The Tape
Was Bill Russell better than David Robinson?
Bill Russell, 1956-1969, against David Robinson, 1989-2003. 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, David Robinson is the bigger scorer: 33.5 a game in 1993-94 against 18.1 for Bill Russell in 1961-62. That is a real gap of 15.4 points, not an era illusion — David Robinson's league averaged 101.5 and Bill Russell's averaged 118.8.
Bill Russell wins the glass by 12.9 rebounds a game (23.6 to 10.7), which in his era meant standing in traffic rather than waiting for a long one.
Bill Russell: Eleven titles and the invention of help defense, with no blocked shots on record because the league did not count them yet. 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.
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Read the file: Bill RussellDavid Robinson
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