The Tape
Was Allen Iverson better than Shai Gilgeous-Alexander?
Allen Iverson, 1996-2010, against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 2018-present. 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 32.9 for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in 2024-25. That is a real gap of 5.9 points, not an era illusion — Allen Iverson's league averaged 97 and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's averaged 113.4.
Away from scoring they are nearly the same player on paper: 3.2 and 5 rebounds, 7.4 and 6.4 assists. The separation is in what their teams asked of them, not what they could do.
Allen Iverson: An MVP at 6 feet and 165 pounds, in the last era where hand-checking was legal. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: An MVP and a title in the same season, built on the most efficient mid-range diet since the rules changed.
The numbers are free. The verdict is in the Vault.
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