The Tape
Was David Robinson better than Allen Iverson?
David Robinson, 1989-2003, against Allen Iverson, 1996-2010. The numbers levelled to one league, then the call.
Method, stated plainly: scoring is adjusted to a league averaging 114 points per team per game. Rebounds and assists are printed as they were recorded, with the league scoring rate beside them, because a rebound in 1962 came out of a different number of missed shots and we will not pretend one multiplier fixes that. Career lines for active players run through 2024-25.
What the numbers say
Adjusted to a league averaging 114 points a game, Allen Iverson is the bigger scorer: 38.8 a game in 2005-06 against 33.5 for David Robinson in 1993-94. That is a real gap of 5.3 points, not an era illusion — Allen Iverson's league averaged 97 and David Robinson's averaged 101.5.
David Robinson wins the glass by 7.5 rebounds a game (10.7 to 3.2), which in his era meant standing in traffic rather than waiting for a long one.
Allen Iverson is the passer: 7.4 assists a game to 4.8, and that is the difference between running an offense and finishing one.
David Robinson: An MVP, a Defensive Player of the Year and a scoring title closed out with 71 points on the last day of the season. Allen Iverson: An MVP at 6 feet and 165 pounds, in the last era where hand-checking was legal.
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