The Tape
Was Bill Walton better than Giannis Antetokounmpo?
Bill Walton, 1974-1987, against Giannis Antetokounmpo, 2013-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, Giannis Antetokounmpo is the bigger scorer: 30.1 a game in 2019-20 against 19.9 for Bill Walton in 1976-77. That is a real gap of 10.2 points, not an era illusion — Giannis Antetokounmpo's league averaged 111.8 and Bill Walton's averaged 106.5.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is the passer: 5.6 assists a game to 3.8, and that is the difference between running an offense and finishing one.
Bill Walton: A passing center who won a title and an MVP in the only 2 healthy seasons he ever had. Giannis Antetokounmpo: Two MVPs and a Defensive Player of the Year, on a first step no defensive scheme has solved.
The numbers are free. The verdict is in the Vault.
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