydas Sabonis 11.8
200066

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Pau Gasol 20.8
+10.7
200759
Arvydas Sabonis 10.1
200161

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Pau Gasol 18.9
+12.8
200866
Arvydas Sabonis 6.1
200378

Pau Gasol's additional seasons:

* Pau Gasol played 12 seasons more than Arvydas Sabonis in the NBA.

In those years—his seasons 8 to 19, from 2009 to 2019—he averaged 15.3 points in a total of 753 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 18.9 ppg and his lowest 3.9.

Playoffs

Rookie Season

Points per gameYearGames
Pau Gasol -
DNP
20020
Arvydas Sabonis 23.6
+23.6
19965

Season 2

Points per gameYearGames
Pau Gasol -
DNP
20030
Arvydas Sabonis 11.3
+11.3
19974

Season 3

Points per gameYearGames
Pau Gasol 18.5
+6.2
20044
Arvydas Sabonis 12.3
19984

Season 4

Points per gameYearGames
Pau Gasol 21.3
+11.3
20054
Arvydas Sabonis 10.0
199913

Season 5

Points per gameYearGames
Pau Gasol 20.3
+9.0
20064
Arvydas Sabonis 11.3
200016

Season 6

Points per gameYearGames
Pau Gasol -
DNP
20070
Arvydas Sabonis 11.3
+11.3
20013

Season 7

Points per gameYearGames
Pau Gasol 16.9
+6.9
200821
Arvydas Sabonis 10.0
20036

Pau Gasol's additional Playoffs:

* During his 12 additional NBA seasons, Pau Gasol played in 8 Playoffs and won two NBA Championships. In those postseasons he averaged 14.6 points in a total of 103 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 19.6 ppg and his lowest 6.

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