Yao Ming vs. Russell Westbrook: Career Scoring Comparison

We break down the scoring legacies of Russell Westbrook and Yao Ming 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.

Russell Westbrook is among the NBA's all-time leaders in points and here we compare his scoring stats with those recorded by Yao Ming.

By taking a look at their career numbers for points, the first conclusion one can arrive at is that Russell Westbrook has better scoring stats than Yao Ming 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 17 NBA regular seasons played, Russell Westbrook averages 2.2 points more than Yao Ming in his 8 seasons (21.2 points against 19.0), and he also scored a total of 16,958 points more (26,205 vs. 9,247).

Points Per Game			Seasons
Yao Ming	19.0		8
Russell Westbrook	21.2	+2.2	17

Total Points			Seasons
Yao Ming	9,247		8
Russell Westbrook	26,205	+16,958	17

Scoring Titles
Yao Ming	0
Russell Westbrook	2	+2

Points by Thresholds

Career Shooting Stats Comparison

Year by Year Points Average Comparison

= NBA Scoring Leader

Regular Season

Rookie Season	Points per game		Year	Games
Yao Ming	13.5		2003	82
Russell Westbrook	15.3	+1.8	2009	82

Season 2	Points per game		Year	Games
Yao Ming	17.5	+1.4	2004	82
Russell Westbrook	16.1		2010	82

Season 3	Points per game		Year	Games
Yao Ming	18.3		2005	80
Russell Westbrook	21.9	+3.6	2011	82

Season 4	Points per game		Year	Games
Yao Ming	22.3		2006	57
Russell Westbrook	23.6	+1.3	2012	66

Season 5	Points per game		Year	Games
Yao Ming	25.0	+1.8	2007	48
Russell Westbrook	23.2		2013	82

Season 6	Points per game		Year	Games
Yao Ming	22.0	+0.2	2008	55
Russell Westbrook	21.8		2014	46

Season 7	Points per game		Year	Games
Yao Ming	19.7		2009	77
Russell Westbrook	28.1	+8.4	2015	67

Season 8	Points per game		Year	Games
Yao Ming	10.2		2011	5
Russell Westbrook	23.5	+13.3	2016	80

Russell Westbrook's additional seasons:

* Russell Westbrook played 9 seasons more than Yao Ming in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 9 to 17, from 2017 to 2025—he averaged 20.9 points in a total of 650 regular season games. During that period, his highest average was 31.6 ppg and his lowest 11.1. In those 9 extra years over Yao Ming, Russell Westbrook won 1 scoring title.