Steven Adams vs. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Steven Adams 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.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has one of the highest career point averages in NBA history, and here we compare his scoring stats with those recorded by Steven Adams.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has better scoring stats than Steven Adams 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 7 NBA regular seasons played, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander averages 15.6 points more than Steven Adams in his 11 seasons (24.4 points against 8.8), and he also scored a total of 4,551 points more (11,294 vs. 6,743).

Points Per Game			Seasons
Steven Adams	8.8		11
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	24.4	+15.6	7

Total Points			Seasons
Steven Adams	6,743		11
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	11,294	+4,551	7

Scoring Titles
Steven Adams	0
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	1	+1

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
Steven Adams	3.3		2014	81
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	10.8	+7.5	2019	82

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Steven Adams	7.7		2015	70
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	19.0	+11.3	2020	70

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Steven Adams	8.0		2016	80
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	23.7	+15.7	2021	35

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Steven Adams	11.3		2017	80
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	24.5	+13.2	2022	56

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Steven Adams	13.9		2018	76
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	31.4	+17.5	2023	68

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Steven Adams	13.9		2019	80
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	30.1	+16.2	2024	75

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Steven Adams	10.9		2020	63
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	32.7	+21.8	2025	76

Steven Adams' additional seasons:

* Steven Adams played 4 seasons more than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 8 to 11, from 2021 to 2025—he averaged 6.6 points in a total of 234 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 8.6 ppg and his lowest 3.9.

Playoffs

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Steven Adams	3.9		2014	18
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	13.7	+9.8	2019	6

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Steven Adams	-	DNP	2015	0
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	16.3	+16.3	2020	7

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Steven Adams	10.1	+10.1	2016	18
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	-	DNP	2021	0

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Steven Adams	8.0	+8.0	2017	5
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	-	DNP	2022	0

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Steven Adams	10.5	+10.5	2018	6
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	-	DNP	2023	0

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Steven Adams	11.8		2019	5
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	30.2	+18.4	2024	10

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Steven Adams	10.1		2020	7
S. Gilgeous-Alexander	29.9	+19.8	2025	23

Steven Adams' additional Playoffs:

* During his 4 additional NBA seasons, Steven Adams played in two Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 4.6 points in a total of 14 games. His highest playoff average during that period was 5.7 ppg and his lowest 3.4.