The Tape
Was Bernard King better than Michael Jordan?
Bernard King, 1977-1993, against Michael Jordan, 1984-2003. 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, Michael Jordan is the bigger scorer: 36.9 a game in 1987-88 against 33.9 for Bernard King in 1984-85. That is a real gap of 3 points, not an era illusion — Michael Jordan's league averaged 108.2 and Bernard King's averaged 110.8.
Michael Jordan is the passer: 5.9 assists a game to 3.7, and that is the difference between running an offense and finishing one.
Bernard King: A scoring title at 53.0% from the field, almost entirely from inside 18 feet, and a comeback from a torn ACL nobody else had made. Michael Jordan: The highest career scoring average ever, 6 titles in 6 Finals, and a Defensive Player of the Year award in the middle of it.
The numbers are free. The verdict is in the Vault.
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