Shaquille O'Neal vs. Zion Williamson: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Zion Williamson 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.

Zion Williamson and Shaquille O'Neal have two of the highest career scoring averages in league history (Shaquille O'Neal is also one of the all-time leaders in total points) and here we compare all their scoring stats.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that in the regular season Zion Williamson has a better scoring average and Shaquille O'Neal scored more points, and since Zion Williamson didn't play in the postseason, you could also say that Shaquille O'Neal has better playoff stats. 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 5 NBA regular seasons played, Zion Williamson averages 1 point more than Shaquille O'Neal in his 19 seasons (24.7 points against 23.7). On the other hand Shaquille O'Neal scored a total of 23,317 points more than Zion Williamson (28,596 vs. 5,279).

Points Per Game			Seasons
Shaquille O'Neal	23.7		19
Zion Williamson	24.7	+1.0	5

Total Points			Seasons
Shaquille O'Neal	28,596	+23,317	19
Zion Williamson	5,279		5

Scoring Titles
Shaquille O'Neal	2	+2
Zion Williamson	0

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
Shaquille O'Neal	23.4	+0.9	1993	81
Zion Williamson	22.5		2020	24

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Shaquille O'Neal	29.3	+2.3	1994	81
Zion Williamson	27.0		2021	61

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Shaquille O'Neal	29.3	+3.3	1995	79
Zion Williamson	26.0		2023	29

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Shaquille O'Neal	26.6	+3.7	1996	54
Zion Williamson	22.9		2024	70

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Shaquille O'Neal	26.2	+1.6	1997	51
Zion Williamson	24.6		2025	30

Shaquille O'Neal's additional seasons:

* Shaquille O'Neal played 16 seasons more than Zion Williamson in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 6 to 21, from 1998 to 2011—he averaged 21.3 points in a total of 983 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 29.7 ppg and his lowest 9.2. In those 16 extra years over Zion Williamson, Shaquille O'Neal won 1 scoring title.