Shaquille O'Neal vs. Chris Paul: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Chris Paul and Shaquille O'Neal 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.
Career comparison / Season by season / Scoring / Stats / Stats Rankings / Games against each other
Shaquille O'Neal and Chris Paul are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 51,607 points—. Here we compare their scoring stats.
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 Chris Paul 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 |
Career Numbers
Who has the better scoring stats?
Points in the Regular Season
In his 19 NBA regular seasons played, Shaquille O'Neal averages 6.7 points more than Chris Paul in his 20 seasons (23.7 points against 17.0), and he also scored a total of 5,585 points more (28,596 vs. 23,011).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 23.7 | +6.7 | 19 |
| Chris Paul | 17.0 | 20 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 28,596 | +5,585 | 19 |
| Chris Paul | 23,011 | 20 | |
Scoring Titles | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 2 |  +2 |
| Chris Paul | 0 | |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason Shaquille O'Neal has a better career point average than Chris Paul (+4.3 points per game) and he also scored more points (+2,269).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 24.3 | +4.3 | 17 |
| Chris Paul | 20.0 | 15 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 5,250 | +2,269 | 17 |
| Chris Paul | 2,981 | 15 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
60+ Point Games | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1 | +1 | ||
| Chris Paul | 0 | |||
50+ Point Games | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 3 | +3 | ||
| Chris Paul | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 826 | +354 | ||
| Chris Paul | 472 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1,132 | |||
| Chris Paul | 1,133 | +1 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1,205 | |||
| Chris Paul | 1,350 | +145 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 2 | |||
| Chris Paul | 4 | +2 | ||
Playoffs
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 148 | +74 | ||
| Chris Paul | 74 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 206 | +72 | ||
| Chris Paul | 134 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 215 | +66 | ||
| Chris Paul | 149 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1 | +1 | ||
| Chris Paul | 0 | |||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 23.7 | 9.4 | 16.1 | 58.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.5 | 4.9 | 9.3 | 52.7 | 19 | 1,207 |
| difference: | +6.7 | +3.4 | +3.3 | +11.3 | +1.4 | +3.7 | +32.5 | +1.3 | +5.2 | +34.4 | +1 | +147 |
| Chris Paul | 17.0 | 6.0 | 12.8 | 47.0 | 1.4 | 3.7 | 37.0 | 3.6 | 4.1 | 87.1 | 20 | 1,354 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 28,596 | 11,330 | 19,457 | 58.2 | 1 | 22 | 4.5 | 5,935 | 11,252 | 52.7 | 19 | 1,207 |
| difference: | +5,585 | +3,183 | +2,105 | +11.3 | +1,859 | +5,007 | +32.5 | +1,078 | +5,673 | +34.4 | +1 | +147 |
| Chris Paul | 23,011 | 8,147 | 17,352 | 47.0 | 1,860 | 5,029 | 37.0 | 4,857 | 5,579 | 87.1 | 20 | 1,354 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 24.3 | 9.4 | 16.8 | 56.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | - | 5.4 | 10.7 | 50.4 | 17 | 216 |
| difference: | +4.3 | +2.0 | +1.5 | +7.9 | +1.6 | +4.4 | +37.3 | +1.9 | +6.6 | +35.0 | +2 | +67 |
| Chris Paul | 20.0 | 7.4 | 15.3 | 48.4 | 1.6 | 4.4 | 37.3 | 3.5 | 4.1 | 85.4 | 15 | 149 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 5,250 | 2,041 | 3,627 | 56.3 | 0 | 0 | - | 1,168 | 2,317 | 50.4 | 17 | 216 |
| difference: | +2,269 | +935 | +1,340 | +7.9 | +244 | +654 | +37.3 | +643 | +1,702 | +35.0 | +2 | +67 |
| Chris Paul | 2,981 | 1,106 | 2,287 | 48.4 | 244 | 654 | 37.3 | 525 | 615 | 85.4 | 15 | 149 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA Scoring Leader
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Chris Paul's additional seasons: | ||||
* Chris Paul played 1 season more than Shaquille O'Neal in the NBA. In that year—his season 20 in 2025—he averaged 8.8 points in a total of 82 regular season games. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | - | DNP | 1993 | 0 |
| Chris Paul | - | DNP | 2006 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 20.7 | +20.7 | 1994 | 3 |
| Chris Paul | - | DNP | 2007 | 0 |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 26.9 | +26.9 | 1997 | 9 |
| Chris Paul | - | DNP | 2010 | 0 |
Season 17 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | - | DNP | 2009 | 0 |
| Chris Paul | 17.5 | +17.5 | 2022 | 13 |
Season 19 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1.0 | +1.0 | 2011 | 2 |
| Chris Paul | - | DNP | 2024 | 0 |
Chris Paul's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* In his additional NBA year, Chris Paul didn't play in the postseason. |