The Tape
Was Julius Erving better than Bill Walton?
Julius Erving, 1971-1987, against Bill Walton, 1974-1987. 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, Julius Erving is the bigger scorer: 28.1 a game in 1979-80 against 19.9 for Bill Walton in 1976-77. That is a real gap of 8.2 points, not an era illusion — Julius Erving's league averaged 109.3 and Bill Walton's averaged 106.5.
Bill Walton wins the glass by 7 rebounds a game (14.4 to 7.4), which in his era meant standing in traffic rather than waiting for a long one.
Julius Erving: The player who made the game vertical, with 5 of his best seasons spent in a league the record books treat separately. Bill Walton: A passing center who won a title and an MVP in the only 2 healthy seasons he ever had.
The numbers are free. The verdict is in the Vault.
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