The Tape
Was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar better than Allen Iverson?
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1969-1989, 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 36 for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in 1971-72. That is a real gap of 2.8 points, not an era illusion — Allen Iverson's league averaged 97 and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's averaged 110.2.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wins the glass by 13.4 rebounds a game (16.6 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 4.6, and that is the difference between running an offense and finishing one.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: One unblockable shot, 6 MVPs, and a scoring record that stood for 39 years. Allen Iverson: An MVP at 6 feet and 165 pounds, in the last era where hand-checking was legal.
The numbers are free. The verdict is in the Vault.
13 Dossiers, every Dispatch ever sent, and the Tape. One payment, $39, yours for good. The archive keeps growing every morning after you have paid.
Every pairing in the file makes the call in writing, and pass holders read all of them.
5 Dispatches in the archive so far, and one more every morning. 14-day refund, no questions asked.
Read the file: Kareem Abdul-JabbarAllen Iverson
The next argument
Get the Dispatch
One email a day: what happened last night, and the game, player or era from history it rhymes with. Four minutes at breakfast, free forever.
Free forever. One tap to leave.