Kobe Bryant vs. LeBron James: Career Scoring Comparison
We break down the scoring legacies of LeBron James and Kobe Bryant 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
LeBron James and Kobe Bryant are among the most prolific scorers in NBA history—with LeBron as the all-time leader they combine for an staggering season total of 75,827 points—and they also have two of the all-time best scoring averages. 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 LeBron James has better scoring stats than Kobe Bryant 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 22 NBA regular seasons played, LeBron James averages 2 points more than Kobe Bryant in his 20 seasons (27.0 points against 25.0), and he also scored a total of 8,541 points more (42,184 vs. 33,643).
Points Per Game | Seasons | ||
| Kobe Bryant | 25.0 | 20 | |
| LeBron James | 27.0 | +2.0 | 22 |
Total Points | Seasons | ||
| Kobe Bryant | 33,643 | 20 | |
| LeBron James | 42,184 | +8,541 | 22 |
Scoring Titles | ||
| Kobe Bryant | 2 |  +1 |
| LeBron James | 1 | |
Points in the Playoffs
Similar to what happens in the regular season, in the NBA postseason LeBron James has a better career point average than Kobe Bryant (+2.8 points per game) and he also scored more points (+2,649).
Points Per Game | Playoffs | ||
| Kobe Bryant | 25.6 | 15 | |
| LeBron James | 28.4 | +2.8 | 18 |
Total Points | Playoffs | ||
| Kobe Bryant | 5,640 | 15 | |
| LeBron James | 8,289 | +2,649 | 18 |
Points by Thresholds
Regular Season
70+ Point Games | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 1 | +1 | ||
| LeBron James | 0 | |||
60+ Point Games | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 6 | +5 | ||
| LeBron James | 1 | |||
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 941 | |||
| LeBron James | 1,286 | +345 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 1,254 | |||
| LeBron James | 1,554 | +300 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 1,331 | |||
| LeBron James | 1,562 | +231 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 15 | +15 | ||
| LeBron James | 0 | |||
Playoffs
20+ Point Games | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 167 | |||
| LeBron James | 261 | +94 | ||
10+ Point Games | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 204 | |||
| LeBron James | 290 | +86 | ||
1+ Point Games (games with points) | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 218 | |||
| LeBron James | 292 | +74 | ||
0 Point Games (games without points) | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 2 | +2 | ||
| LeBron James | 0 | |||
Career Shooting Stats Comparison
Regular Season
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 25.0 | 8.7 | 19.5 | 44.7 | 1.4 | 4.1 | 32.9 | 6.2 | 7.4 | 83.7 | 20 | 1,346 |
| difference: | +2.0 | +1.2 | +0.1 | +5.9 | +0.2 | +0.6 | +2.0 | +0.7 | +0.1 | +10.0 | +2 | +216 |
| LeBron James | 27.0 | 9.9 | 19.6 | 50.6 | 1.6 | 4.7 | 34.9 | 5.5 | 7.5 | 73.7 | 22 | 1,562 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 33,643 | 11,719 | 26,200 | 44.7 | 1,827 | 5,546 | 32.9 | 8,378 | 10,011 | 83.7 | 20 | 1,346 |
| difference: | +8,541 | +3,769 | +4,383 | +5.9 | +732 | +1,776 | +2.0 | +271 | +1,724 | +10.0 | +2 | +216 |
| LeBron James | 42,184 | 15,488 | 30,583 | 50.6 | 2,559 | 7,322 | 34.9 | 8,649 | 11,735 | 73.7 | 22 | 1,562 |
Playoffs
Stats Per Game
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 25.6 | 9.2 | 20.5 | 44.8 | 1.3 | 4.0 | 33.1 | 6.0 | 7.4 | 81.6 | 15 | 220 |
| difference: | +2.8 | +1.0 | +4.9 | +0.3 | +0.9 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +1.2 | +7.5 | +3 | +72 | |
| LeBron James | 28.4 | 10.2 | 20.5 | 49.6 | 1.6 | 4.9 | 33.3 | 6.4 | 8.6 | 74.1 | 18 | 292 |
Total Stats
| Pts | FGM / A | % | 3PM / A | % | FTM / A | % | Yrs | Gms | ||||
| Kobe Bryant | 5,640 | 2,014 | 4,499 | 44.8 | 292 | 882 | 33.1 | 1,320 | 1,617 | 81.6 | 15 | 220 |
| difference: | +2,649 | +957 | +1,485 | +4.9 | +188 | +561 | +0.2 | +547 | +902 | +7.5 | +3 | +72 |
| LeBron James | 8,289 | 2,971 | 5,984 | 49.6 | 480 | 1,443 | 33.3 | 1,867 | 2,519 | 74.1 | 18 | 292 |
Year by Year Points Average Comparison
= NBA Scoring Leader
= NBA ChampionRegular Season
LeBron James' additional seasons: | ||||
* LeBron James played 2 seasons more than Kobe Bryant in the NBA. In those years—his seasons 21 to 22, from 2024 to 2025—he averaged 25.0 points in a total of 141 regular season games. |
Playoffs
Rookie Season | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Kobe Bryant | 8.2 | +8.2 | 1997 | 9 |
| LeBron James | - | DNP | 2004 | 0 |
Season 2 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Kobe Bryant | 8.7 | +8.7 | 1998 | 11 |
| LeBron James | - | DNP | 2005 | 0 |
Season 9 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Kobe Bryant | - | DNP | 2005 | 0 |
| LeBron James | 30.3 | +30.3 | 2012 | 23 |
Season 16 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Kobe Bryant | 30.0 | +30.0 | 2012 | 12 |
| LeBron James | - | DNP | 2019 | 0 |
Season 17 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Kobe Bryant | - | DNP | 2013 | 0 |
| LeBron James | 27.6 | +27.6 | 2020 | 21 |
Season 18 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Kobe Bryant | - | DNP | 2014 | 0 |
| LeBron James | 23.3 | +23.3 | 2021 | 6 |
Season 19 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Kobe Bryant | - | DNP | 2015 | 0 |
| LeBron James | - | DNP | 2022 | 0 |
Season 20 | Points per game | Year | Games | |
| Kobe Bryant | - | DNP | 2016 | 0 |
| LeBron James | 24.5 | +24.5 | 2023 | 16 |
LeBron James' additional Playoffs: | ||||
* During his 2 additional NBA seasons, LeBron James played in two Playoffs. In those postseasons he averaged 26.6 points in a total of 10 games. |