Shaquille O'Neal vs. Dwyane Wade: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of Dwyane Wade 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 Dwyane Wade are among the all-time leaders in points in NBA history—combining for a total of 51,761 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 Dwyane Wade 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: |
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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 1.7 points more than Dwyane Wade in his 16 seasons (23.7 points against 22.0), and he also scored a total of 5,431 points more (28,596 vs. 23,165).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 23.7 | +1.7 | 19 |
| Dwyane Wade | 22.0 | 16 | |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 28,596 | +5,431 | 19 |
| Dwyane Wade | 23,165 | 16 | |
Scoring Titles | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 2 |  +1 |
| Dwyane Wade | 1 | |
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 Dwyane Wade (+2 points per game) and he also scored more points (+1,296).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 24.3 | +2.0 | 17 |
| Dwyane Wade | 22.3 | 13 | |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 5,250 | +1,296 | 17 |
| Dwyane Wade | 3,954 | 13 | |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
60+ Point Games | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1 | +1 | ||
| Dwyane Wade | 0 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 826 | +197 | ||
| Dwyane Wade | 629 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1,132 | +162 | ||
| Dwyane Wade | 970 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1,205 | +154 | ||
| Dwyane Wade | 1,051 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 2 | |||
| Dwyane Wade | 3 | +1 | ||
Playoffs
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 148 | +37 | ||
| Dwyane Wade | 111 | |||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 206 | +35 | ||
| Dwyane Wade | 171 | |||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 215 | +38 | ||
| Dwyane Wade | 177 | |||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Shaquille O'Neal | 1 | +1 | ||
| Dwyane Wade | 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: | +1.7 | +1.4 | +0.6 | +10.2 | +0.5 | +1.8 | +24.8 | +0.5 | +2.2 | +23.8 | +3 | +153 |
| Dwyane Wade | 22.0 | 8.0 | 16.7 | 48.0 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 29.3 | 5.4 | 7.1 | 76.5 | 16 | 1,054 |
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: | +5,431 | +2,876 | +1,840 | +10.2 | +548 | +1,852 | +24.8 | +227 | +3,789 | +23.8 | +3 | +153 |
| Dwyane Wade | 23,165 | 8,454 | 17,617 | 48.0 | 549 | 1,874 | 29.3 | 5,708 | 7,463 | 76.5 | 16 | 1,054 |
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: | +2.0 | +1.2 | +0.5 | +8.9 | +0.6 | +1.7 | +33.8 | +3.8 | +27.6 | +4 | +39 | |
| Dwyane Wade | 22.3 | 8.2 | 17.3 | 47.4 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 33.8 | 5.4 | 6.9 | 78.0 | 13 | 177 |
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: | +1,296 | +591 | +565 | +8.9 | +103 | +305 | +33.8 | +217 | +1,097 | +27.6 | +4 | +39 |
| Dwyane Wade | 3,954 | 1,450 | 3,062 | 47.4 | 103 | 305 | 33.8 | 951 | 1,220 | 78.0 | 13 | 177 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA Scoring Leader
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
Shaquille O'Neal's additional seasons: | ||||
* Shaquille O'Neal played 4 seasons more than Dwyane Wade in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 18 to 21, from 2008 to 2011—he averaged 13.9 points in a total of 226 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 17.8 ppg and his lowest 9.2. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | - | DNP | 1993 | 0 |
| Dwyane Wade | 18.0 | +18.0 | 2004 | 13 |
Season 5 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 26.9 | +26.9 | 1997 | 9 |
| Dwyane Wade | - | DNP | 2008 | 0 |
Season 12 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 21.5 | +21.5 | 2004 | 22 |
| Dwyane Wade | - | DNP | 2015 | 0 |
Season 17 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Shaquille O'Neal | 15.2 | +15.2 | 2008 | 5 |
| Dwyane Wade | - | DNP | 2019 | 0 |
Shaquille O'Neal's additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 4 additional NBA seasons, Shaquille O'Neal played in 3 Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 11.4 points in a total of 18 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 15.2 ppg and his lowest 1. |